Disruptive tech development for Rays

Image: Tampa Bay Rays

After initially not pushing for a new ballpark for the Major League Baseball (MLB) team Tampa Bay Rays in a new St. Petersburg development, Ellison Development now says it would love to see such a facility in the Historic Gas Plant District development.

‘Ballpark Digest.com’ stated that the emphasis on wooing the Rays was made clear at a St. Petersburg Downtown Partnership meeting held recently where Dave Bevirt, Chief Operating Officer (COO) for Ellison Development, told attendees that his firm had met with the Rays officials about a new ballpark in the Historic Gas Plant District redevelopment.

The Tampa Bay Rays are an American professional baseball team based in the Tampa Bay area. The Rays compete in the Major League Baseball (MLB) as a member club of the American League (AL) East Division.

The 25,025-capacity Tropicana Field (nicknamed ‘The Trop’) is a domed multipurpose stadium located in St. Petersburg, Florida, United States. ‘The Trop’ was the home of the Tampa Bay Rays of Major League Baseball (MLB) from 1998 to 2024. But for the 2025 season the team’s home ballpark was the 11,026-capacity George M. Steinbrenner Field in Tampa, Florida, due to damage to the Tropicana Field caused by Hurricane Milton.

The Rays want to build a fixed-roof stadium – a “forever home” – to “anchor a best-in-class mixed-use development” that would require at least 100 acres of land for a “world-class live/work/play experience”.

The Ellison Development is a real estate development firm based in Tampa, Florida (US). Founded by Casey Ellison, the firm is focused on acquiring, developing and constructing architecturally significant mixed-use projects that aim to build timeless projects that embrace and enhance the local community.

The Historic Gas Plant District redevelopment is a multibillion dollar project to redevelop the 86-acre area in downtown St. Petersburg, Florida (US) currently occupied by the Tropicana Field. The plan involves replacing the stadium with a large mixed-use development featuring the residential units, office space, retail, a hotel, and senior living with a significant portion of the site dedicated to public space. This project has seen proposals from different entities including the Tampa Bay Rays organization and several development companies.

‘Ballpark Digest.com’ further stated that the Tropicana Field is located on the Western end of the Historic Gas Plant District and like the Rays’ previous redevelopment plan for the area the Ellison Development foresees building a new ballpark to the east of ‘The Trop’. But the previous Rays/Hines redevelopment plan never came to fruition and the American investor Stu Sternberg ended up selling the team to a group led by the real estate developer Patrick Zalupski. In a presser introducing the group to the public it was pretty clear that they would consider any viable ballpark site across all of Tampa Bay – though insiders make it clear a Tampa location would be preferred. That inclusion of the entire region is leading to optimism from Ellison Development.

Said Bevirt, “We’ve heard a lot about Hillsborough (County), about moving to Tampa. But we’ve also heard about them staying. That’s why we put in the proposal the option for the Rays to stay, which we hope they will. … We’re not saying the Rays are not coming. We’re just saying if they can stay, we’ve got a plan for it, which is really important. And we do.”

More interesting, perhaps, is the emphasis Ellison Development is placing on new and disruptive technology for the development complete with a “deconstructed convention center”, concert hall and amphitheater. A later part of the development would include the creation of a 750,000-square-foot academic cluster served by eVTOLS (electric vertical take-off and landing vehicles). The details are or petty interesting.

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