Thrive
St. Pete council votes to delay Trop site proposal process
“Stop playing with my people.”
St. Petersburg City Council members, in a 6-2 vote, approved a resolution Thursday asking Mayor Ken Welch to “pause any action” related to selecting a Historic Gas Plant District redevelopment proposal.
The resolution is nonbinding, and Welch previously told the Catalyst that he would not pause an already long-delayed generational project, regardless of the council’s wishes. Nine development teams submitted proposals to reimagine roughly 86 acres, currently home to Tropicana Field, by the Tuesday deadline.
Councilmember Brandi Gabbard advocated for the Urban Land Institute (ULI) to complete an extensive study in October, two weeks after the city received a $6.8 billion unsolicited bid from ARK Investment Management, Ellison Development and Horus Construction. She introduced Thursday’s resolution and believes the city is “flying without a radar.”
“We are not just voting on a resolution,” Gabbard said. “We are deciding how history will remember our stewardship for St. Petersburg’s most valuable remaining asset, the Historic Gas Plant site.”
Gabbard, who plans to run against Welch this year, said city officials are “too close” to the project and need independent experts to create a comprehensive planning framework. The ULI could, potentially, complete the study in six months, she added.
The previously estimated $135,000 analysis is a “small investment for a massive return,” Gabbard said. “It would allow us to negotiate from a position of strength, not desperation.”
Gabbard said previous requests for a committee to discuss the study “went unanswered,” while an unsolicited redevelopment proposal dictated the administration’s pace. She wants to “catch our breath and consider the residents we serve.”
Councilmember Brandi Gabbard said she was told that the study could take six months. Image: Screengrab.
Some residents and organizations, most of whom also opposed the previous Tampa Bay Rays and Hines deal, would prefer the city to sell individual parcels of land and maximize financial returns. Councilmember Deborah Figgs-Sanders called that “gentrification, block-by-block,” of an area that was once home to a thriving African-American community.
“Stop playing with my people,” Figg-Sanders said. “Every time I hear someone wants to tell us what’s best for us, as though the words of the descendants did not mean anything, I quiver. Stop playing with the history of what the Gas Plant means to the City of St. Petersburg.
“They didn’t take it from us parcel by parcel.”
Welch reiterated his position on the matter in a letter sent to the council Wednesday. He noted that members approved development agreements with the Tampa Bay Rays and Hines “without the duplicative exercise now being suggested.”
The letter highlighted multiple planning and visioning efforts that began in 2016, and that two community redevelopment area plans also guide the redevelopment process and reflect evolving needs. “This project is about people, history and long-standing promises – not simply a stadium site or a real estate transaction,” Welch wrote.
“Pausing all progress for yet another planning exercise, after proposals have been submitted, risks repeating a familiar and painful pattern for this community: Plans discussed, promises acknowledged and action deferred,” Welch added.
“St. Pete, including the families and descendants impacted by the original displacement, has already waited generations for meaningful progress. I do not believe further inaction serves them or the city.”
Councilmember Richie Floyd, who is “very sympathetic” to Welch’s position, expressed hope for common ground. He suggested that previous work could streamline the new study while allowing the proposal selection process to simultaneously progress.
Floyd also noted that he would “evaluate whatever gets in front of me, no matter how it gets there.” Figgs-Sanders guaranteed that the selected development team would acquiesce to the council’s feedback.
Councilmember Gina Driscoll said there were several “brilliant ideas” in the submitted proposals, and she would “hate to hinder” the process. However, she also believes officials should “take our time,” and that the council should play a more prominent role in setting the generational project’s scope.
“When I say pause, it is not to delay progress into perpetuity,” Gabbard explained. “It is to have this moment for a cohesive conversation between the administration and the city council. And at that point, chart a path forward that will … guide the administration through their selection process, if they so choose.”
Councilmember Copley Gerdes noted that everybody on the dais, regardless of their stance on the resolution, “cares deeply about what happens to this property.” Many city officials have spent hundreds, if not thousands, of hours discussing the site’s future.
