Eyes on redevelopment

A new $400 million facility for All Children's Hospital is among the many redevelopment projects completed or under way in downtown St. Petersburg.

PINELLAS COUNTY - Tight budgets and credit market woes notwithstanding, two Pinellas County cities are maintaining an aggressive stance toward redevelopment in an effort to position themselves for the eventual economic recovery.

St. Petersburg

“In downtown St. Pete, over the last several years, we’ve done a number of things to position the city to be attractive for investment,” said Dave Goodwin, economic development director.

Those include infrastructure improvements and the establishment of enterprise zones and redevelopment districts, he said.

In addition, the city adopted modified land development regulations in September 2007 that allow for more density in redevelopment projects and more bonuses to developers who undertake them, said CRA Coordinator Rick Smith.

All of that, said Goodwin, puts downtown St. Petersburg in a prime position for additional investment despite the economic downturn. He said more than $750 million in projects are under construction, including:

- Fusion 1560, a $100 million, 326-unit apartment project now under way by Zaremba Residential Company.

- A new $400 million facility for All Children’s Hospital.

- The $165 million Signature Place, a 260-unit condominium by developer Joel Cantor.

- A $10 million, 30,000sf marine technology research facility by SRI International at the Port of St. Petersburg.

- A new $32 million waterfront facility for the Salvador Dali Museum.

Despite budget tightening in cities all over the state, Goodwin said St. Petersburg is maintaining its incentive program for developers.

“We believe that incentives that create investment and job growth are the solution long term. If you cut off incentives that help create jobs, you’re exacerbating the problem,” he said.

Goodwin added that, in addition to downtown, economic development strategies will be targeted toward the Gateway, Tyrone and Midtown areas going forward.

Clearwater

Redevelopment activity in Clearwater has been hampered primarily by constraints in the credit markets, said Mayor Frank Hibbard. But economic development efforts have positioned the city for the inevitable recovery, he said.

“In the last six years, the focus of the city in downtown has been to create the right environment for the private sector to invest. This has included a new fixed-span bridge to our beach, a new $20 million library, $10 million in downtown streetscape, a new $11 million marina in downtown - along with the historic Capitol Theatre recently purchased in a partnership with Ruth Eckerd Hall.

“We also have used TIF financing to attract new residential development. We have a facade grant program for property owners, and we are working to attract new restaurants and retail. It is all about a blend of residential, commercial, institutional, restaurants, and entertainment venues. Truly a mixed-use environment that accommodates a live, work, play atmosphere,” he said.

Hibbard added that the city has worked to reinvent the tourism industry on Clearwater Beach by attracting new resort hotels through its Beach Walk project, a beachside promenade designed to enhance pedestrian amenities and access to the beach.

“We invested $30 million in Beachwalk. Again all this is public investment that has resulted in capturing the attention of the private sector’s investment. Has the economy slowed our progress? Yes, but we are also poised for a recovery regardless of when it occurs,” he said.

Hibbard said continued redevelopment in 2009 will be difficult until the credit markets improve.

“We are currently looking to either purchase land on our beach for a new parking garage or the possibility of a private/public partnership with an existing land owner. In the partnership scenario, we have even considered being the financing arm,” he said, adding that other key projects include the Clearwater Municipal Marina, possible redevelopment of the Harborview Center and revitalization of the Capitol Theatre.

Hibbard said the city stands ready to work with developers who can demonstrate their expertise.

“Obviously, through our economic development department, we can show them different sites we have available. If it’s a project of reasonable magnitude, we have a Quick Response Team that we pull together that has our legal, planning and zoning departments all come together to get them through the process in an expedient way. We’ve found that to be successful on some of the larger projects that have a lot of intricacies or need certain incentives - or where time is money,” he said.

“We want somebody who has a track record of success. We have gone to the altar with people who had money but few completed projects, especially during the whole speculative boom. The value of somebody who has actually done it is incredible to us.”