St. Pete to seek proposals for Tropicana Field redevelopment

Driving the news: Welch announced this week that he'll officially start to welcome new proposals in mid-November.

• Interested developers will have 30 days to submit their pitch.

State of play: Since the deal to redevelop the prime piece of real estate into a stadium and mixed-use village fell apart in March, the city has received two ideas for developing the land.

• The Pinellas County Housing Authority submitted a proposal this month to build a seven-story, 80-unit affordable housing complex for seniors on a 0.58-acre portion of the property, the Tampa Bay Times reported.
• The other proposal, from local development group ARK Ellison Horus, includes plans for more than 3,000 housing units, with more than half set aside for low- to moderate-income families and seniors, per the Times.
• That plan also calls for hotel rooms, retail and office space, a land bridge to nearby Campbell Park, and a new 50,000-square-foot campus for the Woodson African American Museum of Florida.

Meanwhile, City Council members last week advanced a proposal to hire the Urban Land Institute, a nonprofit network of land use and real estate experts, for a study on how to best use the property, the St. Pete Catalyst reported.

The intrigue: The ARK Ellison plan side-eyed the idea of a new stadium anchoring the development, the Times reported.

• "St. Petersburg has a bright future with or without the Rays," it read. "This proposal delivers exactly that."

Flashback: The city demolished the historically Black Gas Plant neighborhood in the 1980s based on promises to rehabilitate the community with jobs, industry and affordable housing.

• City leaders later changed course and built Tropicana Field on the land instead, betraying many of the district's displaced residents.

What they're saying: Making good on those original promises is a key priority for Welch.

• "I intend to ensure that any redevelopment reflects the values and priorities of our entire community," he said in a statement.