Tampa Council Approves Rays Stadium Deal in 4-3 Vote
Tampa Council Approves Rays Stadium Deal in 4-3 Vote
After nearly two decades of stadium talks, Tampa just handed the Rays their biggest win yet.
Tampa City Council voted 4-3 on Thursday, Aug. 27, to approve the definitive agreements for the Rays' $2.36 billion ballpark and mixed-use district on Hillsborough College's Dale Mabry campus. Council Chair Alan Clendenin, Bill Carlson, Naya Young and Luis Viera voted yes. Lynn Hurtak, Charlie Miranda and Guido Maniscalco voted no, the same split that carried the nonbinding memorandum of understanding on May 21.
The approval sends the deal to the Hillsborough County Commission, which has scheduled a special meeting for 9 a.m. Friday to vote on the county's share, capped at roughly $796 million.
Who pays what
The Rays are responsible for about $1.37 billion, roughly 60% of the project, plus all construction cost overruns. Total public contributions are capped at $876 million.
The county's portion comes from four sources:
$360 million from the Community Investment Tax (CIT), paid in four $90 million installments completed by 2029
About $303 million in Tourist Development Tax revenue, including $228 million in initial bonds, a $40 million reserve and a $35 million second tranche expected around 2031
$103 million from other county funds
$30 million in federal disaster-recovery money, limited to stormwater-eligible work
Tampa's share is $80 million, paid in four $20 million installments: Jan. 1, 2027, then Oct. 1 in 2027, 2028 and 2029. The money is restricted to public horizontal improvements such as streets and utilities. The city expects to recover it from property-tax growth inside the new stadium district. Creative Loafing Tampa reports that the city would borrow the first payment and that the later installments will be up to future mayors and councils.
"The $80 million is a loan," Carlson said, as reported by Tampa Bay Business and Wealth. "Before, it was TIF, and we would have been taking out of fire trucks and police cars."
The $100 million CRA swap
The May framework called for $100 million in bonds backed by Tampa's Drew Park Community Redevelopment Agency. That request has been removed. In its place, a Rays-formed special-purpose vehicle will privately place about $100 million in taxable bonds. Those bonds will be repaid, with interest, from property-tax growth captured by a new Community Development District (CDD) around the ballpark, and the stadium district is being carved out of the Drew Park CRA.
The city-side package also extends the East Tampa and West Tampa CRAs. It redirects half of the Downtown CRA's tax increment into a citywide infrastructure trust fund for roads, sidewalks, parks and flood control, subject to separate approvals.
Carlson was widely seen as the swing vote, and he pushed for the restructuring after objecting to the original $180 million city ask. "We're essentially giving $180 million. I don't want to give $180 million," he said, according to Bay News 9. On the final vote, he put it more simply: "I didn't change my mind. The deal changed."
Rent, ownership and the development bet
Hillsborough County will own the ballpark. The Rays will pay $4 million a year in rent under a 35-year use agreement, which includes a non-relocation clause and, according to Ballpark Digest, three five-year extension options.
The ballpark takes up about 21.5 acres of the 115-acre campus, across Dale Mabry Highway from Raymond James Stadium on the edge of Drew Park. The rest of the site is planned as a privately funded mixed-use district with residential, retail, hotel and office space, plus a rebuilt Hillsborough College campus. Populous is designing the ballpark. Gensler is planning the district and the college redevelopment. AECOM Hunt and Turner Construction are the construction managers.
Projections for that surrounding development have been large. Hagan has put eventual private investment at $8 billion to $10 billion, and a range of $8 billion to $12 billion came up during the city's August negotiations over Carlson's financing plan. The final agreement does not guarantee a minimum development value, and the city's repayment depends on that development getting built.
The Lithia Pinecrest offset
One unusual provision links the stadium to a road project in southeast Hillsborough. The Florida Department of Transportation has committed $100 million to Lithia Pinecrest Road improvements. Commissioner Christine Miller has said that money replaces funding the county previously expected to pull from CIT. The county's capital improvement program lists the Lithia Pinecrest corridor project at about $262 million in total.
The deal gives the county a hedge. If the state does not deliver all of its $100 million by the end of 2031, the county can cut its $360 million CIT stadium contribution by the amount of the shortfall.
Community benefits, with no number attached
The Rays released a Community Benefits Agreement framework the week of the vote. It covers affordable housing and anti-displacement efforts, local hiring, minority- and women-owned business participation, workforce development, youth programs, veterans engagement, literacy and complimentary tickets. An advisory committee will oversee it and issue regular public report cards. Commitments are split 65% to Hillsborough County and 35% to Tampa.
