Calvary offer may spur city renewal

City leaders hope the $14.75-million offer for the Calvary Baptist Church property will energize downtown redevelopment.

CLEARWATER - A local investment group has made a $14.75-million offer to buy the historic Calvary Baptist Church property, which it plans to redevelop with waterfront condominiums and retail stores.

With its location on the bluff overlooking Clearwater Harbor, the property is considered by many city leaders as the linchpin to plans to redevelop and revitalize the downtown. And the plan now on the table is just what they were hoping for.

"I think this could kick-start redevelopment," said City Commissioner Frank Hibbard, a member of Calvary Baptist who acted as a middle-man of sorts to help bring the investors and church officials together.

The offer comes from an investment group headed by Abdi R. Boozar-Jomehri, who owns Safety Harbor-based Pilot Construction.

If the church accepts its offer, Boozar-Jomehri said the investors would then seek to purchase and consolidate the abutting City Hall property. That, too, fits the City Commission's vision, but it would require the approval of Clearwater voters through a referendum.

Skip Dvornik, an assistant pastor at Calvary Baptist, cautioned that the church has not yet accepted the offer. He characterized it as "a good beginning point for negotiations."

When the church first put the property on the market a year and a half ago, its asking price was $20-million. That has not changed, Dvornik said.

"We've had substantial discussions with a number of developers over the last year and a half," Dvornik said. "This is not the first offer that we've received."

This latest offer will be evaluated by the church's negotiating team and then go to the church's deacon body. Ultimately, any offer would have to pass muster with the church membership as a whole. Calvary Baptist plans to move to its new home at McMullen-Booth Road and Drew Street in 18 months.

"I believe it's a good deal for the church," said Hibbard, a member for 24 years who was married there.

The offer is not contingent upon sale of the City Hall property and would come with a $3-million nonrefundable down payment.

The plan addresses many of the commission's desires for the property, including hundreds of upscale residential condos and retail shops and restaurants in the downtown hub. It also promises a private and public parking garage. The public parking might allow the city to move the parking lot behind the Harborview Center, which could then be made into an extension of Coachman Park.

"I think this is the linchpin of the downtown," Hibbard said. "I think it's the most desirable and underutilized piece of property in downtown."

City Manager Bill Horne said city leaders have always thought that the Calvary Baptist and City Hall properties ought to be tied together in one development.

"We have always felt that what happens on the bluff will serve as a catalyst for what happens in the rest of downtown," Horne said.

"This is the kind of project we've talked about," said Mayor Brian Aungst.

Generally, current zoning on the church's land allows for a mixed use of residential and retail, officials said.

The offer certainly will spark discussions about what should become of City Hall. It is a waste to have City Hall located in such a prime economic position along the water, Aungst said.

Earlier this year, the City Hall property was appraised at $7.2-million, based on it being a vacant site.

"We consider this to be a nonfunctional building at this point," said Reg Owens, the city's economic development director.

The city hopes the sale fetches enough to rebuild a new city hall plus redevelop Coachman Park, Aungst said.

City leaders have discussed a number of possible new locations, including the the parking lot west of the police station, as well as perhaps the St. Petersburg Times property next to it, or the CGI property.

Boozar-Jomehri said it may be premature to discuss details of his development plan. But he's convinced it will spark more development downtown and make the area more economically viable.

"I don't think it's a risk," he said. "I think we are living in the best part of the world. We are quite excited about this. We think downtown needs a project like this."

Boozar-Jomehri declined to name the other two investors but said they are brothers who live locally.

Boozar-Jomehri is the husband of Mahshid Arasteh, the city's public works administrator. His construction company does mostly governmental projects, including several buildings at the University of South Florida and several Pinellas school and municipal buildings.

Born in Iran, Boozar-Jomehri said he built several thousand residential homes there, as well as three naval bases. He holds a doctorate in architecture, he said, and has been living in the United States for 20 years, the past 18 in Safety Harbor.

The Calvary Baptist property includes a four-story building south of City Hall, which is used by the church for Sunday School and Calvary Christian High School. Together with the city property, the waterfront parcels comprise 3.2 acres.

If the church should accept the offer, Hibbard said, he expects a referendum to decide on the sale of City Hall would be scheduled in November 2004.

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