The Tampa Bay Rays on Tuesday became the latest professional sports franchise to announce plans to build a new stadium as part of a sweeping development project that incorporates apartments, offices and commercial space.

The club plans to stay in the city of St. Petersburg, Florida, with the baseball team, city, and Pinellas County moving forward on the redevelopment of Tropicana Field and the surrounding a neighborhood known as the Gas Plant district.

The announcement likely puts to rest the back-and-forth between the city, county and the Rays, which had considered relocating to Tampa proper or splitting its home seasons between St. Petersburg and Montreal, Canada.

“We have proudly served as Tampa Bay’s Major League team for 25 years, and we are thrilled to be in position to do so for decades and generations to come,” Tampa Bay Rays principal owner Stu Sternberg said in a statement.

Tampa joins a host of other professional sports franchises to turn stadiums and arenas into focal points for new mixed-use developments. The Atlanta Braves, for instance, moved into a new stadium anchoring Battery Atlanta, a year-round entertainment hub often cited as a model for such transformations. SoFi Stadium, home to football's Los Angeles Rams and L.A. Chargers, is the centerpiece of a redevelopment known as Hollywood Park, billed to be one of the West Coast's biggest mixed-use mega projects. Basketball's Milwaukee Bucks and Golden State Warriors play central roles in similar centers. More recently, the Baltimore Orioles are seeking to redevelop land near its famed ballpark as it negotiates to extend its lease in the city.

For the Rays, the announcement comes as the team's 30-year lease agreement with St. Petersburg for Tropicana Field is set to expire in 2027. Built in the late 1980s, the outdated and aging facility stands alone amid an ocean of surface-level parking and little else.

According to Bleacher Report, as far back as 2012, pundits argued that Tropicana Field’s location was a major factor in the Rays' low attendance numbers — with the team consistently ranked among the bottom five teams in terms of total attendance since 2011, per ESPN attendance records. Low attendance numbers were a consistent source of relocation rumors, with some arguing it would be necessary for the team to move — perhaps to neighboring Tampa or even Canada, to remain economically viable.

The new deal is intended to not only replace the stadium with a new one but also to bring civic life back to the neighborhood and redress some of the longstanding complaints about the stadium's arrival. As early as the 1970s, city officials had begun relocating families in the mostly Black community known as the Gas Plant district— so named for its proximity to two large natural gas cylinders — purchasing properties and seizing them through eminent domain under the guise of neighborhood revitalization.

Interstate 175 eventually arrived, cutting a swath through much of the district, displacing homes, schools, churches and cemeteries. Tropicana Fields’ development, which broke ground in 1986, would push out more families and members of the community.

Under the new deal, the team would stay in St. Petersburg and pay for half of the $1.3 billion stadium redevelopment, assuming responsibility for cost overruns. Additional financing for the redevelopment would come from the city of St. Petersburg as well as a Pinellas County tourism development tax, known locally as the bed tax.

The new plan involves the construction of a new, fixed-roof stadium and the development of a new neighborhood surrounding the ballpark that would include residential, commercial, medical, civic and public spaces.

The development agreement includes a $50 million commitment to equity initiatives in partnership with south St. Petersburg that aims to provide affordable housing funding, employment and business support, educational programs and hiring commitments to minority and women-owned businesses. The first phase of construction, which includes the new ballpark, is expected to break ground in 2024, with completion anticipated in 2028.

“Our transformational development of 86 acres in the heart of St. Petersburg will benefit St. Pete and Tampa Bay residents for generations to come," Ken Welch, mayor of St. Petersburg, said in remarks announcing the deal. "The Rays are here to stay, and it's also critical to underscore that this impactful work is much bigger than baseball and extends far beyond the 17-acre ballpark. We are duty-bound with our intentional efforts to honor the broken promises made to the Historic Gas Plant community, an incredibly special place that my own family called home.”

The Rays are partnering with real estate development firm Hines for the project, which includes nearly 8 million square feet of mixed-use development alongside the new ballpark.

Project plans entail 4,800 residential units and another 1,200 that are designated affordable and workforce housing units both on and off-site, as well as an additional 600 senior living units.

The district would feature 1.4 million square feet of office, medical and commercial space, as well as 750,000 square feet of retail space and cultural amenities that include a new home for the Carter G. Woodson African American Museum and Booker Music Hall.

The ballpark itself would feature capacity for 30,000 Rays fans and can accommodate 35,000 total for other events. The project’s cost is expected to total just over $6.5 billion over the next 20 years and is the largest mixed-use development project in Tampa Bay’s history.

The project was also currently the largest underway at Hines, noted Jeff Hines, chairman and co-CEO of the firm, who was also present at the event.

"Our goal is to create St. Petersburg's next great place to live, work, and play for all of St. Petersburg, while also generating one of the most exciting mixed-use placemaking destinations in the world," Michael Harrison, Hines' senior managing director, said in a statement.