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First step up? Plans for 33-story condo tower filed

Wednesday's filing means the Acqua at the Downtown Plaza in Clearwater is scheduled to be heard Nov. 15.

By AARON SHAROCKMAN
Published August 27, 2005

CLEARWATER - Developers this week filed plans to remake 4 acres downtown with a 10-screen movie theater and a 380-foot-tall condominium tower - a $200-million-plus project meant to rejuvenate a withering city core.

Plans for Acqua at the Downtown Plaza have not changed from previously discussed concepts. The destination redevelopment would include Clearwater's tallest building - and one of the tallest in Pinellas County - a 33-story bending glass tower.

There would also be a 10-screen, first-run movie theater and another 43,500 square feet of restaurant and retail space.

Developer Elias Jafif unveiled the concept last month to City Council members who must decide whether to redirect $9-million in tax revenues generated by the Acqua project back to the developer to pay for theater parking spaces.

The city's Community Development Board must also approve the development site plan. Wednesday's filing means the project is scheduled to be heard Nov. 15 and shows developers are serious about their intentions.

"The city needs this," said Mark Rieker, president of the construction team. "I've done a lot of development work in downtown areas. I can't tell you, I've never seen a downtown that needs it more than this one."

The Acqua project would transform the block between Osceola and Fort Harrison avenues, north of Cleveland Street. The project would wrap around the AmSouth Bank building, which would be renovated.

At 379 feet 6 inches, the condominium tower off Osceola would be almost as tall as St. Petersburg's Bank of America building at 386 feet. There is no limit on how tall buildings may be in Clearwater's downtown.

Already, the Community Development Board has approved a 271-foot, 25-story condominium tower to replace the Calvary Baptist Church at the corner of Osceola and Cleveland.

The movie theater in Jafif's project would front Cleveland, downtown's main street, and be 65 feet tall.

Rieker said he hopes to receive city approval and apply for building permits by the end of the year.

Developers filed plans for a $200-million-plus redevelopment this week. If approved, the project would include:

245 condominiums in a 380-foot tower.

Condos from 1,059 to 5,588 square feet.

An eighth-floor pool deck with two small tennis courts.

A 55,000-square-foot, 10-screen movie theater.

1,223 parking spaces.

[Last modified August 27, 2005, 01:14:20]