What's Preventing Downtown Development?

Larry Jaffe loves downtown Clearwater. 

The seven-year Clearwater resident operates a business, , at 424 Cleveland St., and he lives just a block north of his shop on the opposite side of the road. 

"I am downtown," he proudly states.

So when it comes to talking about the issues currently plaguing the downtown district, Jaffe is as much an authority as anyone else who has a vested interest in the area.

“A lot of attention is paid to other areas of Clearwater, like Countryside and the beach, but the downtown district is being neglected,” the part-time poet laments. 

“We’ve got to make this area more of a destination place,” he says. 

The main problems, according to Jaffe, are the abundance of empty storefronts, especially in the 500 and 600 blocks along Cleveland Street, and the number of homeless people populating the area.

“We get 5,000 people down here for the Miracle on Cleveland Street, but people don’t want to come back after seeing all the homeless and the vacancies,” Jaffe said. 

Bledar “Tony” Starova, owner of and a member of the Cleveland Street District, agrees there are problems in the downtown district, but he would like to see a different set of issues addressed. 

“Downtown Clearwater is based on one traffic light,” he says, referring to the intersection of Fort Harrison Avenue and Cleveland Street. “There are no signs directing people to the downtown. All the signs point to the beach or inland.”

“We need restaurants and bars and entertainment destinations, and that will bring in the people," Starova said. "Right now, people come and go here. But do they stay? Not really.”

According to officials, the city has been working with merchants to help revitalize the district.

In addition to the $10 million streetscape project that was completed in 2007, officials have initiated a retail and restaurant recruitment strategy that has been hampered by the slow economy.

Courtney Orr, the downtown city manager, acknowledges there is much more work to be done, but she is encouraged by the partnership the city has formed with local business owners.

“We are working closely with the DDB (Downtown Development Board) … and identifying the things the merchants are wanting,” Orr said by phone. “We’re making progress towards achieving our goals.”

“It’s been a little bit of a challenge to get the restaurants and retail businesses down here due to the economy … but we’re not giving up,” she said.

Plans to stimulate downtown growth are already in place, such as a grant program designed to help qualified business owners with interior, exterior and sidewalk improvements, and an initiative by the Department of Economic Development to bring in software and IT companies to help fill vacant office space.

Other solutions, including adding electronic billboards along Fort Harrison and making the East Gateway area an unofficial entryway to the downtown district, are currently being implemented, Orr said.

“We definitely want the downtown district to be a destination that people want to come to. It’s a unique place,” she said. 

Jaffe hopes the plans, along with events such as Blast Friday, will help his new hometown thrive. 

“It’s beautiful here," he said. "We have major office buildings, the best sunset view of any downtown area, a lovely park. … But some nights you could go bowling down Cleveland Street, it’s so dead.” 

Starova believes downtown Clearwater can be as relevant as other neighboring downtown districts.

“The pieces are in place to make this a great downtown district. We just need the players to put the pieces in place,” he says.

“This is everybody’s downtown, but it looks like everybody is ignoring it.”

If you go:

What: Downtown Development Board Meeting

When: 5:30 p.m. Dec. 7

Where: , 112 S Osceola Ave.