The Tampa Tribune - June 14, 2008

St. Petersburg Mayor's Choice To Redevelop Tropicana Field Not Rays' Pick

By CARLOS MONCADA
The Tampa Tribune
Published: June 14, 2008

ST. PETERSBURG - Mayor Rick Baker is recommending a Virginia-based developer to transform Tropicana Field and its parking lots into a massive mixed-use community of shops, restaurants, offices, hotels and residences.

In a memo Friday to the city council, Baker said he concurs with the recommendation of his staff to select Archstone-Madison over the Tampa Bay Rays' preferred developer, Houston-based Hines Interests.

Hines was retained by the Rays last year to produce a site development plan for the 86-acre Tropicana site.

That plan was unveiled when the team announced the new stadium proposal in November.

The council will consider Baker's recommendation at its meeting Thursday.

Redeveloping the Tropicana site is a key part of the Rays' plan to build a $450 million ballpark on the downtown waterfront by 2012.

The recommendation is to authorize city staff to negotiate further with Archstone-Madison and to enter into a memorandum of understanding by Aug. 1.

Council members voted last week to begin the process for scheduling a Nov. 4 referendum on a new waterfront stadium.

Final action on the referendum is set for Aug. 7, when the council also could take action on the memo of understanding, Baker wrote.

Archstone-Madison and Hines were among three developers who submitted bids to the city to redevelop the Tropicana site.

Although both proposed similar town center-style developments, Archstone-Madison's 5.4-million-square-foot project, called "EcoVerde," was more intense than Hines' 3.11-million-square-foot project, dubbed "West End St. Pete." Thus Archstone-Madison offered the greater potential return on property and sales tax revenue generated at the site, the city's staff said.

Archstone-Madison's proposal "strongly reflects the vision established" in the city's nationwide request for proposals, the mayor's memo states.

The memo notes that Archstone-Madison's $65 million purchase offer for the Tropicana site "is highest and comes closest to covering the remaining debt on Tropicana Field." Hines offered $60.6 million.

The Rays' financing plan proposes using the proceeds from the dome's sale to pay off the remaining city and Pinellas County debt on the stadium.

The Archstone-Madison project, when completed about 2020, would create a projected 5,574 new jobs compared with 3,174 for the Hines project, which would be finished by 2016, the memo said. Also, Archstone-Madison would create 17,521 construction jobs while the project is under way, versus 10,959 for Hines.

The Archstone-Madison proposal would generate $37.5 million in annual tax revenue, including $7.5 million for the city, according to a final comparison between the two developers. The Hines project would raise $23.1 million in yearly tax revenue, with $4.3 million going to the city.

Neither developer offered the city a guarantee on projected tax revenue.

Reporter Carlos Moncada can be reached at (727) 451-2333 or cmoncada@tampatrib.com.