St. Pete mayor expresses ‘full faith’ Rays will remain in city

Ken Welch, speaking at an Urban Land Institute event, says he’s "not concerned" with ongoing speculation that the team could wind up in Tampa or even an entirely different market.

By Brian Hartz
| 12:45 p.m. March 10, 2023
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A rendering of the Rays/Hines proposal for downtown St. Pete's 86-acre Tropicana Field site, also known as the Historic Gas Plant District.

Tampa Bay-Lakeland

St. Petersburg Mayor Ken Welch says he has “full faith” that the Tampa Bay Rays and their development partner, Hines, will execute the Tropicana Field redevelopment proposal that Welch chose Jan. 30 over three other bids.

Welch and two city staff members, Economic and Workforce Development Director Brian Caper and Community and Neighborhood Affairs Administrator James Corbett, appeared at an Urban Land Institute StimULI Breakfast on Thursday, March 9, at the Birchwood Inn in downtown St. Pete. Their panel discussion was moderated by Rena Frazier, a Tampa real estate agent who was featured in the reality TV series “Selling Tampa” on Netflix.