| Location: | St. Petersburg, Florida, U.S. |
| Surface: | Artificial turf |
| Architect: | Hines |
| Tenants: | Tampa Bay Rays (MLB) |
| Seating Capacity: | 30,000 |
| Cost: | $1.3 billion (estimate) |
| Acreage: | 86 |
| Mapframe: | yes |
| Mapframe-Zoom: | 13 |
Gas Plant Stadium is an approved indoor ballpark in St. Petersburg, Florida. If constructed, it would serve as the home of the Tampa Bay Rays of Major League Baseball.[1] [2] The construction cost is estimated to be $1.3 billion and the total cost to public will be $1.5 billion. This is the latest proposal for a new Tampa Bay Rays stadium, in addition to Ybor Stadium and Rays Ballpark.
On September 19, 2023, the Rays announced plans to build a new stadium adjacent to their current stadium, Tropicana Field.[3] This proposal involves redeveloping the entire 86-acre site, with this new ballpark within that boundary and adjacent to the current ballpark, which will subsequently be demolished.[4] [5]
The construction is estimated at a cost of $1.3 billion, with the city of St. Petersburg and Pinellas County contributing $600 million through a bed tax (a six percent tax on accommodations on hotels and private homes rented for less than six months[6]), and the team contributing the rest. Factoring in the cash, tax breaks, and discounted land being offered to Rays, the public cost of the project will be $1.5 billion.[7] [8]
This will be a 30,000 seat fixed roof stadium and the surrounding ballpark village would also include 4,800 market-rate residences and 1,200 affordable and workforce housing units; about 600 of the latter would be located off-site. It would have 1.4 million square feet of office space, 750,000 square feet of retail space, a 100,000-square-foot conference center, and 750-room hotel, for a total of $6.5 billion. Unlike Tropicana Field, the stadium will feature operable walls and windows that can be opened on pleasant days or closed to ward off Florida’s summer heat, rain and humidity.[9] [10]
The development site will encompass eight million sq ft of development, including: 48,000 residential units, 1,200 affordable/workforce unites, 1.4 million sq ft office/medical space, 750,000 sq ft of retail space, 750 hotel rooms, a 4,000 seat concert venue, 30,000 capacity ballpark, 100,000 sq ft conference/meeting space, 50,000 sq ft non-profit community space, 14 acres of parks/open space and 14,000 parking stalls.[11]
On April 25, the development team released documents on the 65 acres of development surrounding the ballpark in advance of the May 9 city council meeting.[12] [13]
On July 18, 2024 the St. Petersburg City Council approved a financing deal to build this stadium. After three hours of presentations and discussion, council members voted 5-3 to approve a dozen legally binding documents between the city, Pinellas County, the Rays and their development partner Hines. They also swiftly approved taking out bonds to help pay for the city’s share of stadium costs, $287.5 million, and for roads and sewers around it, another $142 million. The Rays will contribute $700 million to the stadium. They are responsible for all cost overruns on the stadium and infrastructure for the Historic Gas Plant District, as well as all insurance, maintenance and repairs to the stadium. The team will keep all revenue from tickets and concessions, broadcasting and naming rights.[14]
On July 30, 2024 Pinellas County commissioners approved funding for a new ballpark. Commissioners voted 5-2 to put $312.5 million toward the design and building of a new ballpark. The money will come from tourist development tax dollars, which the county can legally spend on a narrow range of projects meant to induce tourism, including sports venues. The Rays and Hines plan to begin building the stadium in early 2025, having it ready for Opening Day in 2028.[15] [16]