ST. PETERSBURG, Fla. — St. Pete Mayor Ken Welch announced on Monday that he chose Hines & Tampa Bay Rays redevelopment proposal for the historic Gas Plant District, which includes Tropicana Field.
"I thought the Hines Rays proposal was more practical. That their capacity was better and would help us to actually get the project done," Mayor Welch said.
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Hines, joined with the Tampa Bay Rays franchise, is proposing to make 23% of the project housing affordable, with 859 units on-site and a $15 million dollar investment in off-site programs for homeownership and rental assistance.
“Development also creates an opportunity for neighborhoods to become neighbors around the department itself to become more expensive. And what we're trying to do is stem that tide,” said Buwa Binitie, the founder and CEO of Dantes Partners, who is heading the affordable housing element of the Hines & Tampa Bay Rays project proposal.
It's a decision that came with some controversy—as dozens protested outside of city hall Monday.
Nick Carey, with the group Faith in Florida, said there's a concern that the Hines-Tampa Bay Rays plan doesn't provide enough affordable housing.
"I think the biggest concern is just the idea of selling off the land," he said.
It's a call that's personal for Jerry Funt, with the Bay Area Dream Defenders, who said he had to move away from St. Petersburg because of rising rent prices.
"Our landlords decided to raise our rent 40%," he said.
Carey added that there's concern over how developers will determine what's affordable.
"A third of renting people are making less than $20 an hour," he said.
It's a number that Funt said the community will need to hold developers accountable to in order to prevent further displacement and disparities in the city.
"A lot of the affordable housing plans that we've seen are looking at the average median income in the area and that average median income is first going to rise as new people from higher incomes move into the area," he said, "But it's also going to create a new issue because the average median income is not the same for white and black people in the area."
Hines Rays HGP Presentation QandA by ABC Action News on Scribd
Hines Rays Presentation Exe... by ABC Action News
According to a timeline on the city's website, the next step in the process is to complete a term sheet with the preferred developer in May and then present the agreement to the city council for approval in September or October.
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