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St. Pete To Request Proposals For Tropicana Redevelopment

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By CARLOS MONCADA, The Tampa Tribune

Published: January 18, 2008

ST. PETERSBURG - The city council took its first tentative step Thursday toward building a new baseball stadium on the downtown waterfront, giving the go-ahead for the city to solicit proposals to redevelop Tropicana Field.

The council voted 7-1 to issue a request for proposals to redevelop the 86-acre Tropicana site on the southwestern edge of downtown.

Issuing the 60-day request, however, does not commit St. Petersburg to proceeding with tearing down the domed stadium, home of the Tampa Bay Rays since 1998, and replacing it with a massive, mixed-use development as the Rays have proposed.

The Rays see the sale and redevelopment of the Tropicana site as the way to raise most of the $450 million needed for the new ballpark it wants to build at Progress Energy Park by 2012.

Public Hearings Scheduled

No public comment was taken before Thursday's vote. The council decided earlier in the day to hold three public hearings, at 6 p.m. on Feb. 21, April 10 and May 22.

The Rays have asked the council to authorize a November referendum on the new stadium by June 5.

Mayor Rick Baker said he supported moving ahead with the request for proposals, rather than delaying it as one council member and some critics had wanted.

"The Rays are our baseball team, and they have made a request to us that we consider this proposal," Baker said. "And I think we're trying to do that in a very deliberate way while we're trying to protect the interests of the residents of St. Petersburg. This is not a commitment by the city to do this project, but a desire to gather more information."

The city notified dozens of potential developers across the country last month that it might be issuing a request for proposals. Proposals are due by March 18. City staff will evaluate them and, if one is selected, recommend its approval to Baker and the council. The council also could reject all the proposals.

Local Developers In The Running

Among local developers the city has notified are several from St. Petersburg, including Grady Pridgen, The Sembler Co. and ANB Enterprises, and from Tampa, including Opus South and Trammell Crow. Also notified were organizations such as the American Planning Association, Florida Redevelopment Association and Tampa Bay Partnership.

The request for proposals says the city prefers a developer who has completed at least two large-scale urban projects, with each having a value of at least $500 million, although companies that do not meet that dollar threshold still will be considered.

The city desires a pedestrian-oriented, mixed-use community that would be linked to the new ballpark and would include a variety of housing and retail opportunities as well as new parks. The area would be served by a mass transit system.

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

Council member Herb Polson cast the dissenting vote, saying the city was moving too quickly.

"I have a lot of constituents who have been calling me and sending me e-mails telling me to slow it down," he said. "It should be our timeline, not a timeline that was given to us by an outside entity."

Reporter Carlos Moncada can be reached at (727) 451-2333 or cmoncada@tampatrib.com.

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