{"id":128543,"date":"2024-11-21T21:17:47","date_gmt":"2024-11-21T14:17:47","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/hotvideos24.online\/?p=128543"},"modified":"2024-11-21T21:17:47","modified_gmt":"2024-11-21T14:17:47","slug":"could-the-rays-leave-tampa-bay-and-still-own-65-acres-of-gas-plant-land","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/hotvideos24.online\/?p=128543","title":{"rendered":"Could the Rays leave Tampa Bay and still own 65 acres of Gas Plant land?"},"content":{"rendered":"<p> <script async src=\"https:\/\/pagead2.googlesyndication.com\/pagead\/js\/adsbygoogle.js?client=ca-pub-3711241968723425\"\r\n     crossorigin=\"anonymous\"><\/script>\r\n<ins class=\"adsbygoogle\"\r\n     style=\"display:block\"\r\n     data-ad-format=\"fluid\"\r\n     data-ad-layout-key=\"-fb+5w+4e-db+86\"\r\n     data-ad-client=\"ca-pub-3711241968723425\"\r\n     data-ad-slot=\"7910942971\"><\/ins>\r\n<script>\r\n     (adsbygoogle = window.adsbygoogle || []).push({});\r\n<\/script><br \/>\n<\/p>\n<div id=\"\">\n<p class=\"\">Before the Pinellas County Commission <a href=\"https:\/\/www.tampabay.com\/news\/pinellas\/2024\/11\/19\/rays-current-stadium-deal-halted-team-is-ready-work-new-solution\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">punted on finalizing bonds<\/a> for a new $1.3 billion stadium again on Tuesday, the Tampa Bay Rays wrote a letter saying the deal approved this summer no longer works financially for the team.<\/p>\n<p class=\"\">The St. Petersburg City Council will hold a vote Thursday<b> <\/b>on <a href=\"https:\/\/www.tampabay.com\/news\/st-petersburg\/2024\/11\/20\/amid-fresh-turmoil-will-st-petersburg-approve-rays-stadium-financing\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">whether to finance its own portion<\/a> of the stadium as well as<b> <\/b>the costs of roads and sewers in the surrounding redevelopment. But if there is no stadium deal, what does that mean for the Historic Gas Plant District redevelopment plan around it, <a href=\"https:\/\/www.tampabay.com\/news\/st-petersburg\/2023\/09\/27\/st-petersburg-mayor-welch-family-ties-to-tropicana-field\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">a top priority for St. Petersburg Mayor Ken Welch<\/a>?<\/p>\n<p class=\"\">What happens to plans to build a Black history museum, 5,000 condos including affordable housing, hotels, office and medical space, a grocery store and a day care? And do the Rays and their development partner Hines get to keep the land under it? If the current deal is truly dead, does that mean the Rays\u2019 profit<b> <\/b>from that land could fund a new ballpark elsewhere?<\/p>\n<p class=\"\">The county is not a party in the agreement approved in July by the St. Petersburg City Council<b> <\/b>governing the redevelopment of the 65 acres of prime, public land around the stadium by the Rays and Hines. The city has agreed to sell the land for a significantly discounted price of $105 million. But commissioners wanted to know how their votes would affect that<b> <\/b>part of the project.<\/p>\n<p class=\"\">If the county backs out of the stadium pact, is that the death knell to the Gas Plant?<\/p>\n<p class=\"\">It\u2019s complicated, and it depends, said Assistant County Attorney Donald Crowell on Tuesday. He said there is no condition in the redevelopment agreement that requires the county\u2019s bonds, so that would not kill the Historic Gas Plant<b> <\/b>plan.<\/p>\n<p class=\"\">City Administrator Rob Gerdes, who was present at the meeting, put it this way: \u201cThe best way to protect the land from Mr. Sternberg profiting off the land and also moving the team is if the deal does not go forward and the Rays are the ones who back out.\u201d<\/p>\n<p class=\"\">\u201cIf the Rays back out, then we have a lot of protections on the Gas Plant side,\u201d he continued. \u201cIf the city or county doesn\u2019t go forward, it becomes a lot more complicated.\u201d<\/p>\n<p class=\"\">In his first day as a commissioner, Vince Nowicki asked if the Rays have reached out to the city to say that they would nix that part of the deal and give the land back since they\u2019ve stopped all work on the project. Gerdes said the city has not had that discussion with the team.