Tampa Bay Rays CEO Ken Babby fielded questions from Drew Park residents on Thursday night about the proposed $2.3 billion ballpark and redevelopment project. The Drew Park Community Advisory Committee hosted this meeting at Hillsborough Community College’s Dale Mabry campus.

Project Details

The Rays are proposing a 31,000-seat stadium and a 130-acre mixed-use development. Babby says his organization hopes to build a project that longtime locals can embrace.

Several neighbors questioned whether community members would benefit from this massive project. Drew Park resident Jaime Jones expressed concern about affordability. “It will price people out because we can’t afford to shop at the restaurants that they’re trying to build,” Jones said.

Funding and Economic Impact

The meeting came ahead of a planned vote by Tampa’s Community Redevelopment Agency on a memorandum of understanding with the Rays. The agreement would commit $100 million toward the proposed stadium through bond funding. The Rays say they would contribute $1.2 billion in private funding, which would represent the largest private investment by a sports team in Florida history.

Supporters argue the project could bring jobs and economic activity to the area. Rays fan Ron Weaver pointed to the project’s projected economic impact. “All these businesses around Drew Park desperately need these 11,000 permanent jobs and they need this $55 billion economy that baseball can bring,” Weaver said.

Original reporting: Tampa Bay Florida News (HLL/CB) — read the source article.