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Rays proposed deal with St. Petersburg includes $5 million for south side neighborhoods

 
St. Petersburg Mayor Rick Kriseman and Tampa Mayor Bob Buckhorn address members of the Tiger Bay Club at the St. Petersburg Yacht Club on Friday. Kriseman thinks neighborhoods near Tropicana Field deserve compensation.
St. Petersburg Mayor Rick Kriseman and Tampa Mayor Bob Buckhorn address members of the Tiger Bay Club at the St. Petersburg Yacht Club on Friday. Kriseman thinks neighborhoods near Tropicana Field deserve compensation.
Published Jan. 9, 2016

ST. PETERSBURG — Mayor Rick Kriseman is confident that his tentative deal with the Tampa Bay Rays to allow them to look for a new home outside of St. Petersburg will eventually persuade the team to stay.

And with City Council chairwoman Amy Foster, a key swing vote, announcing Friday that she supports the deal, council approval next week seems certain.

But if the Rays aren't swayed by the prospect of taking half of up to a $1 billion in projected development revenue, Kriseman said the city, especially its southern neighborhoods, will benefit from ending a nearly decade-long stalemate with the Rays.

Kriseman revealed Friday a concept that he mentioned to council members in private meetings this week: a one-time $5 million cash infusion to south St. Petersburg to help spark an economic revival that has bypassed the city's poorest neighborhoods.

When Kriseman and Foster met with reporters at City Hall on Friday morning, they touted the deal as a can't-miss proposition. If the Rays stay, a new stadium will be the crown jewel of a revived residential and commercial development, extending the downtown renaissance westward. If the team leaves, same thing happens, but with another big-ticket project anchoring 85 acres of prime real estate.

Foster, who had voted on both sides of the issue since joining the council, said she thinks the deal is much better for the city than prior proposals.

"The timing is just different. The conversation has shifted. People are ready for a resolution. I think time has been on our side on this one," Foster said.

The council will vote on the tentative agreement Thursday.

What the council won't vote on is Kriseman's idea to funnel $5 million in development revenues to the neighborhoods to the south of the Trop.

"At this point, it's conceptual in nature," Kriseman said. "I see it as a one-time investment, similar to the BP money."

The city's $6.5 million BP settlement is still being debated, but contains a long list of projects including a bike share, funding an arts endowment, planning for climate change and fixing the city's aging infrastructure. The city has already committed $350,000 for a pilot ferry project to Tampa.

The money for the south side would not be placed into an existing development trust for the neighborhood, but would be determined by council with recommendations from the mayor. Kriseman said he thinks the neighborhoods near the Trop deserve compensation for the destruction of neighborhoods and the economic development that never fully materialized.

Lisa Wheeler-Brown said she was thrilled when Kriseman told her about the idea, which would be contingent on at least $10 million in development revenue.

African-Americans were displaced for the building of the Trop, but the money shouldn't be seen as payback, she said.

"This is for now. To lift our area up now," Wheeler-Brown said. "St. Petersburg is moving forward and we want to move forward with it."

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Karl Nurse said he feels some ownership of the idea since he and County Commissioner Ken Welch crafted the development tool for the neighborhood, which Kriseman later expanded.

"I try not to let an opportunity to help Midtown go by without raising my hand," Nurse said.

Former council member Wengay Newton had fought for months for the city to redraw the boundaries of the redevelopment area to include the Trop. He said a one-time cash infusion wasn't enough.

"You need a dedicated funding stream, not a one-time hit. What happens after that?" said Newton.

Kriseman says the money won't solve endemic poverty, but would be helpful.

"It's a nod to the communities that were impacted," he said.

Contact Charlie Frago at cfrago@tampabay.com or (727) 893-8459. Follow@CharlieFrago.