St. Pete mayor to review 5 Gas Plant development proposals

ST. PETERSBURG, Fla. — Mayor Kenneth Welch on Tuesday will see all the proposals for developing the 86-acre historic Gas Plant District.

Ark Ellison Horus and Kettler was the first group to file a proposal, and since then, more have come in. They are from DPZ CoDesign, the Pinellas County Housing Authority, Freedom Communities Company and the International Democratic Uhuru Movement.

Welch said his team will evaluate the strengths and weaknesses of all the proposals and select a winner.

“We’ll have a public forum where the developers will present to our community,” Welch told Spectrum News. “We’ll have the community benefits process as well, and then I will select one of those developers.”

When asked if the process could take a few months, he said, “Oh, definitely.”

Council member Brandi Gabbard is trying to pump the brakes on the process. She has a proposed resolution which the Council will vote on at its Thursday meeting. It requests that the administration pause any action to select a developer until some comprehensive planning has been completed.

Another council member, Deborah Figgs-Sanders, says the city has been planning forever, and it’s time for action.

“At this point, let’s get some things done,” she said. “Let’s choose the best organization to actually do it, but more importantly, let’s keep moving.”

Steve Diasio, the CEO and founder of the School of Creativity and Innovation, held a Gas Plant District design workshop for the community last November. He liked Gabbard’s proposal to slow the proposal down, saying he doesn’t want to see the property undersold.

“Having this proposal to stop the process, for me, is good for business, good for evaluating the property and doing due diligence that needs to happen,” he said.

Welch says the city has planned for more than a decade and that it’s time to move forward.

“Planning first is great, but planning perpetually is not something we should do,” Welch said. “When I ran for office, folks didn’t want to see continued planning. They want to see impact from a 40-year promise when the land was taken for economic inclusion at that site.”