ST. PETERSBURG, Fla. — An independent consulting firm hired by the city of St. Petersburg has evaluated the four proposals for developing the Historic Gas Plant District and determined Sugar Hill Community Partners along with Hines and Tampa Bay Rays best fit the city's needs.
The approximately 86-acre plot of land in the heart of downtown St. Petersburg includes Tropicana Field – home of the Tampa Bay Rays.
A partner at HR&A Advisors, Cary Hirschstein, said, "This is a once-in-a-generation project for St Petersburg. So the city administration wanted an outside party to give a really good deep, rigorous, and objective look at the proposals and retained my firm advisors to do that."
HR&A Advisors said it focused on each proposer’s development team and program, economic impact, financial offer and community benefits.
"We're looking at each of the development teams that had issued these proposals and their track record," Hirschstein said. "We wanted to understand the consistency of the vision with what the city has put forth."
While it's unclear whether the 78-page evaluation will influence which developer Mayor Ken Welch selects, some local groups are making their choices clear.
Bishop Manuel Skykes of Bethel Community Baptist Church and several other Black faith leaders in St. Pete say their support is fully behind Sugar Hill.
Sykes explains Sugar Hill presented the only proposal he feels adequately honors the Gas Plant site's history, once a predominantly black neighborhood bulldozed to make way for Tropicana Field.
"I don't want to see a plaque. If you took my house, put it back," Sykes said. "I'm looking specifically for restoration because it was illegal, immoral and unethical, what they did to acquire that property."
Meanwhile, the St. Petersburg Chamber of Commerce, a group comprised of the city's business leaders, is throwing its support behind the Hines and Tampa Bay Rays proposal.
While its leaders were unavailable for an interview on Friday, in a Tampa Bay Times column written last week, the chamber leaders wrote:
"The economic development opportunities in the Rays/Hines proposal will ensure this site has a healthy balance of jobs, corporate opportunities, and small, ground-floor business spaces."
With countless voices in his ear, Mayor Ken Welch will announce his selection Monday, Jan. 30, during his State of the City address.