CLEARWATER - Pinellas County commissioners today approved an agreement with a development group that plans to build a massive town center-type project on the 240-acre former Toytown landfill in northeast St. Petersburg.

The agreement, approved unanimously, gives Florida Gateway Development LLC a year to investigate the feasibility of redeveloping the landfill site at Interstate 275 and Roosevelt Boulevard. It also provides the development team up to three years to secure development approvals from state and local regulatory agencies.

The development team is made up of Industrial Realty Group of Los Angeles and Bear Creek Capital of Cincinnati and Mountain Sky Group, of Loveland, Co.

After the Tampa Bay Rays announced last week that they were abandoning their push for a Nov. 4 public vote in St. Petersburg on a new downtown waterfront stadium, the Toytown site has been suggested among city and county officials as a possible alternative ballpark site.

Matt Daniels, president of Bear Creek Capital, said he would be receptive to the idea of a new Rays stadium on the site, but has had no discussions with the team.

"We would be very open and excited to pursue something like that," Daniels said.

The proposed development, called "The Villages at Gateway Fields," is envisioned a major regional center, drawing people from Hillsborough County and the rest of the Pinellas peninsula.

The project would include 2 million square feet of office space, 1.5 million square feet of retail, 375 hotel rooms and a 2,113-unit residential village with workforce housing.

It would generate an estimated $16.4 million in property taxes annually for Pinellas and create more than 12,000 retail and office-related jobs after construction, officials said. More than 11,000 construction-related jobs also are anticipated while the project is being built.

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