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A for sale sign sits in front of a house on Sunday, June 12, 2022 in Pinellas Park.
Mortgage rates and home prices are still going up
Welch’s family history is central to how the mayor helped broker a deal that fulfills broken promises.
Many of the city and county’s elected leaders said they are optimistic but want to know more about the deal’s financials and the team’s obligations.
Nearly two decades of downtown development bolstered the Rays’ decision to keep their home field at home.

Latest

  1. A for sale sign sits in front of a house on Sunday, June 12, 2022 in Pinellas Park.
  2. St. Petersburg Mayor Ken Welch is pictured ahead of his ceremonial pitch for Tampa Bay Rays' game against the Los Angeles Angels at Tropicana Field on Wednesday.
  3. Pinellas County Commissioner Janet Long shakes her fists in excitement at Tropicana Field Tuesday, Sept. 19, 2023 in St. Petersburg. The Rays announced an agreement for a new ballpark to be built in St. Petersburg.
  4. Raymond wears a “We are St. Pete” shirt before St. Petersburg Mayor Ken Welch throws the ceremonial first pitch before the Tampa Bay Rays-Los Angeles Angels game at Tropicana Field on Wednesday.
  5. Hitchcock's Green Market at Tyrone Square Mall on July 30, 2020, in St. Petersburg. The grocery store closed in 2022, and the space could soon become an Aldi's. Seritage Growth Properties sold its stake in the mall Thursday.
  6. Hillsborough County Commissioner Donna Cameron Cepeda, who lived in subsidized housing before she was elected to the board last year, voted with a majority of commissioners to cut affordable housing spending this week and divert the money to other needs.
  7. This animation shows the three phases of development expected for the Rays and Hines' redevelopment of St. Petersburg's 86-acre Tropicana Field site. First, between 2024 and 2029, a new stadium and other buildings will go up east of Tropicana Field. After Tropicana Field is demolished, from 2030 to 2035, new office, residential and retail buildings will go up on the land where it once stood. Finally, from 2036 to 2043, developers will build out the southwest corner of the site with additional office, retail and residential space.
  8. Tampa City Council gathered earlier this month for a budget workshop meeting, discussing the spending plan and investment priorities for the upcoming fiscal year.
  9. This rendering released by the Tampa Bay Rays on Tuesday shows the interior of a proposed new ballpark on the site of Tropicana Field in St. Petersburg.
  10. An artist's rendering of the proposed Rays Stadium and redevelopment of the historic Gas Plant District
  11. A rendering from a plan submitted by the Tampa Bay Rays and Hines shows a view looking north across Booker Creek at a new Rays stadium and proposed music hall.
  12. St. Petersburg Mayor Ken Welch speaks at Tropicana Field on Tuesday in St. Petersburg. The Rays, St. Petersburg and Pinellas County announced an agreement for a new ballpark to be built in St. Petersburg.
  13. Tampa Bay Rays principal owner Stu Sternberg, left, steps from the podium at a Hillsborough County Commission meeting as team president Matt Silverman prepares to speak during a discussion about a potential new baseball stadium.
  14. The city of St. Petersburg will continue to keep the Tampa Bay Rays in town under a new stadium deal, according to the team.
  15. Two men wade through water between the beach access and Clearwater Beach on Aug. 31. Several bodies of water popped up along Clearwater Beach, an effect of Hurricane Idalia.
  16. A drone photo shows widespread destruction in Horseshoe Beach in the Big Bend area after Hurricane Idalia struck Aug. 30.
  17. The closed sign at the entrance to the former Pebble Creek Golf Club in New Tampa.
  18. A rendering shows one tower with 400 apartments on the former City Hall site on Osceola Avenue. The original plan from Gotham Organization and The DeNunzio Group called for two towers with 600 units.
  19. Kemyia McGhee shows a bedroom window that was broken before moving in to her Woodberry Woods apartment in Brandon. Without being allowed to see the apartment, she signed a yearlong lease for a place that was crawling with bugs and covered in grime.
  20. Both renters and property owners are expected to keep a home in good shape.
  21. Florida Housing Finance Corp. Executive Director Mike DiNapoli speaks about the Legislature’s affordable housing efforts at Gov. Ron DeSantis’ bill-signing ceremony on March 29.
  22. Florida Housing Finance Corp. Executive Director Mike DiNapoli speaks about the Legislature’s affordable housing efforts at Gov. Ron DeSantis’ bill-signing ceremony on March 29, 2023.
  23. Mick Jagger sold his home in Lakewood Ranch for $3.25 million. 

Photos courtesy of Christine Spelman at
RE/MAX ALLIANCE GROUP
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