The Tampa Bay Rays and Hines have unveiled plans to replace Tropicana Field with a massive redevelopment that will include thousands of apartments as well as a new ballpark for the MLB franchise.
The redevelopment in the 86-acre Historic Gas Plant District at the edge of downtown St. Petersburg will include 5,700 apartment units, 1.4M SF of offices, 300K SF of retail, a 700-room hotel and a 2,500-seat entertainment venue.
The Rays have been seeking a replacement for Tropicana Field for more than two decades. The Ray's lease expires in 2027 for the domed stadium, notorious for its worn-out artificial surface and catwalks under the dome, which are in play and sometimes get in the way of high pop-ups.
Recommended For You
If their bid is approved by the city—there reportedly are three other bidders for the redevelopment site—the Rays are planning to build a new stadium with a fixed roof that also will have large glass side windows that can be opened. The $1B facility, with a capacity of about 30K, would be completed by 2028.
Rays' principal owner Stuart Sternberg said the new stadium would feature a "pavilion" design with a square base and now upper-deck seating, making the stadium appear low in scale to shops and restaurants on what will be called Game Day Street, which will be architecturally structured to be part of the neighborhood.
The roof of the stadium will be made from a fluorine-based plastic ETFE which can let in diffused light.
Houston-based Hines is no stranger to baseball stadium redevelopments. The company was involved in building Petco Park in San Diego, a downtown ballpark designed to incorporate an historic warehouse in left field.
The 7M SF redevelopment of the historic district will include more than 20 new urban blocks, with public uses planned for half the site, which the developers said would incorporate nine sustainability strategies.
Gensler will serve as the masterplan architect for the project, working with St. Petersburg-based Storyn Studio for Architecture. Washington DC-based Dantes Partner will lead the development of more than 850 affordable and workforce units.
In their bid, Hines and the Rays committed $50M to equity initiatives for historically disadvantaged populations.
The other bids for the property were submitted by Sugar Hill Community Partners, 50 Plus 1 Sports and Restoration Associates.
During the summer, St. Petersburg Mayor Ken Welch scrapped plans that had been submitted by two previously chosen developers, called the plans "outdated" and not configured for post-pandemic workforce trends.
© 2025 ALM Global, LLC, All Rights Reserved. Request academic re-use from www.copyright.com. All other uses, submit a request to [email protected]. For more information visit Asset & Logo Licensing.
