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Grander vision for property proposed

Developers now push plans for a vibrant town center on City Hall property. Clearwater leaders delay a referendum on its sale so residents can digest the idea.

By AARON SHAROCKMAN
Published June 4, 2005

CLEARWATER - City officials will delay a referendum to sell City Hall after developers Friday unrolled dramatically different plans to remake the site as part of a $250-million public-private town center.

Developers say they will cut the height of a residential tower by 100 feet and double the retail and restaurant space in the project - a response to community concerns. A hotel and office component are also part of the new equation. So is as much as $750,000 in public art.

The changes are so significant, city officials said Friday, that they will put off a November public vote on the project so that residents have more time to digest the altered plan. A referendum may now come next March, they said.

Mayor Frank Hibbard was enthusiastic about the reshaped concept Friday.

"This project has really evolved," he said. "This is a good, final plan that we can take to the people and start to get buy-in."

Developers envision a ring of restaurants and storefronts around what is now the City Hall property, with offices and lofts above. The office and residential buildings would be between 8 and 15 stories high, developers say, well short of the 25-story, 250-foot condominium tower that was first proposed.

Pierce Street would become a vibrant city center under the new plan, with umbrella cafes along the north side of the repaved road and a new City Hall and possible hotel to the south.

A second promenade further north would link to the waterfront, with restaurants perched on the bluff.

The new development, which has taken on the name Water's Edge, improves access to the city's waterfront while providing a reason for residents to head downtown again, said Bill West, a real estate manager with the developer Opus South.

The project is a bigger financial risk for Opus, which had originally planned a more static mix of condos and small storefronts, along with a new City Hall.

"We locked ourselves in a room one day and said that we need to rethink this," West said. "We're excited with what we came up with. This is a much more sophisticated development that we think better matches what the community is looking for."

Opus officials are hoping to purchase about 3 acres of City Hall property at Pierce and Osceola Avenue. They already have a contract to buy a pair of private properties to the north and south.

But in order to purchase city land, developers must win the approval of voters, according to the city's charter, which requires a public referendum on the sale of certain city-owned waterfront land.

Developers said they do not want to buy any of the city's land below the bluff, closer to the waterfront. City officials have discussed incorporating that property, now a construction staging area for the Clearwater Memorial Causeway, into a public park.

Opus' Jerry Shaw said the company has discussed spending $750,000 on public art for the new development.

"This project is personal for us," said Shaw, a senior vice president with Opus. "There are a lot of opportunities out there for us that would be a lot easier. But we think this is something we can be very proud of that can revitalize downtown Clearwater. We think this is the key project."

While the company continues to finalize its new concept, Opus will press ahead with plans for the northernmost piece of the development, a 157-unit condominium ringed by small storefronts.

Shaw said Opus will soon open a sales center for its residences at the corner of Osceola and Cleveland Street. Condos in the tower will sell from between $500,000 and $1-million, Shaw said.

"The plan is gelling together and it's going to be completed," said Hibbard, who as mayor, has taken a lead in selling the project. "This is a good deal that's going to jump-start downtown."

--Aaron Sharockman can be reached at 727 445-4160 or asharockman@sptimes.com

[Last modified June 4, 2005, 06:14:28]