St. Pete Council works on final details of Rays stadium deal

ST. PETERSBURG, Fla. (WFLA) — St. Petersburg City Council members met Tuesday morning for one more workshop to ask questions about a deal to build a new stadium for the Tampa Bay Rays and to develop the land around the ballpark.

Council members have been working for weeks to fine tune an agreement formed by Mayor Ken Welch, city staff and members of the Rays-Hines development team.

Several council members are indicating they are now in favor of the agreement.

“We’ve really come a long way since we got the initial drafts,” Councilmember Gina Driscoll said. “Lots of changes, a lot of suggestions that were made by city council that we are seeing now in the agreements. I feel like we are in a good place.”

The agreement would allow the team to build a new stadium and stay in the city for decades to come.

“It’s a complicated agreement,” Councilmember Ed Montanari said. “$1.3 billion stadium, at least $5 billion of redevelopment, how do we protect the taxpayers, but is going to be an economic driver for the city of St. Petersburg for generations to come.”

Montanari indicated he’s also in favor of the plan.

“I think we’re at a very good place,” he said.

Not everyone is in favor. A number of community members said there are not enough guarantees in the deal for affordable housing.

“We are concerned about the displacement of impoverished communities and the disenfranchised,” Amy Isel said. “I love the Rays, but I think that it’s going to be the locals that pay the cost.”

Councilmember Richie Floyd said he is opposed.

“What didn’t change today was the amount of money going toward a stadium,” Floyd said. “It’s still hundreds of millions of dollars that benefits a privately owned corporation and that’s where my contention is.”

Brian Auld, co-team president, said the deal currently on the table is best for the team and best for the city.

“I believe in the power of baseball and I believe in professional sports and I believe the Rays and this mayor put together a plan for an 86-acre parcel of land that was going to be really hard to figure out otherwise,” Auld said.

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