Notwithstanding last year's failed referendum to redevelop its downtown waterfront, despite the mass departure of anchors from Clearwater Mall and in the face of continuous criticism of that roundabout intersection on the beach, Clearwater continues to prepare for a makeover that in the next few years may impress even its most outspoken critics.

And, by the way, there's even a positive side to the roundabout, says Ralph Stone, the city's planning director. "The new roundabout does move a heck of a lot more traffic than the old intersection."

While Clearwater seems to be plagued with more than obstacles as it tries to revitalize itself, JMC Communities, with its Mandalay Beach Club project, for example, provides an example of what success can mean. When the St. Petersburg-based condominium developer opened its sales office for this, the first new residential development on Clearwater Beach in years, people camped out for a week to have their pick of a new luxury home in the twin towers. And they'll have to negotiate the roundabout to get there.

"I hadn't experienced anything like that since the late ' 70s in Miami," exults Steve McCullough, the firm's vice president of sales and marketing.

With three other developers vying for beach projects and the owners of Clearwater Mall entering into a joint venture with the St. Petersburg-based Sembler Company to redevelop what at one time was a prime retail location, a quiet momentum is building.

"The city has placed an emphasis on revitalization over the past three years and the fruits of those efforts is beginning to pay off," says Bill Horne, Clearwater's interim city manager.

"We're taking advantage of our natural resources - the beach, an aesthetically pleasing Intercoastal Waterway and our beautiful bluff. People fall in love with that stuff. This encourages investors to come in and build and start new businesses."

Yet, clearly, downtown Clearwater lags behind the rest of the city. "Our downtown is the most underutilized part of the city," Horne acknowledges. "It's not the kind of destination place we want it to be. We have to work to generate more appropriate retail, entertainment and dining. We're finding that investors are supportive of residential development. All government can do is improve streets, ensure adequate parking and develop a first-class waterfront park and amphitheater. That's our challenge."

While officials in downtown work toward this end, a company in the southern part of the city is working to meet its own growth challenges. Eva-Tone Inc. is a printing company that also specializes in the creation of audiocassette tapes and compact disks. The 75-year-old, family-owned business is headquartered on a 24-acre campus at Ulmerton Road and 49th Street. The 450-employee company, with annual revenues of $45 million, is building a 120,000-square-foot facility to accommodate its order fulfillment business. This is in addition to its existing 200,000 square feet of office and warehouse buildings.

With the purchase of a new 40-inch, 10-color printing press, "the company is making a $10-million investment this year," says Norm Welch, Eva-Tone's president.

Expanding customer base
The new order fulfillment center will enable Eva-Tone to handle orders for customers like Reader's Digest Association Inc., McGraw Hill Cos. and Mobile, Ala.-based Integrity Inc., a music recording company. The company is also gearing up for e-commerce. "We plan to create Web sites for McGraw-Hill, for instance, so their customers can download that information," Welch says.

Welch, who is not a member of the founder's family, has been with Eva-Tone since it had a workforce of just 25 people in Deerfield, Ill. In the late ' 70s Eva-Tone had outgrown its facilities and Illinois was having problems providing energy to industry. "Richard Evans and his family had a home in St. Pete Beach and they decided to move the company to a warmer climate," Welch says. "The area has a great airport. There was no reason not to come here."

In 1979 Evans relocated the business along with 110 of his 150 employees to its current location in Clearwater. "This was a benefit to the employees," Welch says. "There was no state income tax and cost-wise it's a good place to live."

The appeal that brought the company to Clearwater helps it in the course of doing business. "We like to bring our clients to this area," says Welch. "Our competitors use the fact that we're not centrally located in the country against us. They also use hurricanes. We've been here 21 years and have not shut down one day. How many competitors in New York and Chicago can say that?"

Welch enjoys educating his clients on the advantages of his firm's Clearwater location, and he sees more of the same ahead, with company ownership likely to remain as it is. "The third generation of the family is in management positions, and it will move on to a fourth generation," he says. "The company has been profitable and that is acceptable to the owners."

Another Clearwater firm that manages the profitability of an individual's assets has also recently expanded. Spencer International Advisors Inc. has occupied a 4,000-square-foot former bank facility to accommodate the steady growth of its client base.

