Pinellas County approves financing for new Tampa Bay Rays stadium
After delays, Pinellas County Commission voted to provide part of financing for new $1.3 billion Tampa Bay Rays stadium
ST. PETERSBURG, Florida — After a delay of nearly two months, the Pinellas County Commission voted on tuesday in favor of providing part of the financing for him new stadium of the Tampa Bay Rays of 1.3 billion dollarsand that is part of a plan to keep the team in St. Petersburg for another 30 years.
The overall plan, with the slogan “Here to Stay,” was approved by the county commission and St. Petersburg city officials this summer, but votes on funding the deal have been more contentious and delayed.
Earlier this month, the St. Petersburg City Council voted to approve its share of the bonds needed to build the new 30,000-seat stadium. The county vote Tuesday was 5-2 in favor of bonds that would be funded by tourist or “bed” taxes, which cannot be spent on things like hurricane recovery.
Under the agreement, the city and county would contribute about half of the cost, while the Rays would cover the rest, including cost overruns.
“We’re holding up our end of the deal,” City Council President Deborah Figgs-Sanders said at a meeting earlier this month. “We said we were going to do this. We are doing it. Now what do you have?”
The county’s share of the bond financing approved Tuesday is about $312.5 million. Major League Baseball Commissioner Rob Manfred recently met with several skeptical commissioners to emphasize the importance of the project and the league’s desire to keep a team in the Tampa Bay region.
“He is committed to this market. Rob Manfred is the reason I am voting yes today,” said Pinellas County Commissioner Chris Latvala.
The proposal ends years of uncertainty about the Rays’ future, including possible moves across the bay to Tampa, or to Nashville, Tenn., and even proposed splitting home games between St. Petersburg and Montreal, an idea that MLB rejected.
Under the stadium deal, the Rays agree to remain in St. Petersburg for another 30 years. But the Rays will play this season in Tampa at Steinbrenner Field, the spring training site of the New York Yankees, because of hurricane damage at Tropicana Field.
The Rays say costs for the new stadium will inevitably increase because its planned opening will be delayed by at least a year, from 2028 to 2029. It’s unclear what those additional costs will be, but the cost overruns are the Rays’ responsibility under the agreement.
Matt Silverman, co-president of the Rays, said in a statement after the county vote that the team “cannot absorb this increase alone” and that more negotiations are likely to take place.
“When the county and city want to participate, we will remain ready to address this funding gap together,” Silverman said.
The proposed stadium is a key piece of a broader $6.5 billion revitalization project known as the Gas Plant Historic District, which refers to a predominantly black neighborhood that was displaced by the construction of the Trop and a bypass of the interstate highway.
Supporters say the development would transform an 86-acre (34-hectare) site downtown, with plans for a black history museum, affordable housing, entertainment venues, plus office and retail space, and the promise of thousands of jobs.
“This is much, much more than a stadium,” Pinellas County Commission Chairwoman Kathleen Peters said at a meeting in November. “It’s about the investment we can make and the return on that investment that can ensure we can keep our taxes low.”
