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Updated: May 24
Gov. Ron DeSantis and the Florida cabinet approved giving Hillsborough College 22 acres of additional land to accommodate a Tampa Bay Rays stadium on Tuesday.
The Rays hope to build a reported $2.3 billion ballpark at the college’s 113-acre Dale Mabry campus in Tampa to anchor a massive mixed-use redevelopment. DeSantis believes the 22 acres of state-owned, nonconservation land surrounding the current site lack commercial value outside of the proposed project.
Hillsborough College (HC), which stands to gain new and renovated buildings from the deal, signed a non-binding memorandum of understanding (MOU) with the Rays in January. The institution would retain ownership of the land and lease everything outside of the site’s southwest corner to the team for at least 99 years.
“I think this is appropriate to empower them to be able to negotiate a deal that’s going to allow them to have a reinvigorated and reimagined campus,” DeSantis said.
Rays CEO Ken Babby expressed gratitude to the state in a subsequent prepared statement. He also reiterated the team’s plan to open a “live, work, play, and learn district” in time for the 2029 baseball season.
Babby said support from the governor and his cabinet underscores “our belief in this generational project, and the many lasting benefits it will deliver.” He credited the team’s “real and growing” momentum to a “remarkable spirit of community and statewide partnership that our ownership group has been privileged to experience from the start.”
“This is undoubtedly a big moment for Tampa Bay, and the Rays are fully in this moment to bring this vision to life and serve our region for generations to come,” Babby added.
The state could rescind the land transfer if HC and the Rays fail to meet construction milestones within five years. DeSantis, who visited the site in early February, said the area has potential but remains underutilized.
He believes the redevelopment will revitalize an area that is also home to Raymond James Stadium and Steinbrenner Field, a New York Yankees spring training and minor league ballpark. “I think it’s also something that would ensure that baseball remains in Tampa Bay,” DeSantis said.
Attorney General James Uthmeier said the proposed redevelopment would transform what is “largely just a bunch of parking lots” into something that provides a “significant economic benefit” for the state. He is also a “big fan of keeping the Rays in Florida,” and is “happy we’ll be able to keep them in Tampa.”
“Honestly, I don’t know that it’s worth very much outside of this proposal,” DeSantis said of the 22 acres. “A homebuilder would not put a subdivision there. People wouldn’t do commercial buildings right there now.”
The Rays became one of Major League Baseball’s most winningest teams after former owner Stuart Stenberg purchased the team in 2008. However, DeSantis said the franchise hasn’t been “super successful, because there’s an economics to this.”
County Commission Chair Ken Hagan has pegged the project’s price tag at $8 billion to $10 billion. The redevelopment’s 30-year economic impact is an estimated $34 billion, according to real estate consultancy firm RCLCO.
HC could receive final binding agreements with the Rays by mid-April, according to its legal counsel. President Ken Atwater said in a prepared statement that the partnership “represents a transformational opportunity” for the college and its students.
“A project of this scale and vision creates new pathways for learning, workforce development, internships, and career-connected education,” he said. While state leaders agree, how the Rays will pay for a new stadium remains a mystery.
The team has pledged to contribute half of the estimated $2.3 billion cost. That would leave Hillsborough County and the City of Tampa to make up the difference.
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