Mayor Ken Welch chose The Burg Bid for 58 acres of the Tropicana Field site. City Council never approved a deal, and Mayor-elect Charlie Crist wants a blue-ribbon panel that could start over.
By Joseph Jackson | TAMPA (Nov. 7, 2026)
The short version
Crist beat Welch 62% to 38% Tuesday. He and the new City Council are sworn in Jan. 7, Axios reported.
The Burg Bid offered $275 million, with a $20 million deposit, for 58 of the district's 86 acres. Two appraisals valued that land at nearly $400 million, Creative Loafing reported.
No deal is final. The city still has to negotiate term sheets and win City Council approval, and Crist could send the project back out for bids.
ST. PETERSBURG — Mayor Ken Welch has about two months left to cement his legacy, and the biggest piece of it is unfinished: the 86-acre Historic Gas Plant District, Axios Tampa Bay reported.
Mayor-elect Charlie Crist, who won Tuesday with 62% of the vote, wants a blue-ribbon panel to review Welch's choice of The Burg Bid, Florida Politics reported. He could send the whole project back out for bids, as Welch did with his predecessor's plan, WUSF reported.
What Welch picked
In July, Welch chose The Burg Bid, led by St. Petersburg native Thompson Whitney Blake's Blake Investment Partners, the St. Pete Catalyst reported. Partners include Related Group, Elliott Investment Management and the Pinellas County Housing Authority.
The bid offered the city $275 million, with a $20 million deposit, for about 58 acres, Creative Loafing Tampa reported. Two appraisals put that land at nearly $400 million.
Welch said the first groundbreaking would be an affordable senior housing development of about 95 units, meant to give former Gas Plant residents a way to return, Florida Politics reported. The neighborhood, predominantly Black, was razed for the stadium decades ago.
Why it isn't done
Picking a developer is not a contract. The city has to negotiate term sheets and bring agreements to the City Council for approval, Florida Politics reported. The project also has to go through the city's community benefits process with more public input, Welch told Home Runs Matter.
The council has pushed back before. In February it voted 6-2 to pause the selection process, FOX 13 reported. The resolution was nonbinding, and Welch went ahead.
The land doesn't open up until the Rays' lease ends after the 2028 season, WUSF reported. The team's new stadium in Tampa was approved in August.
What Crist has said
At their debate, Crist said he thought all the plans looked good and that he was coming at it with no bias, the Catalyst reported. He has also called for more City Council involvement and more emphasis on parks, green space and housing, Florida Politics reported.
Crist told Home Runs Matter that if the process behind The Burg Bid proves sound, his administration will give the project the due diligence it has earned.
What to watch before Jan. 7
The question for the next eight weeks is whether any Gas Plant agreement lands on a City Council agenda before the new mayor and council take office. FMNN has not found one scheduled and will update this story if one is posted.
Disclosure: FMNN endorsed Ken Welch for mayor on Oct. 18 and published an opinion critical of Crist after his win.
Related reading
Sources
Axios Tampa Bay — https://www.axios.com/local/tampa-bay/2026/11/04/st-pete-mayor-city-council-results
Florida Politics, Nov. 3 — https://floridapolitics.com/archives/827581-charlie-crist-ousts-ken-welch-to-become-st-petersburgs-next-mayor/
Florida Politics, Burg Bid selection — https://floridapolitics.com/archives/805391-ken-welch-presses-ahead-with-the-burg-bid-for-tropicana-field-redevelopment/
St. Pete Catalyst — https://stpetecatalyst.com/welch-crist-spar-and-compare-opinions-in-mayoral-debate/
Creative Loafing Tampa — https://www.cltampa.com/news/photos-mayor-ken-welch-confirms-burg-bid-for-st-petes-gas-plant-proposal-with-plans-to-tear-down-tropicana-field/
Home Runs Matter — https://homerunsmatter.com/st-pete-candidates-gas-plant-position/
FOX 13 — https://www.fox13news.com/news/st-pete-power-struggle-mayor-welch-vows-press-gas-plant-project