How do City Council candidates feel about Tropicana Field’s developer?

St. Petersburg Mayor Ken Welch smiles to his side during the press conference announcing the selection of Blake Investment Partners' proposal for the Historic Gas Plant District on Thursday, July 2, 2026 in St. Pete. The City Council will hold a vote on any redevelopment deal. [ Photo by ASHLEY NEYRA/Times ]

Candidates were asked at a recent forum if they support Mayor Ken Welch’s pick to redevelop the Gas Plant.

The first question asked at a recent forum for St. Petersburg City Council hopefuls went right at one of the biggest decisions weighing on the city.

Mayor Ken Welch picked the Burg Bid, a proposal submitted by Blake Investment Partners, to redevelop Tropicana Field. What did council candidates think about the mayor’s pick, especially so close to an election?

If Welch wins reelection, it’ll take about a year to negotiate binding agreements that would go before the council for a vote. But if he doesn’t, his successor may choose a different path.

That’s what happened when Welch took office in 2022. He didn’t move forward with the developer his predecessor, former Mayor Rick Kriseman, picked in his last few weeks in office.

The 86-acre property lies in District 6, the open downtown seat vacated by Gina Driscoll due to term limits, which has drawn five candidates. The two candidates with the most votes in the August primary will head to a citywide runoff in November.

This is how each candidate running for the council present at the forum responded. District 6 candidate Jameka Williams left early for a prior commitment. District 2 candidate Courtney Bermudez was not there. With just two candidates, the District 2 race goes straight to the citywide general election.

Trevor Mallory, District 6 candidate

Mallory, 54, said Welch had every right to make a decision since he is the current mayor. But he said it is unfortunate that a decision was made during election season because the next mayor may not honor it.

“We’ve been here before, we’ve had a group chosen before, and then somebody else got elected, and then that group unfortunately didn’t have the opportunity to move forward,” Mallory said. ”So we’re here again."

Mallory said the Tampa Bay Rays will likely need a few more years to play at the Trop. He said the council will have to comb through the details of what the administration puts forward.

Doug Homeyer, District 6 candidate

Homeyer, 62, said the city is working with the Urban Land Institute to do a study on the property, which the council supported with a vote. He said that if someone else wins the mayor’s race, that person could have a different vision for the site than Welch.

Homeyer said he wouldn’t take a strong position before he talked to people and read more about the proposals.

Linsey Grove, District 6 candidate

Grove, 39, said regardless of which group was chosen, it’s up to the council to ensure that recommendations from the city’s Community Benefits Advisory Council and accountability measures are baked into the plan.

“It is a taxpayer asset, so I want to make sure that we are getting the highest and best use out of that, that will benefit our community,” she said.

Grove said she’d like to create better accountability and transparency measures for the city’s community benefits program, which vets projects receiving a public subsidy for providing enough programs in return, such as affordable housing or workforce training. She said she looks forward to hearing why the proposal was chosen.

Terri Balliet, District 6 candidate

Balliet, 55, said she’s been on both sides of a request for proposals and knows how difficult it can be. She said she believes every group that applied did so with good intentions.

She said the city should continue to check the boxes of involving the community and ensuring green space, youth and senior citizen services and affordable housing.

“I think the key here is that we have the continued conversations, we bring in all of our neighborhood associations, they have a voice,” Balliet said. ”It doesn’t stop here, because someone has been selected. There’s much more conversation to be had.”

Gabriel Hament, District 2 candidate

Hament, 34, said he is neutral on which plan is best for the site. He said each proposal concerning the whole site could meet the city’s needs.

“I’m less interested in who is selected and more interested in what is actually going to be accomplished there,” he said, because the three proposals all speak to affordable housing.

“That’s where we can make a serious dent in the housing crisis that’s facing in St. Petersburg and Pinellas County,” he said. “Honoring the history of the land, all of the plans are cognizant of that, and we’ll incorporate that in the plans.”

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