<\/p>\n<p class=\"\">\u201cI think by my earlier comments, you could probably tell that we do have a concern about the team leaving and the redevelopment remaining in their hands, and that\u2019s something that we\u2019re going to have to work through,\u201d Gerdes said.<\/p>\n<p class=\"\">Commissioners left Tuesday\u2019s meeting saying they were unclear what that meant for the Gas Plant District and who would own the development rights on the land if a stadium is not built.<\/p>\n<p class=\"\">At a workshop on the deal in May, City Council member Lisset Hanewicz, the sole attorney on that board, asked about a \u201cfunding offset right\u201d in the contract. Gerdes explained that since the city can\u2019t obligate future city councils to approve paying for infrastructure in phases,<b> <\/b>the developer would be entitled to a credit of 107.5% of those costs against the purchase of the land.<\/p>\n<div class=\"fXDgxBh article start my-32\">\n<div class=\"fXDgxBh__content\">\n<div class=\"fXDgxBh__stage--start\">\n<h2 class=\"fXDgxBh__headline\">Spend your days with Hayes<\/h2>\n<p class=\"fXDgxBh__subheadline\">Subscribe to our free Stephinitely newsletter<\/p>\n<div>\n<p>Columnist Stephanie Hayes will share thoughts, feelings and funny business with you every Monday.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<div class=\"fXDgxBh__stage--finish\"><svg viewbox=\"0 0 24 25\" class=\"fXDgxBh__success-icon\"><path d=\"M9.6 18.326L3.6 12.326L5.292 10.622L9.6 14.93L18.708 5.82205L20.4 7.52605L9.6 18.326ZM12 0.32605C10.4241 0.32605 8.86371 0.636439 7.4078 1.2395C5.95189 1.84255 4.62902 2.72647 3.51472 3.84077C1.26428 6.09121 0 9.14345 0 12.326C0 15.5086 1.26428 18.5609 3.51472 20.8113C4.62902 21.9256 5.95189 22.8095 7.4078 23.4126C8.86371 24.0157 10.4241 24.326 12 24.326C15.1826 24.326 18.2348 23.0618 20.4853 20.8113C22.7357 18.5609 24 15.5086 24 12.326C24 10.7502 23.6896 9.18976 23.0866 7.73385C22.4835 6.27794 21.5996 4.95507 20.4853 3.84077C19.371 2.72647 18.0481 1.84255 16.5922 1.2395C15.1363 0.636439 13.5759 0.32605 12 0.32605Z\"\/><\/svg><\/p>\n<h2 class=\"fXDgxBh__headline\">You\u2019re all signed\u00a0up!<\/h2>\n<p class=\"fXDgxBh__blurb\">Want more of our free, weekly newsletters\u00a0in\u00a0your\u00a0inbox?<!-- --> <strong>Let\u2019s\u00a0get\u00a0started.<\/strong><\/p>\n<p><a href=\"https:\/\/www.tampabay.com\/newsletters\/\" class=\"ui__button--call-to-action\" data-tbtevent=\"link\" data-tbtcategory=\"Newsletter Sign Up Form\" data-tbtlabel=\"{&quot;element&quot;:&quot;All newsletters link&quot;}\">Explore all your options<svg viewbox=\"0 0 19 19\" class=\"fXDgxBh__link-icon\"><path d=\"M18.2334 9.32605C18.2334 11.713 17.2852 14.0022 15.5974 15.69C13.9095 17.3778 11.6203 18.326 9.2334 18.326C8.0515 18.326 6.88118 18.0933 5.78925 17.641C4.69732 17.1887 3.70516 16.5257 2.86944 15.69C1.18161 14.0022 0.233398 11.713 0.233398 9.32605C0.233398 6.9391 1.18161 4.64992 2.86944 2.96209C4.55726 1.27426 6.84645 0.32605 9.2334 0.32605C10.4153 0.32605 11.5856 0.558842 12.6775 1.01113C13.7695 1.46343 14.7616 2.12636 15.5974 2.96209C16.4331 3.79782 17.096 4.78997 17.5483 5.8819C18.0006 6.97383 18.2334 8.14415 18.2334 9.32605ZM3.8334 10.226H11.0334L7.8834 13.376L9.1614 14.654L14.4894 9.32605L9.1614 3.99805L7.8834 5.27605L11.0334 8.42605H3.8334V10.226Z\"\/><\/svg><\/a><\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<p class=\"\">Hanewicz expressed concern that the<b> <\/b>legal terms of the agreement leave the city unprotected.<\/p>\n<p class=\"\">\u201cWe don\u2019t want to incentivize future city councils not to issue the bonds and just do the land transfer,\u201d Gerdes said.<\/p>\n<p class=\"\">Redeveloping the area around Tropicana Field in a way that benefits the Black community has been a central priority for Welch, the city\u2019s first Black mayor. The deal includes a $50 million commitment from the Rays and Hines toward affordable and workforce housing, small-business assistance, diverse hiring, job creation and educational programs, plus $10 million for the Woodson African American Museum of Florida. About 11,000 permanent full- and part-time jobs are expected to be created.