St. Pete Council backs Brandi Gabbard push for Ken Welch to pause Gas Plant District redevelopment talks

The St. Petersburg City Council has approved a resolution against Mayor Ken Welch’s advancement of Historic Gas Plant District redevelopment efforts before negotiations get off the ground.

The move hands Brandi Gabbard, the resolution’s sponsor, a political victory over Welch as the future of the site has emerged as one of the defining issues in St. Petersburg’s 2026 mayoral race.

Gabbard — who has publicly declared her intention to run for Mayor — told Council members that now with nine proposals on the table “as varied as the opinions of our residents,” the city is operating from a “reactionary posture” and “flying without a radar.” She warned the city risks repeating decades of unfulfilled promises tied to the former Gas Plant community if allowed to proceed unchecked.

“Today we are not just voting on a resolution, we are deciding how history will remember our stewardship for St. Petersburg’s most valuable remaining asset — the Historic Gas Plant site,” she said. 

She pointed to repeated efforts dating back months to involve an independent planning organization, saying calls for third-party guidance were raised well before the current proposal window and were not triggered by any specific bid. 

“These requests went unanswered while we left space for an unsolicited bid to dictate our pace,” she said. “Now we are chasing a speeding bullet. I am simply asking us to catch our breath.”

Gabbard said a pause would not derail redevelopment, noting that a third-party planning effort could be completed in roughly six months — timing that would roughly coincide with the August election, effectively delaying negotiations long enough to take matters out of Welch’s hands unless he is re-elected. 

“Best practices show that by setting a strategic rubric of priorities, we will have the best chance of success instead of perpetuating the unfulfilled promises that continue to permeate our community,” Gabbard said. “This is not about slowing down, this is about leveling up.”

Gabbard said any developer serious about the project would be willing to wait. She argued that relying on plans crafted before recent hurricanes risks locking the city into assumptions that no longer reflect current realities.

“A six-month engagement initiative is a small investment for a massive return,” she said. “It would allow us to negotiate from a position of strength, not desperation, provide a guidebook so that our residents can finally trust the process, and answer critical questions still outstanding, such as: Should we sell this land at all?” 

The City Council cast a 6 to 2 vote in favor of Gabbard’s resolution, with Council members Deborah Figgs-Sanders and Copley Gerdes voting against it. They support Welch’s vision and efforts to fulfill promises made to the displaced residents of the Historic Gas Plant District when the neighborhood was disrupted for a Tampa Bay Rays ballpark.

The Rays are now in negotiations to relocate away from St. Petersburg to Tampa after backing out of a deal previously lined up with Welch’s administration.

“Whatever the process may be, I want to know that my ‘no’ is not a denial of the process and what your intent was, but I’m not going to forget our descendants,” Figgs-Sanders said. “I’m not going to forget what the original starting point of this whole process many years ago was about.”

While the Council’s action does not legally bind the Mayor, Gabbard said the vote is an opportunity to align the administration and Council before irreversible decisions are made.

“One thing is clear. All of that uncertainty and hesitation to engage with this plan could go away tomorrow if the City Council and administration would simply agree to work together on a short exercise with a long-term benefit,” Gabbard said.