However, the council and administration have separate roles, and Gerdes said the resolution intertwines those “in a way that I don’t find comfortable.” The long-awaited project has momentum, and he doesn’t want to “set that aside.”
Council Chair Lisset Hanewicz felt the Rays and Hines deal was rushed, and said planning is a core tenet of government. She reiterated that previous plans lacked a new fire station to serve a massive development.
Hanewicz wants a “little bit broader road map” for the area than what some of her colleagues likely prefer. She also stressed that the resolution vote is not indicative of future support for a selected proposal.
Gabbard, Hanewicz, Driscoll, Floyd and Councilmembers Mike Harting and Corey Givens Jr. voted in favor of the non-binding resolution. Figgs-Sanders and Gerdes dissented.
Alan DeLisle
February 6, 2026at11:06 am
What a disaster for St Pete.
1. Welch cancels the Kriseman Trop deal with Midtown which is exactly what everyone wants now.
2. The Midtown deal was based on a Master Plan produced by one of the best planning firms in the country. And guess what? It was produced by the city and approved by the Council.
3. The Master Plan was the blueprint for the original RFP that Midtown won after a long community input period.
4. Doing another Master Plan is a waste of time and money. It will merely reflect the Master Plan that was done just a few short years ago. You know this because almost all of the quality development proposals have mirrored that Master Plan.
5. I have been a ULI member for most of my career. They are a great organization but their planning process will not be close to the Kriseman Master Plan in detail and content. They will admit that.
6. My recommendation is for the city to use that original Master Plan as the basis for responses and reissue the RFP for another three months so that proposers can react to any changes they would like to make based on that plan. I don’t think there will be substantive changes but some tinkering is possible. It should also allow for new submissions from other interested parties.
7. Finally, this reissued RFP should be signed by both the Mayor and Council Chair. It should be stated that the review process and the selection of the developer will be a joint decision between the administration and council. It is clear by the most recent Council vote that the Council has lost confidence in Welch’s ability to handle this matter and rightly so. And the Mayor and council should hire a third party economic development expert consultant to help both parties with the selection and deal negotiations. This consultant should have more than 20 years of experience negotiating complicated and successful public-private partnerships (make sure they are certified professionals as well) and have no previous involvement in this project. Council Chair Hanewicz should be driving this ship for the Council since she handled the disastrous Rays’ proposal with professionalism, finesse, and in the best interest of the City. I truly believe this process is the only way for the development community and St Pete to have trust in the final outcome.
8. This is the only way you can get this project to the goal line with credibility. I would keep all other parties and organizations out of the selection process. Get their input but don’t let special interest interfere. The only other way is to wait for a new administration with credibility. Good luck St Pete.
Steven Sullivan
February 6, 2026at1:12 pm
Here we go again revisionist history. Your team put out a RFP without the involvement of the Ray’s and tried to sell it. Did that make any sense when the original agreement specifically said that the team had development rights on the surrounding area of the stadium. This is no rush its a concerted effort to move forward with the criteria laid out by this administration which frankly mirrors alot of what you guys did as you just mentioned. So community input has been gotten over and over again. Delay will only rehash the same issues as it pertains to housing. 86 acres of housing will not unlock the economic potential of that site and neither will a convention center that is so old and copycat. I will always challenge your narrative if not factual
Mike Kosempa
February 6, 2026at10:45 am
I honestly don’t understand why everyone always trashes figgs sanders!
I love her idea of gentrifying the site block by block.
Why didn’t anyone think of that before? Great idea Deborah!
S. Rose Smith-Hayes
February 6, 2026at9:56 am
I support the Councils one to ‘pump the brakes’. What is the rush. The residents should have input. This is Our City and our land. There is no proposal yet that is as nice as the Hines Rays proposal except the Woodson Museum site proposal. We do Not need a park on the site. Campbell Park is across the street. What is the Mayor’s rush????