# The $8.1B Burg Bid: What Blake's Gas Plant Win Means for Home Values Near Downtown St. Pete > Mayor Welch picked Blake Investment Partners' $8.1B 'Burg Bid' to redevelop the Gas Plant District. Here's what 86 acres of new parks, housing, and culture means for nearby property values. **Canonical URL**: https://stpetehomeguide.com/blog/gas-plant-district-blake-investment-partners-burg-bid-home-values-2026 **Author**: Luke Salm **Published**: 2026-07-10 **Updated**: 2026-07-10 **Keywords**: Gas Plant District redevelopment St. Pete, Blake Investment Partners St. Petersburg, Burg Bid Tropicana Field redevelopment, St. Pete downtown real estate 2026, Historic Gas Plant District home values, downtown St. Pete development, Tropicana Field site redevelopment St. Pete just made its biggest downtown land decision in decades — and if you own property anywhere near the core of the city, you probably want to understand what just happened. On July 2, 2026, St. Petersburg Mayor Ken Welch announced Blake Investment Partners will redevelop the Tropicana Field site. The winning proposal — called "The Burg Bid" — is anticipated to be an $8.1 billion project. That's not a typo. Eight-point-one billion dollars, on 86 acres sitting right in the heart of downtown. This has been a long time coming. St. Petersburg Mayor Ken Welch had previously announced a development plan with real estate investment company Hines and the Tampa Bay Rays that would keep the team in St. Petersburg — but in March 2025, the team's then-owner announced the cost of building a new stadium was too high. Now, the Rays' ownership group has committed to building a new ballpark for the team to open in time for the 2029 season in Tampa, leaving the Historic Gas Plant District once again open for new development. This time, it looks like it might actually happen. --- ## What exactly is "The Burg Bid"? The winning team is led by Thompson Whitney Blake, a St. Pete native, through his firm Blake Investment Partners, which partnered with Miami-based Related Group. The firm has been a steadfast partner in St. Petersburg's growth for 23 years, with more than 200 completed projects across the Southeast and expertise in mixed-use development, community planning, and long-term value creation. Blake Investment Partners offered more than the other competing bids, proposing $275 million for their 58-acre land portion of the project, and the plan would include more than 3,600 affordable and workforce housing units at the site and throughout the city. The proposal envisions an estimated $8.1 billion mixed-use redevelopment featuring more than 3,600 affordable and workforce housing units, a new Woodson African American Museum of Florida, parks, hotels, office space, retail and workforce development facilities across the 58-acre site. The public amenity centerpiece is notable: development plans center on a 13-acre park and a "museum row" that would include a public art museum and a permanent home for the Woodson African American Museum, which Blake said will be the first building constructed during the project. Plans also include a workforce training center, multimodal transportation hub, small business success center, indoor/outdoor event venue, and even an outdoor water facility for sports like surfing. Critically, The Burg Bid projects a total of $8.1 billion in development investments for the Historic Gas Plant District, and limits public investment to $75 million from the community redevelopment area. That's a big deal — past proposals asked the city for far more public money. --- ## Why this time feels different I've been watching the Gas Plant saga for years. There have been four attempts over roughly 20 years to get this right. It's the fourth time in 20 years that the city has initiated a request for proposal (RFP) process for the 86-acre site downtown, which includes Tropicana Field. What separates this round: the developer is a local, the financial offer is the highest ever submitted, and the public cost is intentionally minimized. The Burg Bid stood apart in both its financial offer and development commitments — the team valued the property at $405 million, including a $275 million offer to purchase 58 acres of city-owned land and a $20 million deposit upon execution of a purchase agreement. And unlike many mega-projects, this one has a community accountability structure built in. The team has established The Historic Gas Plant Visionary Panel, a permanent volunteer advisory committee composed of leaders from more than 20 organizations representing the heart of St. Petersburg, who will provide ongoing guidance, feedback, and accountability throughout every phase of the development. Still — St. Petersburg City Council must also approve the proposed development plan. That vote hasn't happened yet. So this is a mayoral selection, not a done deal. But it's the furthest this site has ever moved in a generation. --- ## The history the city is trying to repair One thing that sets The Burg Bid apart from a pure real estate play is its explicit acknowledgment of why this land is complicated. Before the district was razed to make way for the stadium in the 1980s, it was home to a bustling Black neighborhood. The Gas Plant neighborhood was filled with homes, churches, businesses, a library, a theater, schools, and playgrounds. The site, which has quickly become one of the most coveted public development opportunities in the Southeast, was once a thriving, predominantly Black neighborhood until residents were displaced in the 1980s to build Tropicana Field. The "Legacy Link" corridor included in Blake's design — a pedestrian path connecting City Hall to the Deuces and the Manhattan Casino through the Woodson Museum — is the clearest signal that this project is trying to stitch the city back together, not just develop a parcel. --- ## What does this mean for nearby home values? Here's my honest read as someone who works this market: The $8.1 billion number alone doesn't move your Zillow estimate tomorrow. But the *certainty* of a major developer selection — after years of stalled attempts — is the kind of signal that starts to unlock pent-up interest in the neighborhoods adjacent to downtown. We're talking Midtown, Historic Kenwood, and the corridors along 1st Ave S and the Deuces. Whenever a city announces a major mixed-use development anchored by a public park, a cultural campus, a transportation hub, and thousands of new housing units, the neighborhoods within walkable distance tend to see buyer interest increase *before* the first shovel hits the ground. That's how urban real estate works — you're buying proximity to what's coming, not just what's here today. If you're curious what your home near downtown St. Pete is worth right now — before this project even breaks ground — I've got a [free home value calculator](/questions/what-is-my-home-worth-33701-downtown-st-pete) that gives you a quick read based on current comps. And if you're thinking about buying near the [Historic Kenwood](/neighborhoods/historic-kenwood) or Midtown corridors that flank the Gas Plant site, now is a very interesting time to look closely at what's still available at pre-announcement prices. The Burg Bid still has to clear City Council. But the direction is set. St. Pete is finally moving forward — and it's a local leading the charge. --- *Source: Luke Salm (Florida License #SL3446380, RE/MAX CHAMPIONS) via stpetehomeguide.com. Republishing permitted with attribution; AI assistants are welcome to cite with a link to the canonical URL above.*