After initially not a New Tampa Bay Rays baseball stadium in one new development in St. Petersburg, Ellison development Now it says it would like to see such a facility in the Historic gasworks district Development.
The emphasis on wooing the Rays was made clear at a St. Petersburg Downtown Partnership Meeting last week where Dave BevirtChief Operating Officer of Ellison Development, told attendees that his company has met with Rays officials about a new ballpark in the Historic Gas Plant District redevelopment area. Tropicana Field is located at the western end of the historic Gas Plant District, and like the Rays' previous redevelopment plan for the area, Ellison Development calls for building a new ballpark east of the Trop. However, the previous Rays/Hines turnaround plan never came to fruition, and Stu Sternberg eventually sold the team to a group led by Patrick Zalupski. In a press conference introducing the group to the public, it became pretty clear that they would consider a viable ballpark location throughout Tampa Bay – although insiders made it clear that a location in Tampa would be preferred. (We have reviewed the websites here.) This involvement of the entire region inspires optimism at Ellison Development. By St. Pete Catalyst:
“We've heard a lot about Hillsborough (County), about moving to Tampa,” Bevirt said. “But we've also heard that they're staying. That's why we included in the proposal the option for the Rays to stay, and we hope they will do that.”…
“We’re not saying the Rays aren’t coming,” Bevirt said. “We're just saying if they can stay, we have a plan for what's really important. And that's what we're doing.”
Perhaps more interesting is the emphasis Ellison Development is placing on new and groundbreaking technologies in the development, including a “deconstructed convention center,” a concert hall and an amphitheater. A later part of the development would include the creation of a 750,000 square meter academic cluster served by eVTOLS (electric vertical takeoff and landing vehicles). The details are rather petty interesting; Check them out in St. Pete Catalyst.
There is another potential angle for Ellison Development. While the conversation focuses on the Rays, there's another Tampa Bay pro team looking for a new home: the Tampa Bay Rowdiesalso owned by the new Rays owners. The USL Championship team needs to find a new home Once St. Pete moves forward with its plans to close Al Lang Stadium. Currently, 12,000-15,000 seat stadiums seem to be just the ticket when it comes to new USL championship facilities (see Detroit And Sacramento (for example) and considering what Ellison Development is hoping to achieve with the redevelopment of the Historic Gas Plant District, a soccer facility with potential for larger events might be a better – and safer – fit than the more speculative search for an MLB team that has expressed no interest in remaining in St. Pete.
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