Axios Tampa Bay

The Tampa Bay Rays will lead the redevelopment of Tropicana Field.

Driving the news: St. Petersburg Mayor Ken Welch announced yesterday that he selected the team's proposal after mulling over four finalists since early December.

Why it matters: It's likely the defining moment of Welch's first term. He's got some big goals to pull off: Keep the Rays in St. Petersburg, ease the affordable housing crisis and bring back Black families and businesses that were moved out to build Tropicana Field.

The big picture: While all the proposals included a new baseball stadium, the team now has more control over what it will look like — which could make all the difference as Tampa attempts to woo the team with its competing plans for an Ybor stadium.

• Tampa Mayor Jane Castor tells Axios she's keeping the door open for the team.

Between the lines: The Rays and Houston-based partner Hines offered St. Petersburg the most money for development rights and guaranteed a new ballpark by the 2028 season.

• The proposal also included the lowest percentage of affordable housing units, compared to competing developers.
• In a press conference after the announcement, Welch told reporters that the comparable lack of affordable housing would be worked out in negotiations over the next year.

Details: The group proposes a 7 million-square-foot, mixed-use development with a Rays stadium at its center.

• It would include 5,700 multifamily units and 600 senior living residences, with more than 850 affordable and workforce housing units on-site, and about 600 such residences off-site.
• There would be office, retail and hotel space, a music venue, a new Carter G. Woodson African American Museum, full activation of Booker Creek and a connecting bridge.

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While he's in the driver's seat for another legislative session, Gov. Ron DeSantis is gassing up transportation funding.

Driving the news: DeSantis announced his "Moving Florida Forward" transportation infrastructure proposal yesterday.

• If approved, it would expedite 20 major interstate and roadway projects across the state over the next four years.

Yes, but: The $7 billion project, meant to "combat congestion, improve safety, and ensure a more resilient transportation system" has zero funding for public transit.

Zoom in: Tampa Bay areas of focus in the proposal and their proposed costs include:

• I-275 from 38th Avenue to 4th Street in St. Petersburg ($354M)
• I-4 at the State Road 33 Interchange in Lakeland ($197M)
• I-75 at the Fruitville Road Interchange in Sarasota ($192M)
• State Road 70 from Bourneside Boulevard to Waterbury Road in Bradenton ($53M)

What they're saying: "This proposal will break through the bureaucracy that often slows down infrastructure projects and allow FDOT to target projects that will ease congestion across the state," DeSantis said at a press conference in Polk County.

Florida lawmakers have filed a bill that would allow people to carry concealed weapons without licenses, additional training or background checks. The proposal will likely pass in March when the legislative session begins. (Axios)

🏗️ Three development firms unveiled very different visions last week for four waterfront acres the city of Bradenton is looking to sell. (Bradenton Herald)

📈 North Port, which now boasts a population of 80,000, was ranked as the second-fastest growing city in the U.S. by Quicken Loans, with a 5.5% year-over-year population growth. Cape Coral/Fort Myers was first. (Sarasota Herald-Tribune)

🐒 A hurricane-postponed banquet to raise money for Historic Monkey Island in Old Homosassa has been rescheduled for Feb. 9 at 5pm at the Florida Cracker Monkey Bar. (Citrus County Chronicle)

Quote du jour:

"We have worked throughout the community, and no one claims to know who the mother is."

👋 Hey, Ben here. I took my daughter, Mo, to Manila for some book work in 2014 and now have a deep appreciation for Filipino cuisine.

Trust me when I say Tampa's first sari-sari counter Lucky Tigré, which opened late last year, should be on your radar if you like steamed buns, sticky rice, and Filipino dumplings.

• We tried almost everything on the simple menu and fell in love with the Suman Malagkit, which is jasmine rice soaked in coconut milk and steamed inside a banana leaf, and the dairy-free halo halo dessert, made of ube ice cream, coconut milk, crushed ice, banana, sweet red beans, mango jelly, strawberry jelly, lychee jelly, brown sugar boba and coconut slices.

Bonus: A good portion of the menu is plant-based.