Back to square one: St. Pete mayor trashes Tropicana Field redevelopment plans

Ken Welch cites the pandemic, supply chain challenges, soaring housing costs and inflation in his decision to relaunch the RFP process.

By Brian Hartz
| 1:29 p.m. June 29, 2022
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Tampa Bay-Lakeland

Despite the looming 2027 expiration of the Tampa Bay Rays’ lease at Tropicana Field, St. Petersburg Mayor Ken Welch has decided to throw out two years of work and restart the Trop site RFP process, which kicked off in July 2020, from scratch.

In a Wednesday news conference and a statement posted on the city’s website, Welch says pandemic-driven challenges of the past two years necessitate a fresh approach to the future of the 86-acre site, home to a predominantly Black neighborhood known as the Gas Plant prior to being redeveloped in the 1980s as part of an attempt to reel in a major pro sports franchise.