"Investment management is the cornerstone of our business," says Scott Spencer, the firm's president and chief executive officer. "In recent years we've added new service lines to support the investment management relationship; specifically, tax planning and preparation and estate planning."

International clientele
With 70 percent of the firm's clients in the United States, and half of those in West Florida, the remainder are international. "My father worked on Wall Street and served on the board of directors of Pioneer Funds, the fifth oldest mutual fund," Spencer says. "In the latter part of his career he coordinated that entity's European expansion. He maintained an office in Frankfurt and Warsaw and still spends time in Monaco. This forms a triangle of our European exposure."

While his father had a career in New York City and Europe, "he maintained a family residence here," says Spencer. "This environment is such a friendly place."

There was a Clearwater advantage waiting for another businessman and his company, this one with roots in New England. "Number one, we were tired of the cold weather," says James E. Furniss, co-founder and vice president of marketing at Surfside Software Systems Inc. His son, Steve, is the company's president. "This area has a strong business community. When we bring clients to our training center, they can stay at the beach. It makes a nice place to run a business."

The company, formerly based in New Hampshire, provides vehicle tracking software for the transportation industry and recently expanded its headquarters into 14,000 square feet at the SunTrust building in downtown Clearwater. The expansion is due in part to growth of its market but also follows on the heels of its acquisition by CFI Mortgage. "They were in West Palm Beach and moved their headquarters here when they purchased us in January 2000," Furniss says.

Surfside provides its software to taxi companies, trucking firms, couriers and non-emergency medical vehicles. The firm's software packages also provide global positioning satellite services. "Dispatchers can tell exactly where their vehicles are," Furniss says. "The taxi industry can be dangerous. But with our mobile data system, the driver can hit an emergency switch and the dispatcher can call 911 right to the scene of the vehicle. This capability has saved more than one life."

Circuits for defense
Another high-tech firm has taken advantage of expanding its business in Clearwater's enterprise zone. EEI/Mod-Tech Industries manufactures circuit card assemblies and provides manufacturing support services to defense contractors. The firm, with $3.5 million in annual revenues, recently purchased a 19,000-square-foot building on Grand Central Street. "As a woman-owned, small disadvantaged business there are specific set-asides for operating in a hub zone," says Susan Basil-Englander, the firm's president. "We're trying to squash our competition," she says, "and this gives us a leg up. Clearwater has been very supportive of us.

"We haven't experienced any of the negatives we've heard from people operating in other enterprise zones," Basil Englander says. "Since they're located in economically depressed areas, 35 percent of a company's workforce must be a resident of the hub zone. While meeting that 35-percent quota has been tough for other areas, it hasn't been an issue for us. We have people coming in all the time looking for jobs. The hub zone of Clearwater is a fabulous area and it benefits us when looking for federal contracts with prime [defense contractors]."

Basil-Englander's firm hasn't been affected by the downturn felt by other circuit board manufacturers. "We don't do commercial," she says. "We're involved in military contracts."

As such, EEI/Mod-Tech Industries is affiliated with Hopkins, Minn.-based Alliant Tech Systems Inc.'s operation in St. Petersburg. "We have a mentor protege agreement with them," Basil-Englander says. "When we graduate from that program we'll be a certified defense contractor ourselves and can contract directly with the Navy."

While the firm has added staff in this recent expansion, "I don't imagine going over 35 or 40 employees," says Basil-Englander. "I'd like to stay small and profitable and manage both."

That strategy is opposite Satish Sanan's approach to running a high-tech firm. Sanan was the cause of the gleam in the eyes of city officials when, a few years ago, he announced plans to build the new corporate headquarters for IMRglobal Corp. in downtown Clearwater. Justice Corporation has developed two of the three buildings planned on the firm's campus at Cleveland Street and Missouri Avenue.

But financial troubles for the firm - which developed after the Y2K "crisis" passed and IMRglobal had to search for other work - and its chief executive delayed further development. A Canadian high-tech firm, Montreal's CGI Group, was due to close in early August, on the $438-million stock acquisition of the Clearwater company. The future of the 400 employees at IMRglobal is uncertain and speculation abounds on what the CGI Group will do with its new Clearwater asset.

"There's zero talk of moving the operations out of Clearwater," says Al Justice at Justice Corp. "We haven't heard that even as a peripheral rumor."

