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St. Pete Should Take A Pitch Or Two Before Swinging At Rays' Proposal

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The Tampa Tribune

Published: November 29, 2007

The Tampa Bay Rays' vision of the future represents an exciting escape from the cavernous confines of the domed Tropicana Field, ringed by barren parking lots and separated from the revived urban bustle of downtown St. Petersburg.

If the Rays' plan is realized, by 2012 the team would be playing outdoors about a mile away - on Tampa Bay in a $450 million, open-air ballpark. The roughly 10-acre site is occupied by Al Lang Field, and it's just enough land to accommodate the 34,000-seat replacement.

Meanwhile, the 85-acre Tropicana Field site would be redeveloped into a 2 million-square-foot complex of homes and shops, complete with parks and other amenities that would become a regional draw, boosting the economy and generating additional tax revenues. The Rays believe the stretch between the new field and the current one eventually would be filled with more stores, shops and residences.

The plan sounds compelling when the Rays pitch it, as team executives formally did Wednesday. St. Petersburg officials should give it serious consideration. If the city council gives give it the go-ahead, St. Petersburg voters would have the final say on the use of city-owned property in a referendum.

Eyes On The Ball

But first, city officials must make sure they ask every conceivable question and understand the answers. A lot of claims also were made in the mid-1980s for Tropicana Field, which has been, for the most part, disappointing as both an economic stimulus and as an appealing place to watch baseball.

Rays' executives, including Stuart Sternberg, two years into his ownership of the team, are taking the right approach by asking for, not demanding, a new publicly subsidized stadium. This is a refreshing contrast to the many sport team owners who have threatened to abandon a community if taxpayers did not pay for a new stadium. Sternberg pledges to pay $150 million of the overall cost. The city's sale of the Tropicana Field site for development would provide the bulk of the funding.

Drawings and computer-generated simulation reveal an impressive facility.

The ballpark would have a retractable fabric covering that would protect fans and players from rain and provide shade when needed. Although the ballpark wouldn't have air conditioning, the Rays, who hired a climate consultant, believe they can minimize the heat by playing mostly night games and incorporating eco-friendly measures in construction.

The setting would be intimate, invigorating and, more important, allow baseball to be played outdoors, where it should be.

But parking is a worry. The team says adequate parking is already available in the downtown area, which has about 12,000 spaces. Tropicana Field has about 7,000 spaces on site, but other adjacent lots are available.
City officials must do a rigorous analysis of parking. If it's a challenge for fans, the project is doomed to failure.

The team says no tax increase will be needed, which is reassuring, but they are seeking a state sales tax rebate that would total about $60 million over the next 30 years, or about $2 million a year. It would be the franchise's second such rebate.

Asking state taxpayers to provide that subsidy isn't appealing, considering the state's recent budget crunch and gloomy economic forecasts. But the rebate would come only from transactions that occur in the stadium.

To Sternberg's credit, he says denial of the additional rebate won't be a deal-breaker, and his organization says the redevelopment project would provide 12,500 permanent new jobs and pump at least $1 billion into the economy.

The uncertainty about the current development market also should concern city officials. The biggest chunk of the funding for the new ballpark would come from the sale and redevelopment of the Tropicana Field site. The Rays estimate the property is worth about $250 million, but whether anyone will be willing to take a gamble remains to be seen.

Michael Kalt, the Rays' senior vice president of Development & Business Affairs, says the organization has spoken to seven or eight national developers, with most saying it was a "fantastic opportunity on the retail end." At least one company plans to make a bid.

Taxpayer Protection

St. Petersburg officials shouldn't lock themselves into a deal unless they have solid contracts with developers guaranteeing that taxpayers won't be on the hook if any redevelopment project fails.

The Trop site is publicly owned - as is Al Lang - and the city and its taxpayers still owe about $108 million on the existing stadium's bonds. Officials need to explain how those bonds will be paid off before committing the city to another project. Taxpayers shouldn't be double-billed to accommodate a Major League Baseball team.

All in all, the Rays' ambitious plan is appealing. The facility's design is inspired, and it could be a jewel on the waterfront, unlike the warehouse-like Tropicana Field.

But there are many unknowns, and the engaging vision shouldn't blind city officials to the need to scrutinize the details.

Moreover, fans won't have any reason to go to a new ballpark if the team keeps losing. Since first taking the field in 1998, it has never had a winning season.

Perhaps the surest way Sternberg can get St. Petersburg officials and voters enthused about the Rays' future is by putting a winner on the field.

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