Kevin Batdorf calls Ken Welch’s Tropicana Field redevelopment pricing a ‘dereliction of duty’

St. Petersburg mayoral candidate Kevin Batdorf is accusing Mayor Ken Welch of failing to protect one of the city’s most valuable assets after Welch acknowledged that the city is not seeking the highest possible price for land in the Tropicana Field site and the surrounding Historic Gas Plant District.

Welch defended that approach during a Suncoast Tiger Bay Club mayoral forum, arguing that the city’s obligations to the predominantly Black community displaced from the site outweigh a simple highest-bidder calculation.

Batdorf, however, called the Mayor’s remarks an admission of “dereliction of duty” in an interview with Florida Politics.

“If you can say out loud that you purposely tanked the value of the property for your own special interests, you’ve just admitted to dereliction of duty and should not be qualified to be Mayor of this city,” Batdorf said.

The exchange highlights a fundamental disagreement over how St. Petersburg should measure the value of the Tropicana Field property as the city prepares to negotiate with The Burg Bid, the development team Welch selected to redevelop the site. The selection is not final, and any agreement reached with the developer would require City Council approval.

It also puts Batdorf alongside former Gov. Charlie Crist in arguing that St. Petersburg should preserve the option of keeping the Tampa Bay Rays. Crist told Florida Politics on Wednesday that the city should be prepared to make another run at the team if its pursuit of a new ballpark in Tampa falls through.

The Burg Bid’s $8.1 billion proposal calls for paying $275 million for 58 acres and building a mixed-use district organized around a 13-acre central park that would include a permanent home for The Woodson African American Museum of Florida. It also proposes 3,600 income-restricted housing units over 15 years, split evenly between the Gas Plant site and other locations around St. Petersburg.

Batdorf noted that the Rays have not reached a final agreement for a Tampa stadium, and argues that St. Petersburg should not commit the entire site to The Burg Bid before determining whether a ballpark or another major project could be included in the master plan.

He instead wants outside consultants to evaluate the site’s highest and best use, which could include dividing the property into parcels, selling some portions, leasing others and retaining land for public infrastructure or a major anchor project.

“I’d like to see the Rays stay here. I’m not going to close the door on them,” Batdorf said.

Welch said during the forum that he views the land as a tool for delivering affordable housing, jobs, business opportunities and a permanent home for the Woodson. His argument treats the direct purchase price as only one measure of the proposal’s value.

He noted that when he took office, he halted the previous redevelopment process, renamed the effort after the Historic Gas Plant community rather than Tropicana Field and made the Woodson museum part of the redevelopment vision. During the forum, he said African American history belongs on the Gas Plant site.

“A thousand people, churches, homes, businesses that were asked to give up their land in the name of progress, so honoring that history on that site is appropriate,” Welch said at the forum.

“Going back to something Kevin said earlier. This is why we are not trying to sell it for the highest price. Because the promise to the community wasn’t to sell the land for the highest price. It was inclusive opportunity for everyone moving forward. Jobs. Housing. Opportunity. That’s why we price it the way it is.”

Batdorf argues that the city itself commissioned two appraisals in 2026 that placed the value of the vacant property at $380 million and $390 million, and takes issue with Welch accepting a lower amount offered through The Burg Bid.

The previous Hines-Rays redevelopment agreement also included $10 million for the museum, but that deal collapsed when the Tampa Bay Rays terminated it. Welch reopened the process and eventually selected The Burg Bid from four finalists earlier this month.

The Burg Bid proposal carries a $405 million total land valuation, but that figure is not entirely paid to the city. It consists of $275 million in cash to purchase 58 acres and $130 million dedicated to land that would remain under city ownership. The proposal calls for a $20 million deposit when a purchase-and-sale agreement is executed.

“Why are we going to spend $10 million on that site, specifically for one museum?” Batdorf said. “I need to do more research about the viability of the museum. I think it’s a good idea to have an African American museum. We have a Holocaust museum. I think it’s good to have those in the city, but on that property I’m not sure.”

Batdorf said that a different approach to redevelopment could leverage between $1 billion and $2 billion in development value, although that figure is his own estimate.

“We should bring a national consultant who has no ties to anyone who will be involved with the development of the property, or two or three, and create a vision for what that property can do for its highest and best use. That’s the only way we can leverage that property to offset the costs of our failing infrastructure right now. We need to use the city’s assets properly and be conscious of the future of our tax base,” Batdorf said.

He also accused Welch of timing The Burg Bid announcement to influence voters ahead of the Aug. 18 election.

“There’s no doubt that he made this announcement to garner votes from a certain area of St. Petersburg,” Batdorf said. “That’s all he did this for.”

At the forum, Welch presented the election as a choice between maintaining momentum behind the proposal and restarting a process that has already stretched across decades. Batdorf predicts that much of The Burg Bid proposal may not ultimately move forward.

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Ed. note: Michelle Todd Schorsch is the Chair of St. Pete Shines, a political committee backing Crist for St. Petersburg Mayor. Todd Schorsch is married to Peter Schorsch, the publisher of Florida Politics.