<\/p>\n<p class=\"\">The land was once <a href=\"https:\/\/www.tampabay.com\/news\/st-petersburg\/2023\/01\/15\/st-petersburg-black-neighborhood-tropicana-field-redevelopment-historic-gas-plant\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">home to Black-owned businesses and neighborhoods<\/a> collectively known as the Gas Plant District but was bulldozed decades ago in the name of cleaning up blight.<\/p>\n<p class=\"\">It was later used to build a stadium to lure professional baseball to St. Petersburg and serve as an economic boost. Baseball eventually came, though promised jobs and opportunities didn\u2019t.<\/p>\n<p class=\"\">The Rays, under current ownership, have spent 17 years making the pitch for a new home more central to the region\u2019s population before agreeing to stay in St. Petersburg with taxpayer help to pay for another stadium.<\/p>\n<p class=\"\"><a href=\"https:\/\/www.tampabay.com\/news\/st-petersburg\/2024\/07\/18\/we-are-st-pete-rays-stadium-redevelopment-approved-by-city-council\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">A deal was reached in July<\/a>. But then the roof was torn off Tropicana Field during Hurricane Milton and elections ushered in two stadium skeptics on the County Commission, which voted 6-1 on Tuesday to postpone a vote on its share of the financing until December. The Rays have said delays are driving up the costs for the stadium. They\u2019re obligated to pay for overruns.<\/p>\n<p class=\"\">The Tampa Bay Times reached out to St. Petersburg to ask about<b> <\/b>the implications for the Gas Plant District redevelopment. Neither of two spokespersons for the city acknowledged requests for an interview or comment via two text messages, two emails and phone calls.<\/p>\n<p class=\"\">A spokesperson for the Rays declined to comment.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n<p><script async src=\"https:\/\/pagead2.googlesyndication.com\/pagead\/js\/adsbygoogle.js?client=ca-pub-3711241968723425\"\r\n     crossorigin=\"anonymous\"><\/script>\r\n<ins class=\"adsbygoogle\"\r\n     style=\"display:block\"\r\n     data-ad-format=\"fluid\"\r\n     data-ad-layout-key=\"-fb+5w+4e-db+86\"\r\n     data-ad-client=\"ca-pub-3711241968723425\"\r\n     data-ad-slot=\"7910942971\"><\/ins>\r\n<script>\r\n     (adsbygoogle = window.adsbygoogle || []).push({});\r\n<\/script><br \/>\n<br \/><div data-type=\"_mgwidget\" data-widget-id=\"1660802\">\r\n<\/div>\r\n<script>(function(w,q){w[q]=w[q]||[];w[q].push([\"_mgc.load\"])})(window,\"_mgq\");\r\n<\/script>\r\n<br \/>\n<br \/><a href=\"https:\/\/www.tampabay.com\/news\/st-petersburg\/2024\/11\/21\/could-rays-leave-tampa-bay-still-own-65-acres-gas-plant-land\/\">Source link <\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>Before the Pinellas County Commission punted on finalizing bonds for a new $1.3 billion stadium again on Tuesday, the Tampa Bay Rays wrote a letter saying the deal approved this &hellip; <a href=\"https:\/\/hotvideos24.online\/?p=128543\" class=\"more-link\">Read More<\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[9],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-128543","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-sports","entry"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/hotvideos24.online\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/128543","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/hotvideos24.online\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/hotvideos24.online\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/hotvideos24.online\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/hotvideos24.online\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcomments&post=128543"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/hotvideos24.online\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/128543\/revisions"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/hotvideos24.online\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=128543"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/hotvideos24.online\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcategories&post=128543"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/hotvideos24.online\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Ftags&post=128543"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}