Here’s why this St. Pete City Council member backs the Rays-Hines deal

Let’s get the elephant out of the room. I am a baseball fan, a former college baseball player and coach. Baseball helped create the man I am today. It taught me to work hard, play hard and be part of a cohesive team. But baseball is not who I am. I am a husband, father, son, brother, business owner, financial adviser and proud lifetime resident of St. Petersburg. Of all the things that I am, a baseball fan isn’t in the top 20. I start with that because it’s easy to say, “Copley is a Rays fan,” or “Copley is for this deal because he wants baseball to stay.” But those statements have nothing to do with my support of the Rays/Hines redevelopment.

Tropicana Field has cost the city $46 million since 1998, and that doesn’t include the cost of the bond premiums. You read that right. We subsidize the Trop. However, that isn’t the case with this new deal. No more capital expenses, no more property insurance costs and no more sharing of maintenance costs. Right now, any revenue we get from the Trop goes right back into it. This year alone, the property insurance is approximately $2 million. However, with the deal before us, the Rays take on that expense with the new stadium, and I am happy to alleviate the city of that cost.

The city’s total investment is $417 million, with $287 million for the stadium and $130 million for infrastructure. The financial study projects that, based on the target development, St. Petersburg will collect $470 million in tax revenue over 30 years, far exceeding the initial investment of $417 million. I am keeping the math elementary because it doesn’t consider the net present value of the tax received or the interest accrued from the bonds.

Skeptics can get hung up on net present vs. nominal values or speculate whether this once-in-a-lifetime redevelopment will provide the taxable value projected in the financial study. My opinion is they aren’t looking far enough into the future. The bond payments are for 30 years, and many want an equal return on investment over that same period. I am not one of those people. When the bond payments are done, St. Petersburg will continue to receive ad valorem and nonad valorem revenues from this project in perpetuity. It’s short-sighted to believe that the benefits to St. Pete will not outweigh its financial investment. The long-term vision looks like this: from 2054-2084 (the 30 years after the bond payments are complete), St. Petersburg will receive $1.6 billion in taxes.

This development will bring more than 30,000 jobs during construction, creating jobs for our electricians, plumbers, painters and other vital trades. This is an incredible opportunity to turn employees into small-business owners and small-business owners into entrepreneurs.

Once complete, this development will boast 11,000 full-time and part-time jobs. For perspective, that’s three times the size of Raymond James, the city’s largest employer. When we talk about economic impact, this is what we need to be talking about, creating jobs and changing the trajectory of St. Pete. And this doesn’t even begin to cover the commitment of $500 million for small, minority, and women-owned businesses constructing the development. Not to mention the $50 million for community benefits and minimum participation requirements for disadvantaged workers and apprentices.

The Historic Gas Plant Redevelopment won’t solve our housing affordability issue in one swoop. Would I love there to be more? Of course! But we cannot get snagged on one issue. As a city, we need to continue to be intentional about creating affordable housing everywhere while continuing to lead from the front on a living wage. It’s not just about housing; it’s about housing and income. It’s creating a city that gives residents opportunities for sustainable economic growth.

We need to protect ourselves and hold the Rays and Hines accountable, and I believe the final documents will do just that. I’m not a lawyer, but I trust ours, and I am confident many of the concerns voiced during our last Committee of the Whole will be addressed. I believe that the Rays and Hines have every incentive to make this the best development possible, putting St. Pete on the map while being the crown jewel in their portfolio.

For those hoping to see a perfect deal right now, I would ask them to look at this deal through a forward-thinking lens. For me, what I have looked for in this deal is a vision of what St. Pete could look like 10, 20, 30 or 50 years from now. So when my kids look at this site 20 years from now, they will be proud of our bold steps to ensure a brighter future for our city while fixing the broken promises of the past.

Is it going to be easy? No. Is it going to be expensive? As I noted previously, that’s relative to the return. Is it going to take us betting on St. Pete and the Rays? Absolutely. I don’t know about you, but I will always bet on St. Pete.

Copley Gerdes is vice chairperson of the St. Petersburg City Council and is chairperson of the council’s Budget, Finance and Taxation Committee and the city’s Investment Oversight Committee.