Clearwater makes deal to buy church property for parking structure
By Breanne Williams
Tampa Bay Business Journal
Published: Aug 17, 2022

Clearwater is taking steps to tackle its downtown parking shortage with the approval of plans to buy a property where it intends to build a 550-space parking garage.

The Community Redevelopment Agency on August 15, unanimously approved a contract to purchase the 0.83-acre site at 107 S. Osceola Avenue, which is the rear portion of Peace Memorial Presbyterian Church's property.

The approved purchase price is $1.85 million, and up to $20,000 in expenditures were approved. City manager Jon Jennings said the parking garage would include approximately 12,000 square feet of ground floor retail.

"I think this is a definition of a win-win," Mayor Frank Hibbard said in the CRA meeting. "I think this could be a great partnership, and it's a very strategic location. Obviously, it could help the church. My church left downtown Clearwater almost 20 years ago because of a lack of parking."

Jennings said city staff has been working on the deal with Peace Memorial Presbyterian Church since early March.

The site is home to a two-story, 15,556 square foot building that is scheduled to be demolished as well as surface parking. It is at the northeast corner of South Osceola Avenue and Pierce Street in downtown Clearwater.

The church has owned the property for several decades and is east of the former Clearwater City Hall site. It is on the western edge of downtown Clearwater near Water's Edge Condominiums and The Fort Harrison.

The property lies just a few blocks from the two bluff parcels where Palm Harbor's The DeNunzio Group and New York-based Gotham Property Acquisitions intend to build a $400 million mixed-use development. The Bluffs project will go before voters this November.

The nearby Coachman Park is also undergoing a massive renovation as part of the $84 million Imagine Clearwater project. The project — which could draw thousands downtown to events at the waterfront amphitheater — only has approximately 260 parking spaces planned for the site.

The purchase agreement shows that the city will set aside at least 125 spaces in the garage for church services on Sunday morning, no fewer than 20 spaces for church staff throughout the week and no fewer than 75 spaces on Ash Wednesdays, Maundy Thursday and Good Friday. On Christmas Eve, at least 125 spaces will be set aside. The agreement shows that during concert dates, which will be the second Sundays from October to March, at least 125 spaces will be set aside.

The agreement also shows that the CRA will create temporary parking at 112 S. Osceola Avenue, 301 Pierce Street, 28 N. Garden Avenue and/or 640 Pierce Street during construction.

The agreement also stipulates what type of retail could go in the ground-floor venues. For example, liquor stores, bars, adult bookstores, hookah lounges, cannabis dispensaries and tattoo parlors will be prohibited.