Gas Plant Stadium

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Gas Plant Stadium
Gas Plant Stadium.jpg
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Gas Plant Stadium
Location in Florida
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Gas Plant Stadium
Location in the United States
Location St. Petersburg, Florida, U.S.
Coordinates 27°46′6″N82°39′12″W / 27.76833°N 82.65333°W / 27.76833; -82.65333
Capacity 30,000
Acreage 86
SurfaceArtificial turf
Construction
Construction cost $1.3 billion (estimate)
ArchitectHines
Tenants
Tampa Bay Rays (MLB)

Gas Plant Stadium is a proposed indoor ballpark in St. Petersburg, Florida. If approved and constructed, it would serve as the home of the Tampa Bay Rays of Major League Baseball. [1] [2]

Proposal

On September 19, 2023, the Rays announced plans to build a new stadium adjacent to their current stadium, Tropicana Field. [3] This proposal involves redeveloping the entire 86-acre site, with this new ballpark within that boundary and adjacent to the current ballpark, which will subsequently be demolished. [4] [5]

The construction is estimated at a cost of $1.3 billion, with the city of St. Petersburg and Pinellas County contributing $600 million through a bed tax (a six percent tax on accommodations on hotels and private homes rented for less than six months [6] ), and the team contributing the rest. Factoring in the cash, tax breaks, and discounted land being offered to Rays, the public cost of the project will be $1.5 billion. [7] [8]

This will be a 30,000 seat fixed roof stadium and the surrounding ballpark village would also include 4,800 market-rate residences and 1,200 affordable and workforce housing units; about 600 of the latter would be located off-site. It would have 1.4 million square feet of office space, 750,000 square feet of retail space, a 100,000-square-foot conference center, and 750-room hotel, for a total of $6.5 billion. Unlike Tropicana Field, the stadium will feature operable walls and windows that can be opened on pleasant days or closed to ward off Florida’s summer heat, rain and humidity. [9] [10]

The development site will encompass eight million sq ft of development, including: 48,000 residential units, 1,200 affordable/workforce unites, 1.4 million sq ft office/medical space, 750,000 sq ft of retail space, 750 hotel rooms, a 4,000 seat concert venue, 30,000 capacity ballpark, 100,000 sq ft conference/meeting space, 50,000 sq ft non-profit community space, 14 acres of parks/open space and 14,000 parking stalls. [11]

This is the latest proposal for a new Tampa Bay Rays stadium, in addition to the Ybor Stadium and Rays Ballpark. This project is not a renovation of the existing Tropicana Field, it is a standalone new project on the existing site.

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References

  1. Berry, Adam (September 19, 2023). "Rays announce deal for St. Petersburg ballpark". MLB . MLB . Retrieved September 19, 2023.
  2. "Historic Gas Plant District Development". MLB . September 19, 2023. Retrieved September 19, 2023.
  3. Cridlin, Jay (September 19, 2023). "Check out renderings of the Rays' new stadium in St. Petersburg". Tampa Bay Times . Times Publishing Company . Retrieved September 19, 2023.
  4. Snyder, Matt (September 19, 2023). "Rays new stadium: Team announces plans for domed ballpark, surrounding 'village' in downtown St. Petersburg". CBS . CBS . Retrieved September 19, 2023.
  5. Berdychowski, Bernadette (September 22, 2023). "How parking at Rays games could be affected during ballpark construction". Tampa Bay Times . Times Publishing Company . Retrieved September 22, 2023.
  6. "Pay Tourist Development Tax". Pinellas County Government. Retrieved November 9, 2023.
  7. Diner, Ron; Mullins, Tom (December 13, 2023). "St. Petersburg's proposed Rays stadium deal is a strikeout for the city". Tampa Bay Times . Times Publishing Company . Retrieved January 5, 2024.
  8. Neil deMause (December 26, 2023). "Rays stadium subsidy could top $1.5B counting tax and land breaks". Field of Schemes. Retrieved January 5, 2023.
  9. Cridlin, Jay (September 19, 2023). "Here's what else is in the $6.5 billion Tropicana Field redevelopment". Tampa Bay Times . Times Publishing Company . Retrieved September 19, 2023.
  10. Berry, Adam (September 19, 2023). "Rays announce deal for St. Petersburg ballpark". MLB.com . MLB Advanced Media . Retrieved November 13, 2023.
  11. "Historic Gas Plant District Development". MLB.com . MLB Advanced Media . Retrieved February 23, 2024.