Tampa Bay Rays, City of St. Pete announces plans for new stadium

ST PETERSBURG, Fla. (WWSB) - The Tampa Bay Rays announced Tuesday that they have reached an agreement with the City of St. Petersburg and Pinellas County to move forward with a new state-of-art ballpark.

The proposal shows a covered and air-conditioned ballpark with 30,000 seats with more capacity for events.

Pinellas County and St. Petersburg are set to equally split the remaining $600 million for the ballpark. The Rays will cover half of the $1.3 billion ballpark and any additional costs above and beyond allocated expenses.

Construction on the new ballpark is set to begin in late 2024. It is expected to be completed by 2028.

Hines is one of the largest privately held real estate developers and managers in the world, with extensive experience in Florida and nationally. Once fully built, the project is planned to include:

4,800 residential units
1,200 affordable/workforce residential units (on and off-site)
600 senior living units
1,400,000 square feet of office, medical and commercial space
750,000 square feet of retail
750 hotel rooms
100,000 square feet of entertainment space, including a concert venue to seat up to 4,000
50,000 square feet of civic space, namely a new home for the Carter G. Woodson African American Museum
90,000 - 100,000 square feet of conference, ballroom and meeting space
14 acres of public open space
14,000 parking spaces

The team will continue to play in the existing ballpark on the site until the end of its current lease with the City of St. Petersburg in 2027.

The public approval process by Pinellas County and the City of St. Petersburg is expected to begin this fall.