Talk has been geared more toward CGI relocating some operations into Clearwater. "CGI's U.S. headquarters is based in Andover, Mass.," Justice says. "The salary levels, airport, transportation and cost of living are significantly better here. It would strike me as a no-brainer to move those people here. We're waiting for the closing to see what happens."

Across from IMRglobal, NexTrade Inc. is also in a wait-and-see mode. As one of nine electronic communications networks, and the only one not operating on Wall Street, NexTrade is currently awaiting approval from the Securities and Exchange Commission to operate as its own stock exchange.

"They got the QTI award last year," says Diane Hufford, Clearwater's business development manager. The qualified targeted industry tax refund program is an incentive by the state to induce growth in business sectors. "This award gives them tax refunds for each job they create. They'll add close to 50 positions over a period of three years."

Pumping wine
And a distributor of marine, industrial and hygienic pumps is also adding jobs. Depco Pump recently doubled its space to 25,000 square feet at its new facility west of Belcher Road. "Our hygienic pumps are used for foods, pharmaceuticals and wines and beverages," says Kevin Griffith, the firm's president. "Our growth has been steady, consistently between 15 and 25 percent each year."

Although the company was founded in 1967 in a Clearwater garage, Griffith didn't join the firm until 1977. "Don Thiel was still operating in his garage when I started working with him," Griffith says. "He retired in Ô85 and I bought the company. Annual sales were $500,000 then. Last year sales were at $7 million."

Griffith likes his Clearwater location because it provides room for future expansion. "We can get a 60,000- to 70,000-square-foot building on this property," he says.

Add another 10,000 square feet and that's the size of the newest speculative Class A office building delivered to Clearwater in February by Highwoods Properties. "We're 83 percent leased and very pleased," says Steve Meyers, the firm's vice president. "We're working on leases right now to get us well over 90 percent. This building has leased faster than we'd expected."

Tenants in the three-story office building just north of Clearwater Mall include Tampa Bay Engineering Inc., Baycare Health Network Inc., Arvida Realty Services Inc. and Avnet Inc. "There's a good tenant base in mid-Pinellas," Meyers says. "It's a prime market from our perspective."

Rubin Development Corp. obviously shares that opinion. Its subsidiary, Rubin Management Inc., has occupied 6,000 square feet in its newly completed three-story, 24,000-square-foot Class A office building just west of the south end of the Bayside Bridge. "The Academy of Tampa has leased 2,047 square feet," says Donna Lance at Rubin Management, who adds that the company is "also developing a 50,000-square-foot speculative office building near Digital Lightwave. Ten thousand square feet have been leased."

 

Honors From a Brownfields Project Amid the loss of top officials in its city government over the past year and a failed referendum that would have allowed it to redevelop its downtown waterfront, the City of Clearwater still managed to attract positive national attention. A three-year pilot program that involved the city, community groups and the University of South Florida and Florida A&M University is the focus of a guidebook that has been published by the Washington, D.C.-based International City/County Management Association. The universities and community groups conducted outreach and education about Brownfields and environmental justice issues in Clearwater, subsequently developing an action agenda currently being implemented by the community. Because it is the first of its kind in the nation, the plan is explained in a guidebook for local government officials and community groups. It is entitled Righting the Wrong: A Model Plan for Environmental Justice in Brownfields Redevelopment. Brownfields projects involve, in the words of the Environmental Protection Agency, taking "abandoned, idled or under-used industrial and commercial facilities where expansion or redevelopment is complicated by real or perceived environmental contamination" and cleaning them up, then fostering productive use. A variety of monetary sources is available, depending on the nature of the project. "We're ecstatic that we've been recognized as a community that is committed to redevelopment," says Bill Horne, Clearwater's interim city manager. "We've moved on transforming the Brownfields environment into productive land that makes it usable to meet the quality-of-life needs in this community. As it turns out, we're the first anywhere to do this." - Melissa Wells

Low vacancy rate
At 12 percent, according to the July 2001 Maddux Report survey, the downtown Clearwater office market has one of the lowest vacancy rates in Pinellas County. No new office space is planned at this time but residential and retail projects are in early stages of development.

"The market interest in downtown Clearwater is residential," says Ralph Stone, Clearwater's planning director. "We have an application for a Publix on South Fort Harrison near Turner Street. And we have two upscale condominium projects with a total of 300 units approved north of downtown along Osceola. This will help create a foundation for more retail."