The framework does not include a total dollar amount. Hurtak proposed a $75 million minimum, according to Creative Loafing Tampa, and was told the agreement could not be changed further at that stage.
A divided dais
Supporters called the deal imperfect but worth it. "Our responsibility is not to wait for a perfect proposal that doesn't exist," Clendenin said, according to WUSF. Young added, "This deal is not perfect. I think we all can admit that. But what I do see is opportunity," as quoted by the Business Observer.
Opponents focused on risk to the city's budget. "We were elected to solve problems, not create new ones," Hurtak said, according to WUSF. Maniscalco warned that Amendment 3 could be "catastrophic for Tampa." The measure is on the Nov. 3 ballot and would expand property-tax exemptions, and Bay News 9 reported it could cost the city $35 million in its first year.
"The Tampa Bay Rays are grateful for the leadership and support of the City Council members to approve an investment that will secure the future of Major League Baseball in Tampa Bay," Rays CEO Ken Babby said in a statement.
Two decades in the making
The vote follows a long run of failed attempts. A 2008 waterfront proposal in St. Petersburg stalled. A plan in Ybor City collapsed in 2018. MLB rejected the Rays' split-season concept with Montreal in 2022. A $1.3 billion ballpark deal in St. Petersburg's Historic Gas Plant District was approved in 2024 but fell apart in early 2025, after Hurricane Milton tore the roof off Tropicana Field.
A group led by Jacksonville homebuilder Patrick Zalupski, CEO of Dream Finders Homes, closed its purchase of the team from Stuart Sternberg on Sept. 30, 2025. The group made a permanent home in Tampa its top priority.
What happens next
All eyes turn to the County Center on Friday. Approval there would lock in the $796 million county package. Even then, no public money moves until several conditions are met:
Bond validation and validation of the CDD structure
Execution of the Ballpark Operating Agreement
Approval of the final Community Benefits Agreement
Required land-use actions and deed-restriction amendments
Additional interlocal agreements and CIT project-list changes at the city and county
The Rays face a fall 2026 deadline to start site work. The schedule calls for substantial completion by the end of 2028 and Opening Day in 2029, which lines up with the end of the team's Tropicana Field lease after the 2028 season.
After nearly two decades of stadium talks, Tampa just handed the Rays their biggest win yet.
Tampa City Council voted 4-3 on Thursday, Aug. 27, to approve the definitive agreements for the Rays' $2.36 billion ballpark and mixed-use district on Hillsborough College's Dale Mabry campus. Council Chair Alan Clendenin, Bill Carlson, Naya Young and Luis Viera voted yes. Lynn Hurtak, Charlie Miranda and Guido Maniscalco voted no, the same split that carried the nonbinding memorandum of understanding on May 21.
The approval sends the deal to the Hillsborough County Commission, which has scheduled a special meeting for 9 a.m. Friday to vote on the county's share, capped at roughly $796 million.
Who pays what
The Rays are responsible for about $1.37 billion, roughly 60% of the project, plus all construction cost overruns. Total public contributions are capped at $876 million.
The county's portion comes from four sources:
$360 million from the Community Investment Tax (CIT), paid in four $90 million installments completed by 2029
About $303 million in Tourist Development Tax revenue, including $228 million in initial bonds, a $40 million reserve and a $35 million second tranche expected around 2031
$103 million from other county funds
$30 million in federal disaster-recovery money, limited to stormwater-eligible work
Tampa's share is $80 million, paid in four $20 million installments: Jan. 1, 2027, then Oct. 1 in 2027, 2028 and 2029. The money is restricted to public horizontal improvements such as streets and utilities. The city expects to recover it from property-tax growth inside the new stadium district. Creative Loafing Tampa reports that the city would borrow the first payment and that the later installments will be up to future mayors and councils.
"The $80 million is a loan," Carlson said, as reported by Tampa Bay Business and Wealth. "Before, it was TIF, and we would have been taking out of fire trucks and police cars."
The $100 million CRA swap
The May framework called for $100 million in bonds backed by Tampa's Drew Park Community Redevelopment Agency. That request has been removed. In its place, a Rays-formed special-purpose vehicle will privately place about $100 million in taxable bonds. Those bonds will be repaid, with interest, from property-tax growth captured by a new Community Development District (CDD) around the ballpark, and the stadium district is being carved out of the Drew Park CRA.
