Tampa Bay Rays seek design-build team for parking garages for new stadium
By Breanne Williams
Tampa Bay Business Journal
Published: Apr 5, 2024

St. Petersburg and the Tampa Bay Rays are moving forward with plans to get a stadium built and open in time for the 2028 baseball season.

The team and the city are accepting bids to design and build one or more event parking garages near the site of the proposed new stadium.

The city and county have not yet voted to approve the development agreement for the Rays to redevelop the 86-acre Historic Gas Plant District.

However, the agreement between the city and the Rays allows the team to begin soliciting projects before the development agreement is approved, letting the team take steps toward completing a new stadium by 2028.

A request for qualification was released March 12. According to the document, the selected group will need to build one or more garages — each five to seven stories — that will include between 500 and 1,500 parking spaces. The ground floor may have options for future retail or business uses.

The garages will be built on current surface parking lots and may need to be completed in time for the 2025 baseball season. In the Q&A for the RFQ, the city said the timeline will be determined by the Rays and the selected firm following the award.

“The primary purpose of the garage(s) will be to provide parking for attendees of Rays games and other large events at the new ballpark,” the request states. “During non-event time periods, the garage(s) will be utilized for day-to-day parking serving visitors to the site and the surrounding neighborhoods.”

The RFQ highlights two potential sites for the garages: the parking lot along First Avenue South and 16th Street South along the Pinellas Trail and the lot at Fourth Avenue South and 10th Street South that abuts Interstate 175.

Firms will need to submit a construction schedule along with cost estimates. In the Q&A, the city highlighted that firms currently engaged in other aspects of the redevelopment of the Historic Gas Plant District are not precluded from participating in this solicitation.

Responses to the RFQ are due by 3 p.m. on April 9. A selection committee comprised of Rays and city staff will begin evaluating the proposals on April 22. A team will be selected on May 13, according to the document.

The Rays will begin contract negotiations with the highest-ranked firm.