Demolish a Ballpark to Save a Downtown?

While many cities are seeking to build large entertainment venues to revive their downtowns, St. Petersburg is taking the opposite track. Stephen Nohlgren examines whether Tropicana Field can be the city's next big urban mixed use development.

1 minute read

March 19, 2013, 7:00 AM PDT

By Jonathan Nettler @nettsj


"Thirty years ago, St. Petersburg took a leap of civic faith when it leveled a low-income neighborhood to attract a baseball team," writes Nohlgren. "Now Tropicana Field's 85 asphalt acres offer another chance for neighborhood rehabilitation — this time without baseball."

The national trend towards dense mixed-use development has arrived in this coastal Florida city, with developers and real estate experts eying the aging home of the Tampa Bay Rays baseball team as an ideal site for redevelopment.  "It's not very common to be able to put together that large a site for a master planned project anywhere in a desirable area like Florida,'' Larry Richey, managing director of Cushman & Wakefield said. "It's a special place.''

"The Tampa Bay Rays, wanting a new stadium elsewhere, have begun to tout the Trop's redevelopment potential as more valuable to the city than baseball," notes Nohlgren. "The city 'is sitting on an enormous piece of land in a rapidly growing downtown that is, frankly, lying fallow,'' Rays vice president Michael Kalt recently told the Pinellas County Commission."

"The remaining debt on the stadium 'pales in comparison to what can come from property and sales tax generation if you put that land to use,' he said."

Saturday, March 2, 2013 in Tampa Bay Times

portrait of professional woman

I love the variety of courses, many practical, and all richly illustrated. They have inspired many ideas that I've applied in practice, and in my own teaching. Mary G., Urban Planner

I love the variety of courses, many practical, and all richly illustrated. They have inspired many ideas that I've applied in practice, and in my own teaching.

Mary G., Urban Planner

Cover CM Credits, Earn Certificates, Push Your Career Forward

Logo for Planetizen Federal Action Tracker with black and white image of U.S. Capitol with water ripple overlay.

Planetizen Federal Action Tracker

A weekly monitor of how Trump’s orders and actions are impacting planners and planning in America.

July 16, 2025 - Diana Ionescu

Green vintage Chicago streetcar from the 1940s parked at the Illinois Railroad Museum in 1988.

Chicago’s Ghost Rails

Just beneath the surface of the modern city lie the remnants of its expansive early 20th-century streetcar system.

July 13, 2025 - WTTV

Blue and silver Amtrak train with vibrant green and yellow foliage in background.

Amtrak Cutting Jobs, Funding to High-Speed Rail

The agency plans to cut 10 percent of its workforce and has confirmed it will not fund new high-speed rail projects.

July 14, 2025 - Smart Cities Dive

Worker in yellow safety vest and hard hat looks up at servers in data center.

Ohio Forces Data Centers to Prepay for Power

Utilities are calling on states to hold data center operators responsible for new energy demands to prevent leaving consumers on the hook for their bills.

July 18 - Inside Climate News

Former MARTA CEO Collie Greenwood standing in front of MARTA HQ with blurred MARTA sign visible in background.

MARTA CEO Steps Down Amid Citizenship Concerns

MARTA’s board announced Thursday that its chief, who is from Canada, is resigning due to questions about his immigration status.

July 18 - WABE

Rendering of proposed protected bikeway in Santa Clara, California.

Silicon Valley ‘Bike Superhighway’ Awarded $14M State Grant

A Caltrans grant brings the 10-mile Central Bikeway project connecting Santa Clara and East San Jose closer to fruition.

July 17 - San José Spotlight