Two proposals remain in the running for Trop Field site redevelopment

Mayor Rick Kriseman has narrowed the Tropicana Field redevelopment proposals to two firms.

The two plans “best reflect the community’s desires” and the firms “are well-positioned to provide additional details and ultimately transform this site,” Kriseman said in a statement.

He chose the proposals from Midtown Development and Sugar Hill Community Partners, JMA Ventures to move forward. More about each plan is below.

There will be additional public engagement that will focus on these two plans, the statement said.

Kriseman and the City Council have clashed in recent weeks over the redevelopment process, with council members wanting to slow down and try to hammer out a stadium agreement with the Tampa Bay Rays before selecting a developer for the site. A lawsuit filed on May 22 by limited partners in the company that owned the Rays has further complicated the situation, prompting Pinellas County and the city of St. Petersburg to put a hold on the process to hire a consultant to negotiate with the Rays.

Kriseman’s administration has said it will move forward with the Trop site redevelopment, with or without a baseball stadium on the site, and the announcement Friday about the two finalists underscores that intent.

The planned redevelopment has been described as a “generational” opportunity to transform a major part of the city and to restore equity to an area that once was home to a thriving Black community. Both plans would create thousands of new jobs and millions of square feet of office space.

Creekside

Creekside, the proposal from Midtown Development, respects the site’s history. “Midtown Development is focused on building connectivity not only to surrounding neighborhoods, but to the heritage of the site and to nationwide movements of social, racial and environmental justice,” according to an executive summary.

Midtown also said its plan is based on the city’s Grow Smarter plan, an economic development strategy that focus on targeted industries. It would promote pedestrian traffic as well as enhance multi-modal transit linkage.

The city’s public improvement contribution would not exceed $75 million under the Midtown plan. Midtown would make a $60 million payment to the city, and also would be responsible for more than $94 million in public improvements.

The development team is made up of 18 companies including Pinellas County Urban League, Studio@620, George F. Young Inc., PLACE Architecture, Real Building Consultants, VHB, Trenam Law, Holland and Knight.

The plan would take place in five phases, beginning in 2022 and ending in 2048. Total construction costs would range from $2.7 billion to $3.75 billion. Once completed, the project would create 20,000 jobs on site, contributing $1.4 billion annually to the local economy.

Click here to see the full proposal.

Sugar Hill, JMA Ventures

The Sugar Hill plan would accomplish four goals, an executive summary said.

• Develop and foster strong connections to the surrounding neighborhoods and the vibrant history of the site.

• Create Booker Creek Park, a new public green space anchored by a revitalized Booker Creek that stretches through the site and connects to Campbell Park to the south via elevated walkway.

• Build a central pedestrian artery that connects the site to downtown and serves as the home of the History Walk, a linear museum telling the story of the neighborhoods that once occupied the site.

• Establish a new city gathering space at the intersection of Booker Creek Park and the History Walk.

The development team includes 24 companies, among them Blue Sky Communities, a Tampa company that develops affordable and workforce housing; BackStreets Capital, DDA and J Square Developers; 3 Daughters Brewing; Behard + Peteranecz Architecture; and Johnson Pope.

The team also has partnered with St. Petersburg College to develop a multi-year workforce development pipeline for the jobs the revamped Trop site will provide.

The project would be built in five phases between 2024 and 2033. Construction costs would total about $3 billion with nearly 31,000 construction jobs created. The number of permanent jobs that would result was not disclosed.

Click here to see the full proposal.