Ellison CEO Wants To Build 'Epicenter Of Innovation' In St. Pete's Gas Plant District
The city of St. Petersburg, Florida, is nearing a decision on which company will spearhead the Gas Plant District redevelopment, a mixed-use project that’s poised to change the face of the downtown area.
One of the four bidders left in the running, Ark Ellison Horus, is hoping to make the city “the epicenter of innovation, technology and education,” according to Ellison Cos. CEO Casey Ellison. Ark Ellison Horus is a consortium comprising Ark Invest, Ellison Development and Horus Construction Services.
Ellison was speaking at Bisnow’s Tampa Bay State of the Market at The Motor Enclave in Tampa on May 14. He said the consortium’s proposal focuses on delivering community needs, culture and innovation into the city.
It will be “the first-ever purposely designed events district in the nation,” Ellison said, adding that he expects big-name tech companies to move into “a robust office program” of more than 1M SF of Class-A product downtown.
“I would argue that this is probably one of the most consequential sites in the U.S.,” he said. “It's really a once-in-a-lifetime opportunity in an incredible city.”
The 86-acre site of the planned redevelopment currently houses the Tampa Bay Rays’ baseball stadium, Tropicana Field, which will be demolished once a new stadium is built. The Rays and local officials reached a $2.3B agreement for a new ballpark last week.
St. Petersburg Mayor Ken Welch is expected to pick a final proposal next month.
Welch, the city’s first Black mayor, made redeveloping the Historic Gas Plant District one of his main goals when he took office in 2022. The district was originally a Black neighborhood that was razed to make way for Tropicana Field in the 1980s. Though plans had been set in motion, they were delayed after two devastating hurricanes in 2024. Welch reissued a new call for proposals for the project in January.
Chief among the community-oriented factors included in Ark Ellison Horus’ redevelopment plan is affordable housing. Ellison said there will be approximately 1,900 affordable housing units, and the company’s published proposal shows them split among regular, senior and workforce categories. In total, there would be more than 3,700 new homes. The affordable units would be delivered in Phase 1.
Also detailed in the proposal are 1,543 hotel rooms across mixed-use towers “to expand tourism capacity.” And about half of the site would be reserved for public parks, culture and civic space.
Other components include an art program led by local artists. Ellison said a musical festival similar to SXSW would take place at the redevelopment every year.
Ark Ellison Horus notes an estimated $120M cost to the city for its redevelopment plan, with the project’s 30-year economic impact forecast at $28B.
The three other development teams in the running are Foundation Vision Partners, The Burg Bid LLC, which includes Blake Investment Partners, and the Pinellas County Housing Authority. Pinellas is proposing to build a single, affordable senior housing development on less than an acre of the land.
