With the city of Tampa and Hillsborough County approving new Tampa Bay Rays ballpark funding plans, the MLB team is closer to shovels in the ground for a potential 2029 opening.
Hillsborough County will pay nearly $800 million toward the $2.3 billion ballpark development, and the city of Tampa will pay $80 million toward the project. (The Rays will pay $1.37 billion toward the new ballpark, or 60 percent of the construction cost, plus overruns.) The two votes late last week were approved by the same margins as initial approval of the plans and followed the terms of the tentative proposals, as no elected officials changed their minds on the merits of the project.
So as of now, the project is a definite go.
There is still one big issue to resolve, as well as some smaller ones, such as court approval for hotel-tax bonding and public hearings on Community Investment Tax usage. The biggie: the specifics of a community benefit agreement. Both bodies passed their ballpark funding plans without a community benefits agreement in place, which is fairly unusual: usually big development plans have a community benefit agreement worked out before approval. A community benefit agreement will detail what the developer plans to provide in addition to the actual core of the project (in this case, the ballpark). The Rays ballpark funding plan encompasses much more than just the ballpark: it includes s substantial mixed-use development as well as a redevelopment of the Hillsborough College campus.
Though neither the city nor county addressed specific community benefits, their approval of Rays ballpark funding was contingent on agreement on a new benefits package. The Rays have proposed a series of benefits including business support, transportation upgrades and affordable housing at the development site, as well as money donated to other community groups.
Though these steps are still to be completed, the team and its partners are looking at moving quickly on the project. The Rays are shooting for a March 2029 opening, which means site demolition must begin in December after a September groundbreaking, with construction of the foundation and bowl in March 2027. Schematic design on the ballpark and the development will begin apace, and Hillsborough College is ready to tear down the existing campus in favor of the new $215 million campus. How soon?
The college is ready to transfer to portable trailer classrooms come the spring semester in “The Nest,” a temporary campus.
The new Rays ballpark will anchor a new entertainment complex at Hillsborough College, which would also see a redeveloped campus as part of the overall plan. An entertainment complex could have an economic impact beyond Rays game: the 113-acre Dale Mabry Campus of Hillsborough Community College is located south of Steinbrenner Field (spring-training home of the New York Yankees) and west of Raymond James Stadium (home of the NFL’s Tampa Bay Buccaneers), and the assumption that an entertainment district would draw fans for both Yankees spring training and Bucs games.
The plan divides the site into four quarters: A Champions Quarter containing the $2.3 billion ballpark at the corner of Dale Mabry and West Tampa Bay Boulevard; an Invention Edge housing the rebuilt Hillsborough College campus; The Row, a street running through the development; and The Canopy, open parkland marked by shade and greenery. The goal to create an environment that brings fan in early and keeps them after a game, while also attracting interest from Yankees and Buccaneers fans. If the plan seems familiar, it should be: this is the same exact blueprint the Atlanta Braves used to create Truist Park and The Battery mixed-use district in Cobb County.
The Rays would sign a 35-year lease with three five-year options at the end and include a nonrelocation clause. The team would manage the ballpark operations and cover repairs and insurance. The goal is a March 1, 2029 opening; the Rays’ Tropicana Field lease ends after the 2028 season.
Rendering courtesy Tampa Bay Rays.
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