Details emerge from anticipated Trop site proposal

A new $8.1 billion proposal to transform the area around Tropicana Field includes a 13-acre central park, a “Museum Row,” a community ownership platform and thousands of affordable and workforce housing units.

The expansive development team, led by St. Petersburg-based Blake Investment Partners, also proposed a light rail hub and an outdoor water park. If selected, prominent local artists Chad Mize and Mark Aeling will helm a public arts center.

Blake Investment Partners (BIP), in a “groundbreaking approach to community accountability,” has established The Historic Gas Plant Visionary Panel. “We are stewards first, investors second,” said founder T.W. Blake in a prepared statement.

“We’re weaving together housing, culture and commerce, with meaningful community accountability to create everlasting value for the city,” Blake added. “The Historic Gas Plant District holds deep meaning, and our vision represents a long-term commitment to the people of St. Petersburg.”

A new Woodson African American Museum of Florida would feature prominently in the project.

Blake announced his second bid for the 86 acres surrounding the Trop in December. An open letter to the community reminded readers that the area was once home to a vibrant African American community that was subsequently displaced in the name of economic revitalization.

BIP believes it has the local and national expertise, prominent partnerships and institutional capital to oversee a “transformative development that honors the past, powers the present and solidifies” the Historic Gas Plant District’s future. The development team gave the site a $405 million valuation and wants to purchase 58 acres for $275 million.

The proposal includes the “largest delivery of affordable and workforce housing units in city history.” BIP pledged to build over 3,600 homes, both on and off-site.

A partnership with St. Petersburg-based Blue Sky Communities, one of Florida’s most prolific affordable housing developers, will help BIP achieve that lofty goal. Principal Scott McDonald said the company has helped create over 3,000 units statewide since the early 1970s.

“Commitments to affordable housing don’t mean anything unless you have a team in place to actually get it done,” McDonald said. “At our core, we believe every person deserves a safe, affordable place to live.”

Museum Row is a proposed cultural destination within a 13-acre central park. A long-awaited new Woodson African American Museum of Florida will serve as its “crown jewel,” according to the announcement.

St. Petersburg-based Wannemacher Jensen Architects would design the largest new city park in 119 years, according to the announcement. Aeling and Mize will serve as co-trustees of a proposed Museum of Public Art, which would feature a collection by Gillie & Marc, “internationally renowned public artists and animal conservationists.”

BIP plans to honor the site’s history while incorporating urban planning characteristics that align with the city’s downtown waterfront. “This is too big of a project for a ‘check-the-box’ process,” said Jason Jensen, CEO of Wannemacher Jensen.

“We are creating a perpetual and iterative conversation with interest holders in this city.”

A view of the proposed project looking east toward the downtown waterfront.

Those stakeholders include community leaders representing over 20 organizations that will serve on a permanent advisory committee, the Historic Gas Plant Visionary Panel. Participants will provide ongoing project guidance, feedback and accountability.

The proposal contemplates a multi-modal transportation hub designed to accommodate a light rail service to Tampa International Airport. A “Collaboratorium” would house a Small Business Success Center and offer workforce training.

Additional amenities include a multi-purpose, indoor-outdoor event venue dubbed the Booker Creek Cultural Center. The site could also potentially boast an outdoor water park, St. Pete Surf Wave.

The development team pledged to provide meaningful economic opportunities, including jobs and business ownership, to historically underserved communities. Studies on disparity and structural racism will inform those efforts.

A Community Investment Fund, a “wealth-generating special purpose vehicle,” will allow residents to have a financial stake in the generational project. BIP will match funds raised through the platform.

The firm will also prioritize reconnecting bifurcated South St. Pete neighborhoods through a multimodal transportation network, continuous workforce development with apprenticeship and placement programs, environmental sustainability and innovation through smart city technologies.

A proposed surf park’s wave pool.

BIP’s proposal includes conference facilities, academic and research buildings, childcare space, cultural venues and “significant contiguous green space featuring Booker Creek and the Pinellas Trail.”

“A project of this significance demands world-class execution,” said Cole Sones, partner at BIP. “The investment in the Historic Gas Plant District will generate billions in economic impact, create thousands of jobs and foster long-term prosperity for the entire region.”

The Related Group, the nation’s largest residential developer, and Skanska, the seventh largest general contractor worldwide, recently signed on to the project. The latter firm is known for building museums and parks.

“We’ve assembled a team that combines national-scale expertise with deep local knowledge, with partners like Related, Skanska, Gilbane, Blue Sky Communities and Greystar, who share our commitment and have delivered landmark projects across the country,” Sones said.

Blake was the first to submit a redevelopment proposal, days after the Tampa Bay Rays walked away from a long-negotiated stadium deal in March 2025. The city launched a land disposition process after ARK Investment Management, Ellison Development and Horus Construction submitted an unsolicited bid in October.

Competing proposals were due at 10 a.m Tuesday. Another local group has submitted a unique plan to serve as the project’s master planner, construction manager and advisor.

A view of the project’s northeast corner.