Good morning, St. Pete! Fun fact: The average person will walk the equivalent of five times around the world in their lifetime. Meanwhile, someone in St. Pete will spend approximately three of those lifetimes trying to find street parking downtown during a weekend in March. Circle, circle, circle eventually you just park at the Pier garage and walk.

In approximately four hours—at 10 a.m. sharp—the window closes for developers to submit proposals for St. Petersburg's Historic Gas Plant District. This is it. The deadline we've been building toward since January 4th.

Here's what we know for sure: ARK Ellison Horus (the group led by Casey Ellison, Cathie Wood of ARK Invest, and Jonathan Graham of Horus Construction) submitted their massive $6.8 billion proposal back in October, which triggered this whole 30-day public competition window under Florida law. Their plan includes 3,701 new homes (with a mix of market-rate, workforce, affordable, and senior housing), over 1,500 hotel rooms, public parks, and cultural spaces across 95.5 acres.

Thompson Whitney Blake of Blake Investment Partners publicly announced he's also submitting a proposal. Blake's been in St. Pete for 23 years and made a point of bringing his entire team to recent City Council meetings, emphasizing their local roots and community-first approach. He partnered with Blue Sky Communities—the local affordable housing developer behind Skyway Lofts and Bear Creek Commons—to handle all affordable and workforce housing both on-site and off-site across the city.

And then there's the wildcard question: Did John Catsimatidis (the New York billionaire behind Residences at 400 Central, our tallest tower) or Kolter Group (the developers behind ONE St. Petersburg, Saltaire, and Art House) submit anything? Both expressed interest. Both asked for timeline extensions. Neither has publicly confirmed they're actually in the game as of press time.

The Pinellas County Housing Authority even submitted its own separate proposal to build a senior housing tower on Lot 3.

This is the third time the city has tried to redevelop the Gas Plant site in recent years. The first two didn't exactly stick the landing. Now the site is back on the market—this time without the Rays stadium component after that deal fell through. Mayor Ken Welch gets to review all submissions and will eventually pick a winner (or winners—nothing says it has to be one developer for the whole thing).

Bottom line: By lunchtime today, we'll know who's officially in the running for the biggest development project in St. Pete's modern history. Whether you live in Campbell Park or across town, this redevelopment will reshape downtown for decades. The 86-acre site where the Historic Gas Plant neighborhood once stood is finally getting its next chapter—we just don't know who's writing it yet.

If you didn't watch Sunday night's outdoor game at Raymond James Stadium, you missed the most memorable regular-season game in Tampa Bay Lightning history. And yes, that's saying something for a franchise with two Stanley Cups.

The Lightning trailed the Boston Bruins 5-1 in the second period. It looked over. The 64,617 fans bundled up against the cold were probably wondering if they should've stayed home. And then the Bolts said "hold my Bud Light Seltzer."

Nikita Kucherov (because of course it was Kucherov) had a goal and three assists as Tampa Bay roared back with four unanswered goals, tying the game at 5-5 and forcing overtime. Brandon Hagel scored the fastest goal to start an outdoor game in NHL history—just 11 seconds into the first period. The Lightning scored two power-play goals in 23 seconds during their comeback. Jake Guentzel won it in the shootout.

Oh, and there was a goalie fight in the second period. Because apparently Florida can have outdoor hockey AND a goalie brawl in the same weekend.

The game was played inside a climate-controlled tent that kept the ice from melting in Florida's heat—the NHL's most ambitious outdoor setup ever. Tim McGraw performed at intermission. The pirate-themed Stadium Series jerseys looked incredible. And the Lightning improved their record to an absurd 17-1-1 in their past 19 games. They're first in the Atlantic Division and looking like legitimate Cup contenders again.

Bottom line: The Lightning staged the largest comeback in franchise history (first time ever rallying from four goals down) in their first-ever outdoor home game, in front of a stadium packed with fans. This is the kind of game people will be talking about for decades. If you were there, congrats—you witnessed history.

Remember when the Rays said they wanted to build a new stadium in Tampa? Well, now we know what that's actually going to cost: somewhere between $2 billion and $2.3 billion. That's with a B. For context, that's roughly the GDP of Belize.

The team announced Sunday they're willing to cover more than 50% of the costs and are proposing a 99-year lease on the Hillsborough Community College Dale Mabry campus. Here's the kicker: if any public money gets used (and let's be real, it will), the county owns the stadium, not the Rays. They've given Hillsborough County a 180-day window to negotiate, and they're targeting a 2029 opening — assuming anyone can actually figure out how to pay for this thing.

Meanwhile, Governor Ron DeSantis is meeting with MLB Commissioner Rob Manfred on Tuesday to hash out the details, according to WUSF. DeSantis has said no state money will be used, but the state owns the college land, so... there's that. The Rays are floating ideas like hotel/motel taxes, sports development funds, and maybe a new entertainment district tax or rental car surcharge. Translation: someone's paying for this, and it probably won't be the billionaire owners.

For St. Pete residents watching this unfold: yes, this is really happening. The team that played at the Trop for decades is seriously considering moving across the bay. The stadium they were supposed to build on the Historic Gas Plant District site? Dead. The relationship with St. Pete? Complicated. At least Tropicana Field's roof is fixed and ready for Opening Day.

Bottom line: The Rays want a $2+ billion stadium in Tampa, they'll pay half, and Hillsborough County has six months to figure out if they're willing to foot the rest of the bill. St. Pete's baseball future just got a lot more uncertain.

⚡ Lightning back at it tonight: After Sunday's epic comeback, the Bolts host the Carolina Hurricanes at 7 p.m. at Amalie Arena. Can they keep the magic going?

🏫 Pinellas school closure meetings continue: Cross Bayou Elementary hosts a community meeting February 5 at 6 p.m. as the district moves toward final votes on school closures and consolidations. Final vote is February 24.

🌡️ Warming trend this week: Temps climb back to the mid-60s by the weekend.

📅 Firestone Grand Prix coming: The IndyCar Series returns to downtown St. Pete February 27-March 1. Start planning your race weekend now.

🏒 DeSantis and MLB commissioner meeting: Governor Ron DeSantis and MLB Commissioner Rob Manfred are scheduled to meet next week to discuss the Rays stadium situation.

Not much going on today 🤷🏼‍♂️ Must be too cold

February 3, 1969 — George Snow Hill, one of Florida's premier muralists, died in St. Petersburg at age 70. Hill was the artist behind several iconic Florida murals throughout the 1930s, including works in St. Pete City Hall, the U.S. Coast Guard Station in St. Petersburg, and post offices in Perry, Madison, and Milton.

Born in Michigan in 1898, Hill studied at Syracuse University's College of Fine Arts where he met his equally talented artist wife, Polly Knipp. The couple spent years painting in Europe before returning to Florida, where Hill became known as Florida's answer to Diego Rivera and Thomas Hart Benton. His murals captured the innocence and joy of 1930s Florida life—fishing, citrus farming, and everyday people—with a distinctive style that mixed realism with caricature.

If you've ever been inside St. Pete City Hall, you've seen his work. His murals there depict Florida's history and daily life during the Depression era. Hill won numerous awards throughout his career and his work toured nationally in the 1940s. He's remembered as Florida's most important muralist of the early 20th century.

⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️ AMAZING!!!
⭐️⭐️⭐️ Meh, do better
⭐️ You didn't bring the heat