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Project swells to 4 condo towers

The Island View has grown from a tiny 39-unit development into a community of 1,500 residents with retail space.

By AARON SHAROCKMAN
Published April 8, 2006

CLEARWATER - A downtown developer has again altered plans for a 5-acre residential community, adding two new condominium towers and shrinking the size of the units inside.

Island View would have nearly 400 condominiums in four 150-foot towers. The towers would dot land north of the Clearwater Public Library and hug the Intracoastal Waterway. A row of townhomes would border the project and front a sand beach.

The changes, unveiled for potential buyers Friday by Island View developer Ben Kugler, better fit what buyers want, Kugler said. They also make the project easier to build, the developer said.

While the market downtown remains somewhat uncertain, Kugler said his project is nearing a critical juncture. If all goes as planned, construction will start in December and the first tower, Antilles, will open in late 2008.

The prospects, Kugler said, are bright.

"This is a slam-dunk," he said, showing drawings of the plan, which was penned by a new architect, Richard Gillette of Sarasota.

"We looked at what would it take to be a winner and not a casualty," Kugler said.

The changes still need city approval, but Kugler said the latest design is an improvement for potential customers and the city as a whole.

Thomas Coates, a member of the city's Community Development Board who acts as Kugler's director of design and planning, said the new design has better sight lines to the water and offers more distinct architecture.

The units are smaller, about 1,300 square feet on average, because they are more affordable, Kugler said.

Units will be priced from $290,000 to more than $1-million, with the average unit costing about $600,000. More than 300 people have put down initial deposits of $5,000 each, Kugler said.

The project, which covers more than a city block north of downtown, will also include 20,000 square feet of retail space along Fort Harrison Avenue topped with 750-square-foot flats. The retail space would be anchored on both sides by restaurants, Kugler said. The site has already been cleared.

More work could then follow on the east side of Fort Harrison, where Kugler's Triangle Development also owns land.

"We believe this could be a nice, one-of-a-kind urban experience," said Kugler, 57, a first-time developer who spotted the property off Jones Street while sitting in the waterfront restaurant at the Sandcastle, a religious retreat for the Church of Scientology. Kugler plans to live in an Island View unit.

"I want this to be done right," he said. "I don't want someone pointing a finger at me: "There's Ben Kugler. He built this (dump)."'

In a little more than two years, Island View has grown from a small 39-condominium development into an ambitious residential and retail development that would reshape the long-neglected northwest corner of downtown Clearwater.

The latest plan is even more aggressive. Kugler said the community could hold 1,500 residents.

It also will include a "community values contract," a first in the state, Kugler said.

If a unit owner is convicted of a felony, he or she will be kicked out of the complex. The unit, in turn, will be repurchased by the condominium association, Kugler said.

[Last modified April 8, 2006, 00:33:16]