Developer Darryl Shaw said a Tampa Bay Rays stadium could still go on land that he owns in Ybor City and that has already been reserved for a women’s soccer stadium, according to Hillsborough County Commissioner Ken Hagan.
The property’s availability plus the redevelopment potential makes Shaw’s Ybor Harbor site “a leader in the clubhouse” of potential stadium sites, Hagan told the Tampa Bay Times on Wednesday.
Hagan summarized two conversations he said he had with Shaw that provide the best public indication yet of where the club might play under the new ownership reported earlier this week.
Since news first broke that Jacksonville home builder Patrick Zalupski sought to buy the Rays, Hagan has said he’s been working to find the club a home in Hillsborough. He said when he met with members of Zalupski’s group in June, they told him that they don’t have a specific location in mind, but that they prefer to have a stadium in Hillsborough.
On July 16, Hagan elaborated, telling the Times that Shaw told him on two separate occasions that his Ybor Harbor property could accommodate baseball.
The first time, Hagan said, was when Shaw and the Tampa Bay Sun announced June 17 plans to build a soccer stadium on the property, which is now being used as a shipyard. It’s an industrial area in the central crook between Channel District and Ybor City. News of Zalupski’s effort to buy the team broke the next day.
Hagan said the second meeting with Shaw was about two weeks ago to make sure the new ownership group’s interests could work with Shaw’s plans. Hagan said he wanted to know if it was too late, because if not, “we need to start master planning for plan B, C and D.”
Hagan said Shaw “recognizes that a ballpark for the Rays would accelerate the overall development much more than a soccer facility” because baseball seasons have more games than soccer seasons.
“It’s more of an economic driver,” Hagan said.
Shaw declined to comment through a spokesman.
The current Rays ownership identified the same property as a possible home for the club as recently as July 2023. The numbers then were already crunched to make a stadium work there, subsidized with surcharges from food and merchandise in the surrounding area.
Hagan pointed out that the renewal of the Community Investment Tax could provide another revenue stream to help pay for roads and sewers around the stadium. The city and county could also look at establishing a Community Redevelopment Area to keep dollars generated there spent there.
“I’m not concerned with having the financial capacity for getting these deals done,” Hagan said.
In an interview Wednesday, Tampa Mayor Jane Castor confirmed that Ybor Harbor is “still a viable option for baseball,” despite potential plans for a soccer stadium there. Castor didn’t say if she’s spoken directly with Shaw.
Hagan said ideally, the Sun and the Tampa Bay Rowdies, which the Rays own and would be part of the club sale, could both move to a separate location. Because of overlapping game schedules of the Rays, Sun and Rowdies, it would be challenging to accommodate all three at one site.
Times staff writer Nina Moske contributed to this report.