The city-side package also extends the East Tampa and West Tampa CRAs. It redirects half of the Downtown CRA's tax increment into a citywide infrastructure trust fund for roads, sidewalks, parks and flood control, subject to separate approvals.
Carlson was widely seen as the swing vote, and he pushed for the restructuring after objecting to the original $180 million city ask. "We're essentially giving $180 million. I don't want to give $180 million," he said, according to Bay News 9. On the final vote, he put it more simply: "I didn't change my mind. The deal changed."
Rent, ownership and the development bet
Hillsborough County will own the ballpark. The Rays will pay $4 million a year in rent under a 35-year use agreement, which includes a non-relocation clause and, according to Ballpark Digest, three five-year extension options.
The ballpark takes up about 21.5 acres of the 115-acre campus, across Dale Mabry Highway from Raymond James Stadium on the edge of Drew Park. The rest of the site is planned as a privately funded mixed-use district with residential, retail, hotel and office space, plus a rebuilt Hillsborough College campus. Populous is designing the ballpark. Gensler is planning the district and the college redevelopment. AECOM Hunt and Turner Construction are the construction managers.
Projections for that surrounding development have been large. Hagan has put eventual private investment at $8 billion to $10 billion, and a range of $8 billion to $12 billion came up during the city's August negotiations over Carlson's financing plan. The final agreement does not guarantee a minimum development value, and the city's repayment depends on that development getting built.
The Lithia Pinecrest offset
One unusual provision links the stadium to a road project in southeast Hillsborough. The Florida Department of Transportation has committed $100 million to Lithia Pinecrest Road improvements. Commissioner Christine Miller has said that money replaces funding the county previously expected to pull from CIT. The county's capital improvement program lists the Lithia Pinecrest corridor project at about $262 million in total.
The deal gives the county a hedge. If the state does not deliver all of its $100 million by the end of 2031, the county can cut its $360 million CIT stadium contribution by the amount of the shortfall.
Community benefits, with no number attached
The Rays released a Community Benefits Agreement framework the week of the vote. It covers affordable housing and anti-displacement efforts, local hiring, minority- and women-owned business participation, workforce development, youth programs, veterans engagement, literacy and complimentary tickets. An advisory committee will oversee it and issue regular public report cards. Commitments are split 65% to Hillsborough County and 35% to Tampa.
The framework does not include a total dollar amount. Hurtak proposed a $75 million minimum, according to Creative Loafing Tampa, and was told the agreement could not be changed further at that stage.
A divided dais
Supporters called the deal imperfect but worth it. "Our responsibility is not to wait for a perfect proposal that doesn't exist," Clendenin said, according to WUSF. Young added, "This deal is not perfect. I think we all can admit that. But what I do see is opportunity," as quoted by the Business Observer.
Opponents focused on risk to the city's budget. "We were elected to solve problems, not create new ones," Hurtak said, according to WUSF. Maniscalco warned that Amendment 3 could be "catastrophic for Tampa." The measure is on the Nov. 3 ballot and would expand property-tax exemptions, and Bay News 9 reported it could cost the city $35 million in its first year.
"The Tampa Bay Rays are grateful for the leadership and support of the City Council members to approve an investment that will secure the future of Major League Baseball in Tampa Bay," Rays CEO Ken Babby said in a statement.
Two decades in the making
The vote follows a long run of failed attempts. A 2008 waterfront proposal in St. Petersburg stalled. A plan in Ybor City collapsed in 2018. MLB rejected the Rays' split-season concept with Montreal in 2022. A $1.3 billion ballpark deal in St. Petersburg's Historic Gas Plant District was approved in 2024 but fell apart in early 2025, after Hurricane Milton tore the roof off Tropicana Field.
A group led by Jacksonville homebuilder Patrick Zalupski, CEO of Dream Finders Homes, closed its purchase of the team from Stuart Sternberg on Sept. 30, 2025. The group made a permanent home in Tampa its top priority.
What happens next
All eyes turn to the County Center on Friday. Approval there would lock in the $796 million county package. Even then, no public money moves until several conditions are met:
Bond validation and validation of the CDD structure
Execution of the Ballpark Operating Agreement
Approval of the final Community Benefits Agreement
Required land-use actions and deed-restriction amendments
Additional interlocal agreements and CIT project-list changes at the city and county
The Rays face a fall 2026 deadline to start site work. The schedule calls for substantial completion by the end of 2028 and Opening Day in 2029, which lines up with the end of the team's Tropicana Field lease after the 2028 season.
