Is 'EcoVerde' In Trop Site's Future? Perhaps 'West End'?

The city posted on its Web site this afternoon the three proposals for the sale and redevelopment of Tropicana Field, which the Tampa Bay Rays want to replace with an open-air ballpark on the downtown waterfront.

All three proposals were submitted this morning before the 10 a.m. deadline. They are from Williams Quarter LLC of Tampa and Nashville, a group including DeBartolo Holdings, NRP Group and RGA Group; Archstone-Madison of Arlington, Va.; and Hines Interests Limited Partnership of Atlanta.

Click For Williams
Quarter, LLC Proposal

Some of the proposals even came with names. Hines calls its project "West End." Archstone-Madison's is called "EcoVerde."

Asked whether the number of proposals was what the city expected, city development administrator Rick Mussett said, "I didn't have an expectation. The market responds."

A provision in Florida statutes gives the city up to 10 days to make sealed bids or proposals available for public inspection or copying.

Officials will evaluate the proposals and make a recommendation to the city council by May 1. The Rays have asked the council to decide by June 5 whether to authorize a November referendum on a new downtown stadium.

Officials have emphasized the bid process does not commit St. Petersburg to proceed with razing the domed stadium on the southwest edge of downtown and replacing it with a massive mixed-use development, as the Rays have proposed.

Click For Hines Interests
Limited Partnership Proposal

The Rays are counting on money from the redevelopment of the 86-acre Tropicana Field site to cover a significant portion of the financing for a new 34,000-seat stadium at the site of Progress Energy Park by 2012.

A representative for the Rays said the team was pleased with the multiple bids and is prepared to work with whichever developer the city selects.

"Obviously, it confirms what we've been saying all along, that there will be significant interest on the site," said Michael Kalt, senior vice president of development and business affairs. "All three developers and development teams are national developers with reputations of having done projects like this before."

The Rays have partnered with one of the bidders, Hines Interests, a Houston-based real estate investment and development firm that submitted a proposal from its Atlanta office.

Click For Archstone-Madison
Proposal

Some critics have said that Hines has received an unfair competitive advantage because it was retained by the Rays to produce a site development plan for the Tropicana Field site, which was unveiled when the team announced the stadium plans in November.

In its request for proposals, the city seeks a pedestrian-oriented, mixed-use community that would be linked to the new stadium and would include a variety of housing and retail opportunities.

The city is seeking cash offers for the Tropicana Field site and financial guarantees that the development will happen.