- Jul 2
- 4 min read
Mayor Ken Welch, standing a stone’s throw from where his grandfather once owned a woodyard in St. Petersburg’s former Gas Plant neighborhood, declared that a long-deferred dream is finally becoming reality.
On Thursday, Welch officially announced that he selected an $8.1 billion proposal from The Burg Bid, a development group led by St. Petersburg native Thompson Whitney Blake, founder of Blake Investment Partners, to reimagine the Historic Gas Plant District. The 86-acre site, currently home to Tropicana Field and a sea of asphalt, once boasted the city’s largest enclave of Black residents.
Stakeholders gathered in Campbell Park to hear how the new partnerships will foster jobs, attainable housing, and economic growth. Attendees included displaced Gas Plant residents who have spent the past 40 years waiting for officials to create opportunities out of pavement.
“The Historic Gas Plant District has held the promise of progress for St. Pete for decades,” Welch said. “Today, we take an important step forward in turning that potential into real and tangible progress.”
Blake’s team plans to purchase 58 acres for $275 million and create 3,600 income-restricted housing units, both on-site and off-site. Community leaders representing over 25 organizations will serve on a permanent Historic Gas Plant Visionary Panel.
Studies on disparity and structural racism will inform efforts to provide “meaningful economic opportunities,” according to The Burg Bid’s proposal. Blake’s 57-member team will also prioritize reconnecting South St. Pete neighborhoods, continuous workforce development with apprenticeship and placement programs, and environmental sustainability.
Blake’s proposal was one of two all-encompassing master plans. Welch credited the other, an unsolicited offer from Ark Ellison Horus, for jumpstarting the current process.
“The quality of the competition made this a better process and will make the outcome even more impactful,” Welch said. “Fittingly, two sons of St. Petersburg will be leading this work.”
He also selected the Pinellas County Housing Authority’s (PCHA) proposal for a seven-story, 80-unit affordable senior housing complex at 1659 3rd Ave. S. The agency will prioritize applications from former Gas Plant residents.
Executive director Neil Brickfield said PCHA would, as of now, cap monthly rents at $600. Many seniors would pay less, and Welch said he plans to advance that project "separately and more immediately.”
Brickfield pledged that stakeholders would soon realize that “in our own imperfect way, this community, our community, keeps its promises.” He also accepted responsibility for returning “residents to their land.”
“When these folks move in, we’re restarting a neighborhood,” Brickfield said.
However, the onus to help right past wrongs now falls to Blake’s mostly local team. He said they “share in the weight of this decision because we’re from here.”
The visionary panel, which will provide guidance and help ensure accountability, and developers will work in “lockstep” throughout the 20-year project, Blake added. A new Woodson African American Museum of Florida will kick off the Gas Plant’s rebirth.
Economic opportunities
Blake’s plan includes 900 on-site housing units, capped at 80% of the AMI, 581 fewer than Ark Ellison Horus proposed. The Burg Bid, unlike its competitor, will also create 900 affordable housing units outside of the Gas Plant.
While the group’s total number of proposed affordable and workforce (120% AMI) units - 3,600 - far surpasses the 1,925 pitched by Ark Ellison Horus, they must now secure enough property outside of the Gas Plant to achieve those goals.
Welch told Power Broker Magazine that the city would “absolutely” help The Burg Bid identify offsite land for affordable housing. He also credited the team’s 41% participation goal for small, minority, and women-owned businesses.
That benchmark represents $3.3 billion in contracts, according to The Burg Bid’s proposal. “They have a proven track record of doing that,” Welch said.
Blake’s team will break ground on a workforce training and small business success center, dubbed the Collaboratorium, during the project’s first phase. Welch said local partners, including CareerSource Tampa Bay and the St. Petersburg Area Chamber of Commerce, will help the developers achieve their economic development goals.
“All of those are really strong parts of the inclusive opportunity component,” Welch added. “I think those are really strong.”
After the event, Cole Sones, a partner with Blake Investment Partners, said he is “very confident” that the team will meet its hiring objectives. “We partnered with the Related Group for that reason - they have met those, candidly, big goals regularly on other jobs.”
The 41% participation target extends far beyond construction, Sones said, and encompasses design, professional services, operations, and hospitality jobs. Workforce development programs will serve youth, college students, recent graduates, and those hoping to advance their careers.
Blake pledged that the Gas Plant would provide homeownership opportunities. Sones said a “specific unit count will depend on the type of product that’s feasible for the market and the area, and we’ll be releasing that shortly.”
Welch noted that proposal commitments must be “translated into binding, enforceable agreements.” Negotiations will now commence, the Community Benefits Advisory Council will discuss the project this month, and city council members, who previously voted to pause the process, must still approve final development plans.
“I was in high school at Lakewood when this started - there’s no way that you can call this rushed,” Welch said to applause. “It’s been four decades. It’s time to move forward.”
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