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Theater's price tag could postpone show

By MIKE DONILA
Published November 21, 2006

Developer Elias Jafif has grand plans to build a movie theater and megacondominium tower in downtown Clearwater.

But if he can't secure financial help from the city, he'll probably build something else there.

More and more, it looks as if the alternative plan has the upper hand.

Local leaders said the city needs a first-run theater to help lure residents and visitors into a downtown that they are trying desperately to revitalize. But, they said, they don't think the city can afford what Jafif is now asking.

Clearwater initially was going to put up about $9-million for the project, but now local leaders will probably have to sign a much bigger check - at least $27-million - to make the theater happen.

Jafif will meet with council members in December to talk about whether the city can help him pay for a $51-million building that would include the 10-screen theater as well as restaurants, retail shops and offices.

This project - dubbed Acqua & the Downtown Plaza - is tied to a proposed $180-million tower that would hold 245 condominiums and almost 1,200 parking spaces - all placed in the highest building in Clearwater at 380 feet.

It would be built along 4 acres at Cleveland Street and Osceola Avenue.

Under an earlier proposal, Clearwater was going to help fund the project by purchasing 400 parking spaces for $9-million. But increased construction and labor costs have driven up that price tag to $27-million, Jafif said.

In addition, the developer said he needs the city to guarantee a $24.75-million leasing contract with a movie theater operator in order for Jafif to secure a loan to build.

The guarantee doesn't necessarily mean the city will have to put up the money, but it could be on the hook if Jafif failed to make the payments on the loan or the project were abandoned.

"As the proposal stands right now, I'm not interested," Mayor Frank Hibbard said. "The city can't afford it, and we will not participate at just any cost."

City Manager Bill Horne said local leaders have always thought a mixed development where Jafif proposes to build is a good plan because it brings in much-needed traffic.

But, he said, "$27-million - I have a strong sense that it's a bridge too far ... but it's going to come down to how bad we want this for our community."

Jafif is the only developer to whom the city is talking about a movie theater, Clearwater leaders said. Earlier discussions with other developers all have fallen through.

The Community Development Board last November approved his project, but it still needs the go-ahead from the City Council.

Clearwater doesn't have a major first-run movie theater. The Clearwater Cinema Caf on Sunset Point Road at U.S. 19 N has two screens that show first-run movies, but that theater isn't open full time.

The nearest venues to see first-run films are in Largo, Oldsmar, St. Petersburg and Tampa.

A typical movie theater - a big-box facility with surface parking - costs about $17-million.

Jafif said he's already spent $4-million putting together a development and marketing team and making plans. He said he's ready to build but needs the financial help.

He said he "won't see a penny of profit for the theater," but he wants to "help contribute something that will make sense."

His profit, he said, will come from the condominiums, which he said he has the financial support to build.

If the city doesn't help Jafif, he still could build a condo tower that includes as many as 209 units under the current zoning. He said he is also interested in building a grocery store or even a Borders, a book and music outlet.

"I never give up. I'm a fighter, I'm a developer," he said. "I hope the city supports us ... but a movie theater is not the last Coca-Cola in the desert."

Jafif discovered the property, which also includes the AmSouth building, while visiting Clearwater for Scientology course work a couple of years ago. He led a group of investors in 2003 and bought the land.

He's been involved in several large developments in Mexico, such as shopping centers and upscale golf communities, but this is his first big project in the United States.

Jafif, 52, has visited Clearwater since the 1970s and now lives here.

"Do I think I have a chance (of getting the theater built)? Unfortunately, I'm too new here, and maybe my hopes are too high ... but I never thought I'd be approved by the (Community Development Board) either, and I was," he said.

[Last modified November 21, 2006, 07:02:07]