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Clearwater hoping redevelopment project gets more people downtown
By JOSH BOATWRIGHT
Tampa Tribune
Published: Jun 7, 2013

CLEARWATER - Tech businesses are moving downtown. Renovations are under way at the Capitol Theatre. And this fall, voters will decide whether to help build a $160-million aquarium on the City Hall site.

What's most pressing for city officials, though, is getting more people to live, work and play here.

One key to making that happen might be a $34-million proposal to build a mixed-use apartment complex that city staff are recommending be built on city-owned land just east of downtown.

The plan by Longwood-based Prospect Real Estate Group calls for 247 units of market-rate townhomes and apartments above shops along Cleveland Street with an outdoor plaza fronting nearby Prospect Lake.

A Community Redevelopment Agency committee last month reviewed four proposals for the vacant 6.85-acre site located along a major business corridor that city leaders want to make into a hub of shops and residences for urban professionals.

After approval by the full agency board on June 18th, the city would enter negotiations with Prospect Real Estate and construction could begin next spring.

"Adding residential and rental urban units to our downtown is the key next step in helping to revitalize the downtown and move it forward," said Geraldine Lopez, chair of the selection committee and the city's director of economic development and housing.

The development of the Prospect Lake site furthers the city's efforts to revitalize Clearwater's quiet downtown core.

The city has already put in wide, tree-lined sidewalks and medians on Cleveland Street after a major overhaul of water and sewer lines.

One block west of Prospect Lake, there's a collection of 15 townhomes called Mediterranean Village in the Park.

The city's long-term vision is to attract more software and IT companies to locate their offices and employees near downtown. Last month, Clearwater web design company GreatCircle moved its headquarters downtown to a space at 600 Cleveland Street.

"This would be a natural place to support our tech district with these workers who would live close to where they work," Lopez said.

One of the developers, Roxanne Amoroso, said the city has invested heavily in the infrastructure for the site, including the creation of a park with walking paths that surround the lake.

"The city teed this up very well for economic development and it's right on the edge of downtown on a main artery," she said, adding that a light rail route is under consideration within walking distance.

The new development would have a four-story structure with apartments fronting Cleveland Street and three-story townhomes on the lake side with about 15,000-square-feet of retail.

The modern-style complex would be designed by Orlando-based architectural firm Baker Barrios, which has also worked on the sprawling Encore development in Tampa and Creative Village, a 365-acre residential project in downtown Orlando.

Prospect Real Estate Group has offered to buy the parcel for $2.5 million.

The group has developed other properties in Pinellas County like Waterside at Coquina Key.

The residential housing market in downtown Clearwater has slowly recovered in the past couple years with upscale condos like Water's Edge nearly full, local realtor Kelly Kepler said.

"There's a great demand for rental units, condos or apartments for rent," said Kepler, broker with Engel & Volkers.

jboatwright@tampatrib.com

727-215-1277