Mayor Ken Welch gave his fourth State of the City address on Wednesday. All photos: City of St. Petersburg.
Mayor Ken Welch’s fourth annual State of the City address highlighted St. Petersburg’s recent successes, provided a glimpse into the future, and concluded on a familiar topic – the Historic Gas Plant District’s redevelopment.
The event, held on Wednesday at the Palladium Theater, began with invocations by faith leaders, a reading from Poet Laureate Denzel Johnson-Green, and a performance by the Arts Conservatory for Teens. City Council Chair Lisset Hanewicz called the opening “a reminder of who we are.”
Hanewicz said one project, plan, or moment will not determine St. Petersburg’s future. “It will be defined by how we treat each other … how we steward what we have been given, and whether the people who come after us inherit a city that works, a city that cares, and a city that’s worth protecting.”
However, Welch’s legacy is intrinsically intertwined with the Gas Plant, currently home to Tropicana Field. He campaigned on fulfilling long-deferred promises to the displaced Black community, arduously negotiated a failed $6.7 billion redevelopment deal with the Tampa Bay Rays, and is currently evaluating new proposals – amid a reelection year.
“The Historic Gas Plant District is not just a redevelopment project,” Welch said. “It is a test of whether we keep our promises, whether we are distracted by election year politics and political agendas, or … whether we have the political will to do the right thing.”
Welch noted that 40 years have passed since the city “uprooted” Gas Plant residents. It now has another opportunity to transform a sea of surface parking lots into community assets, he said.
Earlier this month, the city council approved a nonbinding resolution asking Welch to “pause any action” related to selecting a redevelopment proposal and commission an independent land-use study. While he agrees that officials should “plan first,” Welch said planning “is the only thing we’ve done” on the 86-acre site.
Several studies, workshops, and public forums have taken place since 2016, and Welch said the community has consistently advocated for jobs, affordable housing, and economic opportunities. He is “comfortable that we understand” the public’s priorities.
Welch pledged to forge ahead with redevelopment, starting with affordable housing and a new Woodson African American Museum of Florida. However, his administration will “make every reasonable effort to accommodate” the council’s request, provided it does not “return us to paralysis.”
Successes Cited by Welch
St. Petersburg gained 434 affordable or workforce housing units in 2025. Development partners also completed 24 affordable single-family homes, and 189 affordable townhomes were under construction on city-owned land.
The city became Florida’s first to adopt new legislation, known as the “Yes in God’s Backyard” provision, that enables faith-based organizations to create affordable housing on underutilized land. “Projects like these are essential to ensuring that our growth is equitable,” Welch said.
Building department staff processed over 54,000 permits, representing $1.44 billion in new construction last year. The city also waived $3 million in fees for 15,635 Post Disaster Emergency Permits.
Welch’s administration reopened a reimagined President Barack Obama Main Library, connected over 1,000 families with free literacy tools, launched the Friday Night Teen Flex program at recreation centers, invested $260,000 in the Childhood Homelessness Project, and dedicated $1 million in federal funding to Youth Opportunity Grants.
A $200,000 allocation supported 40 Individual Artist Grants. A similar initiative, Level Up Arts Grants, helped 10 small nonprofits provide community-based projects, youth programming, and cultural storytelling.
The St. Pete Community Support Hub served 573 residents. A microfund initiative in the South St. Petersburg Community Redevelopment Area provided 196 small businesses with education, mentoring, and $1.14 million to foster growth.
Officials completed 89 resilience and infrastructure projects totaling $47.3 million, $5.7 million under budget, in 2025. “As you can see, our St. Pete team is making impactful progress every day,” Welch said.
What’s next?
That progress will continue in 2026, said Welch, as 571 affordable and 238 workforce housing units are under construction. Many will open by the end of the year.
Residents can also expect a vastly renovated Manhattan Casino to debut this summer. Welch called the project “more than just a restoration: It’s a revival of a cultural landmark and anchor of the 22nd Street (South) corridor.”
The Manhattan Casino’s return “honors the Deuces legacy, while creating new space for arts, culture, and economic opportunity,” he added.
Long-delayed plans to redevelop and storm-harden the St. Petersburg Municipal Marina will soon take shape. The administration will also ask voters to approve the issuance of $600 million in property-tax-supported bonds to finance resilient infrastructure projects.
“We need the funding now, in the near term,” Welch said.
Officials expect to issue the first round of federal disaster relief payments stemming from the $160 million Sunrise St. Pete program in mid-March. “The challenges we’ve long anticipated in this region are now undeniably here,” Welch said of environmental threats.
St. Petersburg has proven it can meet “big, complex challenges successfully,” Welch concluded. “And that same energy carries us forward.”
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More Photos
Denzel Johnson-Green, the city’s newly-appointed poet laureate, debuted his poem entitled “The Spider-Woman of St. Pete.
A performance by the Arts Conservatory for Teens received raucous applause.
Council Chair Lisset Hanewicz said “civic life is not perfect agreement.”
Mayor Ken Welch said resilience is “not simply about restoring what was – it is about preparing for what lies ahead.”