And listen for a voice from the recent past. Although George deGuardiola's vision of a revitalized waterfront for downtown Clearwater was defeated in last year's referendum, the West Palm Beach developer maintains contact with city officials. "He has expressed continued interest," Stone says. "Every time I talk with him he expresses how strong he thinks the downtown Clearwater market is."

A Sarasota developer, meanwhile, is gearing up to deliver the 100-unit Mediterranean Village town house complex on a Brownfields redevelopment site at Myrtle and Cleveland streets. The property fronts on a retention pond that the city is planning to expand into a lake. "Bruce Balk has a contract with the city on that property," says Stone. "When the lake is constructed in the next 18 months that will be an attractive area for residential and mixed use."

At an adjacent property, developer Paul Simone plans to build a long-term stay hotel. "The hotel is still on target," says Al Justice of the Justice Corp. "They tell me they'll demolish the existing building on this site and develop the hotel."

The bluff area, site of the current City Hall building and Calvary Baptist Church, awaits interest from developers. "The church is still working on its new campus [in eastern Clearwater] and they're not in a huge rush to move," Stone says. "We'll retain the Harborview complex for the mid term and take advantage of activities there."

Views from the complex will show the continuing transformation of Clearwater Beach. JMC Communities has cranes working at its Mandalay Beach Club. "We just had our topping-out ceremony," says Steve McCullough, the firm's vice president of sales and marketing.

Sales at the 156-unit high-rise condominium have pleased the developer. "The first building has been sold out for a year," McCullough says. "We had 20 people standing in line when we opened the [sales office] doors. Some had been camping out for a week.

"We expected demand but had no idea it would be this strong," adds McCullough. "People are realizing that Clearwater Beach is a tremendous place to live." Connecticut developer David Mack evidently thinks so, too, and has submitted plans to develop the 236-unit Catalina Beach Resort. "This is an upscale condo project," says Stone. "Mack has done a nice job with this site."

To the south, however, beach development is in the midst of a legal fray that has delayed progress on the proposed $50-million, 250-room Marriott resort. Neighboring landowner Tony Markopoulus has filed several lawsuits against developers Richard Gehring and Bill Kimpton.

"The Marriott resort has an approved development agreement with the city," Stone says. "Markopoulus has filed litigation to keep the developers from closing. He's interested in developing his own property. But we meet with Mr. Markopoulus every couple weeks and I think by the end of the year the Marriott property will be in a position to move forward. I have no indication that the developers are ready to pull the tent on [the Marriott project]."

New look at the beach
As added support for this new development, the city is "moving forward with design of the Beach Walk project," says Stone. "We're removing parking from Gulfview and will build a curvalinear road and two dedicated lanes, one for rollerbladers and bicyclists and another for pedestrians. We'll turn the existing right-of-way back to property owners to create a very broad sidewalk and promenade along the beach. "Clearwater Beach will have a whole new look in a couple years," says Stone. "We always knew the beach would be very strong. It just needed a catalytic project to turn it around. JMC's development and the response of the market has provided that and opened a lot of people's eyes. We have a strong punch for the beach."

Whether there will be as strong a punch at the opposite end of Clearwater remains to be seen. The Sembler Company says it plans to enter into a joint venture agreement with New York-based New Plan Excel Realty to redevelop Clearwater Mall. Over the past couple years the 840,000-square-foot mall has lost its anchors. Sembler may put to good use its experience in developing BayWalk in St. Petersburg and Centro Ybor in Ybor City.

"We're undergoing planning now," says Lisa Brock, Sembler's spokeswoman. "We're still early in the process. It's an exciting project and a very attractive piece of real estate."

As Sembler plans a replacement for Clearwater Mall, not far away St. Petersburg/Clearwater International Airport is updating its master plan. Last year the airport invested $7 million in an expanded baggage claim facility. "We intend to take the primary runway to 10,000 feet to enable the airport to accommodate transatlantic traffic," says David Metz, the airport director.

The Airco golf course, which was closed for renovations earlier in the summer, will reopen under management by Pinellas County Economic Development. "We're going to make it more player friendly and aesthetically pleasing," says Buzz David, PCED's director of economic development.

And that's a statement that seems to sum it up for all parts of Clearwater and its plans for the future.