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Kriseman proposes new agreement with Rays to search for stadium sites in Hillsborough, Pinellas
- Updated: March 28, 2015
St. Petersburg Mayor Rick Kriseman is taking another crack at reaching an agreement that will allow the Tampa Bay Rays to search Pinellas and Hillsborough counties for a site for a new Major League Baseball stadium.
Kriseman on Friday submitted a new agreement to the St. Petersburg City Council, which voted down the memorandum of understanding he proposed with the team in early December.
The new proposal has two key differences:
If city council accepts the agreement, the Rays will provide the city with a criteria document that outlines their site evaluation method within 60 days of the execution of the agreement. That was added to the agreement to make sure the team considers sites within the city, which was something council members had requested, said Jackie Kovilaritch, assistant city attorney.
The Rays would also provide status updates on the search as requested by the city.
“This was something that the Rays indicated to the mayor and council that they intended to do,” Kovilaritch said. “This is just a way of memorializing it.”
Under the new agreement, if the Rays were to terminate their existing lease on Tropicana Field, the city would no longer have to share proceeds with the team from redeveloping the site. The team is currently entitled to half the proceeds of redeveloping the site.
“Once we know that they are leaving and the termination agreement is in affect, at that point, they forgo any opportunity to split proceeds of development rights,” Kovilaritch said.
In his letter to council Friday, Kriseman expressed concern that if council rejects this agreement, the Rays could leave the region.
“I believe that failing to support this MOU will almost certainly assure that the team will likely leave St. Petersburg and the region,” the mayor wrote. “It will mean that the city will have to wait at least 12 years to redevelop 85 acres. Failing to support this means that should we move forward with redevelopment of a portion of the site prior to the end of the use agreement, we will be required to split half of all proceeds — tens of millions of dollars — with the team.”
Mayoral spokesman Ben Kirby said when the item could come before council was at the discretion of the council chairman.
