St. Petersburg draws nine proposals for Historic Gas Plant development

Why it matters: Whatever goes up on the 86 acres of prime downtown real estate will shape St. Pete's future and determine whether the city can do right by Black residents forced out of their neighborhood by Tropicana Field.

• It will also speak to the legacy of Mayor Ken Welch, who has made the Historic Gas Plant District redevelopment a pillar of his mayoral agenda and who's seeking a second term.

State of play: The race to redevelop the land was set in motion after development group ARK Ellison Horus sent an unsolicited proposal to the city in October, soon after the Tampa Bay Rays stadium deal collapsed.

• That triggered a request for competing proposals that opened Jan. 4 and closed Tuesday.

Friction point: Welch has so far rebuffed criticism from some developers and City Council members that the solicitation window was too short.

• On Thursday, council members will consider a resolution proposed by council member Brandi Gabbard calling for a big-picture planning process for the land before allowing development.

What they're saying: "Best practices for large-scale urban redevelopment support the use of independent, professionally qualified planners to lead and engage residents in meaningful planning efforts," the resolution says.

• In his Monday reelection announcement, Welch warned against "planning perpetually."
• "It's time to move us forward and get the jobs, the housing, the economic opportunity and honor those promises," he said. "It's time for action."

Meanwhile, the Rays have zeroed in on Hillsborough College as a new stadium site. The plan got a major boost Tuesday from Gov. Ron DeSantis and Major League Baseball commissioner Rob Manfred.

Zoom in: Take a look at the Gas Plant proposals below.

ARK Ellison Horus

The $6.8 billion pitch from St. Pete-based ARK Investment Management, Tampa firms Ellison Development and Horus Construction, and, as of this week, national developer Kettler, includes:

• 3,701 new residential units, more than half of which would have rental rates tied to low- and mid-income levels.
• A 50,000-square-foot new home for the Woodson African American Museum of Florida.
• The Unity Arch, a land bridge over Interstate 175 connecting the district to Campbell Park.
• More than 1,500 hotel rooms, along with an entertainment venue and a startup-focused Innovation Hall.

The proposal offers the city $202 million, including $50 million for community benefits and $12 million to demolish the Trop.

Blake Investment Partners/Related Group

St. Pete native Thompson Whitney Blake's firm, Blake Investment Partners, teamed up with Miami-based Related Group for an $8 billion plan that includes:

• A 13-acre park named after Gas Plant descendant and former teacher Samuel Davis, showcasing a "Museum Row" anchored by the Woodson Museum. Local artists Chad Mize and Mark Aeling would lead a nearby Museum of Public Art.
• More than 3,600 income-restricted housing units, with half planned for the district and the remaining units scattered throughout the city.
• A Legacy Link pedestrian trail that would connect The Deuces to downtown.
• A small-business incubator and workforce training center.

The proposal offers the city $275 million for 58 acres.

Foundation Vision Partners

This pitch from members of the former Rays-Hines team and St. Pete investment firm Backstreets Capital doesn't propose buying the land.

• Rather, the site would stay under city ownership and control, and the developers would work with city officials to create a master plan.
• Then, the development group would build out infrastructure "into a seamless network of shovel-ready development parcels" that the city would sell as the right projects come along.
• The pitch argues a community-based, "block-by-block" approach is safer than an "all-or-nothing, single-developer deal."

Tempo Novus

Developer and urban planning and design firm DPZ CoDesign also proposed that the city retain ownership of the land. Tempo Novus would lease it.

• The proposal calls for a mixed-use district but lacks specifics.
• Rather, the team wants to undergo a master-planning process led by the community, with an emphasis on walkability and lower-rise construction that blends in with the surrounding area.

Pinellas County Housing Authority

The public housing agency pitched a seven-story, 80-unit affordable-housing complex for seniors on a 0.58-acre portion of the property.

Freedom Communities Co.

Freedom Communities Co. founder Sarellyn Hamatani proposed building a 100-unit apartment building with a grocery store, sound studio and writing lab on 1 to 1.5 acres of land, to be called The Sanctuary.

Logical Sites

Seminole activist Tom Rask and undisclosed partners pitched "100% affordable housing" with options for a convention center, office and retail space, a new Woodson Museum campus, and hotel rooms.

• Rask publishes a conservative blog, Logical Sites, that covered the failed Rays deal, per the Tampa Bay Times.

International People's Democratic Uhuru Movement

The St. Pete-based Uhuru Movement submitted a proposal to seize "large tracts of city-owned or corporate-owned land ... for reparations and development use."

• The plan would be overseen by the Reparations Land Trust and Development Authority, a "quasi-governmental department."

Tampa Bay Boom

St. Petersburg dentist R. Brian Ligon's pitch is to buy the Gas Plant land for an unspecified amount, build a sports-anchored mixed-use development, and acquire the Rays.

• Renderings show a renovated Trop along with another stadium for a potential local NBA franchise.