St. Pete City Council member Wengay Newton’s plan to shift Tropicana Field into the Southside Community Redevelopment Area in order to bring in more funds for poor communities went down in a pile of flames during a council meeting Thursday night.
His idea was to give back to the Midtown community a piece of what was taken from them when the stadium was built in the 80s. City Council member Karl Nurse argued the move would squash any chance of reaching a deal with the Tampa Bay Rays and ultimately wooing them to stay in St. Pete if Newton got his way.
Nurse called the move “moronic.” That certainly sounds harsh, but there’s so much more to it than meets the eye.
The biggest issue with achieving Newton’s goal is that proceeds from development on the 85-acre Tropicana Field site are the key bargaining chip for the city. That money could ultimately be used to help pay for a new stadium. If the site shifts into the Southside CRA, that money goes away and likely so too do the Rays.
The idea that Newton’s plan was “moronic” wasn’t addressed to the idea in general, but rather the timing. The tone here is more one of, “let’s wait and see,” than “it’s never going to happen.”
“If you take the Tropicana Field land off the table before you have the discussion with the Rays, there’s nothing to discuss,” Nurse said Friday.
If St. Pete reaches a deal with the Rays to allow the Major League Baseball team to explore alternative stadium sites outside of St. Pete in Pinellas or Hillsborough Counties and they choose to leave, the city would retain development rights of the site — most of which could immediately be available for development because it’s currently used as parking.
If the city does nothing as it has for quite some time, the land can’t be developed before 2027 because the Rays would retain 50/50 development rights under the team’s current Use Agreement.
And that’s the route Newton seems poised to take with the stadium saga. In that scenario, even if the site were in the Southside CRA, the community wouldn’t see any of that money for another 12 years, at least.
And that’s where Nurse reminds there is already a lot of hope for Midtown and Childs Park residents who would be affected by CRA proceeds.
The current Tax Incremental Fund district for the Southside CRA includes part of the 34th Street corridor up to Fifth Avenue North. As part of that, redevelopment of the now shuttered Georgie’s Alibi is included in the CRA as is the giant slab of parking in the process of being redeveloped across the street.
Much of the Grand Central District is in the Southside CRA. It also includes the Warehouse Arts District and Dome Industrial Park now being called Commerce Park. All of these areas are booming and stand to put a good amount of Ad Valorem revenue into the CRA.
Though Nurse was peeved with Newton’s business item during this week’s meeting — it landed in council chambers dead on arrival and he knew that — he’s certainly not ignoring Midtown.
“The goal is, how much energy can we plug into the area,” Nurse said.
It’s a question he’s working on answering and one that will be addressed in committee next week.
According to Nurse, the city is looking into expanding financial empowerment services for people looking to purchase homes in Midtown and Childs Park. Between those two neighborhoods there are about 1,000 vacant lots, another 500 boarded up and an estimated 1,000 or so that are empty, but not boarded up.
That drives property values down. Nurse also said it sends the wrong message.
“It says, leave,” he said.
Historically, the city has partnered prospective homebuyers with groups that can hold their hand through the homebuying process. But that’s been largely just people who are mortgage ready and only has offered help getting through the loan process.
Nurse wants to expand that to help people who may need help getting ready by fixing credit scores or even opening a checking account.
“A more engaged city gets involved in that first 18 months,” Nurse said. “I’m pretty engaged in trying to find a way to make this work.
And as for the potential for development on the Tropicana Field site — Nurse said with or without a stadium the Midtown community stands to benefit from “the ripple effect” that would result from new businesses trickling their way down 16th street and into what is now the city’s poorest community.
