This team is Kriseman's pick to redevelop Tropicana Field
By Breanne Williams
Tampa Bay Business Journal
Published: Dec 2, 2021

Mayor Rick Kriseman has selected Midtown Development's proposal for the redevelopment of Tropicana Field.

Kriseman announced his choice at a news conference at Campbell Park on Thursday. Midtown’s vision of redeveloping the 86-acre Trop site in downtown St. Petersburg has contingencies for whether the Tampa Bay Rays stay or go after their lease on the city-owned stadium ends in 2027.

The redevelopment of Tropicana Field will set the stage for the next several decades, redefining the culture and scale of development in the area around the stadium. The redevelopment project has become a key part of Kriseman's legacy after eight years in office; in January, Mayor-elect Ken Welch will be inaugurated as the city's first-ever Black mayor.

Kriseman said it was crucial to him to get this project going as quickly as possible, saying the longer they delay the longer it will take to create jobs and opportunities. He said thousands of jobs — both construction and permanent — will be created due to this project.

“So as Dr. King said, and probably not exactly in these words, but, ‘Justice delayed is justice denied.’ We cannot delay this project from moving forward any longer,” Kriseman said. “This community has been asked to wait for a long time for those promises that were made and not kept and I’m not about to make them wait any longer.”

Following the announcement, Welch released a statement that Kriseman has "worked hard to develop thoughtful and promising plans" for the site and said he intends to evaluate the plans as well as new ideas.

Miami-based Midtown’s proposal shows the developer would invest $2.7 billion to $3.8 billion into the site based on the density of the area. The proposal shows the company would spend at least $94 million on public improvements and an additional $5 million in grants for minority-owned small businesses. Midtown has offered the city $60 million for the property and is seeking $75 million in city funding for infrastructure work.

“We look forward to working with everyone in the community, with the Rays, with anyone that wants to be a part of this amazing process and we look forward to working obviously with the new mayor and his staff,” said Alex Vadia with Midtown Development.

The proposal shows 6,000 to 8,000 residential units and, of those, at least 1,000 units would have affordable and workforce housing. A 50,000-square-foot conference center is planned for the site as is a 510-room hotel.

Midtown currently owns 22 acres in downtown Orlando — formerly the home of the Orlando Sentinel — which is a master-planned project. It also built the 62-acre Midtown Miami project at the former Buena Vista Rail Yard.

Kriseman selected the group over Sugar Hill Community Partners, whose name comes from the Sugar Hill neighborhood that had been in the Gas Plant District, a predominately Black neighborhood that was razed to make room for Tropicana Field.

Both proposals from Midtown and Sugar Hill promised a variety of cultural elements to pay homage to the Gas Plant District. Both groups also intended to have office space, retail, arts, parks, research and higher education and housing.

Kriseman said when looking at the two final proposals side-by-side, Midtown came out on top.

"I cannot say enough things about Sugar Hill and truthfully I think the city would have been in good shape with either of these two developers," Kriseman said. "I think highly of Sugar Hill and their team, but it wasn't just one single thing. There were a couple of areas where in my mind Midtown stood out and that was what really put them over the top."

Welch — who is at a national conference for incoming mayors — told the Tampa Bay Business Journal last week that he and his team would “evaluate any recommendation [Kriseman] makes based on return on investment to the community, but at the same time we have to have the conversation with the other stakeholders: the city council, county commission, the Rays and the greater community and we’ve already started that process.”

Vadia said he is looking forward to working with Welch and his staff and acknowledged "how crucial it is to keep the ball rolling."

"We are long-term investors that develop," Vadia said. "I hate to say it, but we are set up to live beyond cycles. Historically, U.S. real estate is cyclical. We're going to go through a couple of cycles on this project, so we can't think, 'Oh where's the market going to be in two years, three years?' We've got to think about planting a seed now because this is going to create that much value in five years, 10 years."