Investment giant Blackstone buys named St. Petersburg marina developer
St. Petersburg has been pursuing a major redevelopment of the downtown marina since former Mayor Rick Kriseman's administration.
Kriseman's plan to work with a Tennessee-based developer failed to get City Council support in 2021. Many at the time wondered why the city couldn't just handle the renovations and keep a city asset under public control.
That might happen now.
Mayor Ken Welch two years ago put out a new bid request, received two proposals and chose Safe Harbor Marinas. But that company has been acquired by Blackstone Infrastructure. City Development Administrator James Corbett told council members in an email Thursday that Blackstone had completed its acquisition of Safe Harbor the day before for $5.65 billion.
While the complete transaction means Safe Harbor can now 'direct greater focus toward the Marina redevelopment project,' Corbett wrote, the city will also 'revisit the cost and process of redeveloping the marina independently.'
'This dual-track approach ensures we are positioned to proceed with the redevelopment as quickly as possible following the appropriate City Council approval,' Corbett wrote.
This is a developing story. Check back for updates.
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Boston Globe
32 minutes ago
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