When it comes to the Rays search for a stadium site in Tampa we assume everything is still on the table, but the rumors often seem to center on the area between the Courtney Campbell Causeway and Raymond James Stadium. The heart of this area is the business/residential district known as Westshore.
We have been writing about the potential of the Westshore* corridor as a site for Rays baseball for more than a decade — here are examples from 2017, 2016, and 2014 — and it’s easy to understand why.
The neighborhood is quite literally the center of Tampa Bay, at the intersection of I-275, Dale Mabry Highway, and the Veterans Expressway, bringing together pathways from St. Petersburg, Clearwater, and neighborhoods north and east of Tampa proper, as well as key Tampa east-west corridors of Boy Scout Boulevard and Kennedy Boulevard. The main barrier to locating a stadium in Westshore has always been finding a large enough site, but now it turns out that Westshore Plaza, a 53.3 acre shopping mall, is not only up for sale but failing to find a buyer.
It’s probably not surprising that the mall is on the market. Traditional indoor malls all over the country are failing, and Westshore has the further disadvantage of sitting just 2.5 miles from the newer, fancier International Plaza.**
The mall’s owners had apparently been seeking to redevelop the area, proposing a project they called “Westshore 54,” which was approved by City Council in 2024. Times reporter Rebecca Liebson wrote in March 2024 that the site’s owners were hoping for more vertical development (e.g. construction of office or residential towers) at the mall, which also contains a popular local AMC movie theater, a presumed high traffic Chick-fil-a, and a Macy’s*** my mother in law would sorely miss if the mall was torn down. That the site went on the market a year later suggests that the owners are not seeking to undertake the redevelopment themselves.
All of this would be typical redevelopment fodder for the constantly growing Tampa Bay area, but the Tampa Bay Times’s recent article 10 Tampa Bay real estate developments to watch in 2026 revealed that Westshore 54 has failed to find a buyer after ten months on the market:
Tampa City Council approved a redevelopment plan in 2024 that would pave the way for a sprawling mixed-use district with shopping, apartments, offices and even medical facilities to replace WestShore Plaza mall.
WestShore Plaza’s owner, Washington Prime Group, listed the 52-acre property for sale in February.
There are no takers so far. But if someone closes on the property next year, it could be the beginning of the end for the nearly 60-year-old mall.
[Rebecca Liebson, Tampa Bay Times]
We continue to think that Westshore is well suited for a stadium and ancillary development. It’s adjacent to Tampa International Airport, and has a city designated business development district. A stadium in the area would be close to potential corporate sponsors, and might be able to access some of the office parking capacity that is likely to be empty on evenings and weekends, when most games are played.
And to sweeten the pot, even if it’s just a far-off gleam in the eye, Tampa International Airport master plans in recent years have included ideas for a multi-modal transportation hub that could even feature an extension of the current Automated People Mover that connects the main terminal to long term parking and the car rental facility. We’re not saying this kind of rail access is highly likely, but IF there were to be transit advances in the coming years, link to and through the Westshore area are probably among the most likely places to find it.
We’ve written that the current ownership group is seeking a 100-acre site, with the HCC campus on Dale Mabry a favored spot. But building there means co-locating with, or relocating a busy community college, and also raises questions about the viability of a stadium with the Yankee complex next door (and the political difficulties of getting Yankees to move).
Read More: The Leading Candidate for a New Rays Stadium: HCC Dale Mabry
WestShore Plaza is a slow moving private sale, and almost no one will cry over demolishing a forgettable cookie cutter mall complex (sorry mom), so in some ways this site might be an easier one to redevelop. If desired, a new complex could even include wider entertainment offerings like a movie theater within the anticipated mix of restaurants and retail, but leave the traditional anchor department stores to International Plaza.
Fifty-three or so acres is not, however, 100 acres. Would the Rays new ownership group be willing consider a smaller but extremely well positioned site?
*It is interesting to observe that use of “West Shore” and “Westshore” is largely interchangeable. On street signs it is two words, while the neighborhood is frequently described as one. Maps use Kennedy Boulevard as a dividing line between North and South for the Westshore neighborhood, resulting in “North Westshore Boulevard” and “South West Shore Boulevard.” Adding to the confusion, the WestShore Plaza mall notably has combined the two words but kept the capitalization. Given that any areas historically considered for a new stadium in the neighborhood are all north of Kennedy Blvd, we have consistently used the one-word moniker.
**Only one of the malls on Westshore Boulevard has a Blind Tiger; you’ll find me at that one.
*** As of publishing that Macy’s location has largely closed operations, but you can still make returns of your online purchases.
