ST. PETERSBURG - A proposed Rays waterfront ballpark faces its first major test in the next two months as developers weigh a request for them to make over Tropicana Field.

On Thursday, the St. Petersburg City Council will take action on a staff recommendation to approve a comprehensive marketing document aimed at luring developers from across the country to get involved in a project that could be the largest in city history.

The redevelopment of Tropicana Field, home of the Tampa Bay Rays since 1998, would provide most of the money needed for the $450 million downtown stadium the team wants to build at the site of Al Lang Field.

City leaders have emphasized they have not taken a formal position on the Rays' proposals, which face regulatory and voter approval. However, the city has helped move the process forward, co-sponsoring a community forum with the Rays last week and drafting the request for proposals to redevelop the 86-acre Tropicana Field site.

Some community leaders said the city is moving too quickly.

"We're dealing with perhaps the biggest development project that's ever been done in the city, so certainly careful consideration ought to be given to it," said Will Michaels, vice president of the Council of Neighborhood Associations, an umbrella organization of St. Petersburg neighborhood groups.

The council unsuccessfully sought to extend from 60 days to 120 days the time for developers to submit proposals to the city, reasoning that the extra time would yield "better quality, more thoughtful proposals," Michaels said.

City officials said the accelerated timeline is needed so the Rays can put the downtown ballpark proposal before city voters in just 10 months. The council is expected to decide by June whether to place the matter on the November presidential election ballot.

"Things are moving quickly, but we have to get the information," council chairman James Bennett said. "Nobody's going to support this thing going to referendum if the numbers don't add up. And the Rays want to have this referendum when the most people are going to the polls."

The request for proposals says the city is looking for a developer who has completed at least two large-scale urban projects, with each having a value of at least $500 million. The BayWalk shopping and entertainment complex in downtown, for instance, cost about $40 million when it opened in 2000.

The city wants cash offers for the Tropicana Field site and financial guarantees that the development will happen.

Development features the city wants to see are similar to what the Rays have proposed for the site.

A consultant for the team has prepared a site development proposal that features a massive retail and residential complex with 1 million square feet of commercial space and 900,000 square feet of housing, mainly four- and five-story apartment and condo buildings interspersed with boulevards, ponds and parks.

The city wants a pedestrian-oriented, mixed-use community that would be linked to the new ballpark and would include a variety of housing options as well as stores.

"We will know probably pretty quickly whether this thing is a go or not," Bennett said. "I'm just asking people to be open-minded."

Council approval of the request for proposals Thursday wouldn't signal approval of a new stadium, he said.

"It means we're getting the information so we can make the decision. Not just for us, but for everybody."

Reporter Carlos Moncada can be reached at (727) 451-2333 or cmoncada@tampatrib.com.