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Complex relationship for 2 governments?

Pinellas County leaders and Clearwater officials are considering sharing one building to replace their outdated offices.

By AARON SHAROCKMAN and WILL VAN SANT
Published May 11, 2006

CLEARWATER - Pinellas County and Clearwater city officials are discussing whether to build and share a multimillion-dollar government complex.

The talks come as both governments look to replace inefficient, outdated offices in downtown Clearwater. A joint complex could cost less than separate facilities, city and county officials said Thursday.

The governments would remain independent, but the partnership could make for strange bedfellows.

Officials who fight over annexation rules one minute could meet at the copier or at the vending machines the next.

"Maybe it's like living in a house with a spouse," County Commissioner Karen Seel said. "After a spat you kiss and make up."

Clearwater already has pinpointed two sites for a 185,000-square-foot downtown government tower that could cost at least $37-million if built today, according to area commercial real estate agents. County officials are open to even more locations.

The tower, wherever it might go, would be a signature building for Clearwater, city officials say. It could include retail shops, link to an improved public transportation hub and be a key to downtown revitalization.

Administrators will meet this month to discuss a study of the consolidated government complex, which would include space for the Board of County Commissioners and City Council, along with most county constitutional offices. The county would maintain its current building on Court Street where the Clerk of the Circuit Court and the judicial system would remain.

The study will outline cost estimates for building at potential sites and ways the governments might interact at one location.

City officials said they need 55,000 square feet of space and might use Penny for Pinellas tax dollars to pay for their portion of the building.

The county needs about 130,000 square feet. It could receive more than $19-million from selling some of its scattered offices and save $90,000 annually from no longer leasing other office space.

Officials from both sides celebrated the possibilities Thursday while cautioning that talks remain preliminary.

"It's smart business," said Clearwater Mayor Frank Hibbard. "If we can combine on a product that's cost-effective and more efficient, that's the type of government our citizens not only like, but expect."

Seel, once a member of the Clearwater City Council, said Hibbard had approached her about the concept, which she says makes tremendous sense.

"It seems inefficient to be building two new buildings," she said.

City Manager Bill Horne said Clearwater will consider any downtown site. However, city officials prefer the current Pinellas County Utilities Department on South Osceola Avenue which could accommodate a high-rise office tower.

The property could be linked to a parking garage across the street with a pedestrian bridge, and the garage ringed with stores and restaurants. It could also be the site of a new Pinellas-Suncoast Transit Authority hub, city officials said.

That ambitious project, however, is just an idea.

"We're not saying we want to do this," Clearwater Assistant City Manager Rod Irwin said. "We're saying it's worth looking at."

[Last modified May 11, 2006, 23:26:00]