FY 2004-2005 - City of Clearwater

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C O M M U N I T Y R E D E V E L O P M E N T A G E N C Y A N N U A L R E P O R T F Y 2 0 0 4 - 2 0 0 5 A. Introduction The Florida Community Redevelopment Act of 1969 (Florida Statutes: Title XI, Chapter 163, Part III) provides a vehicle for local communities to form a Community Redevelopment Agency (CRA) and create a Redevelopment Trust Fund through Tax Increment Financing (TIF) for financing improvements within a target area. The City of Clearwater established its CRA in FY 81-82. Pursuant to Chapter 163.356(3)(c) of the Florida Statutes, a progress report of the year’s redevelopment activities, including a complete financial statement of assets, liabilities, income and expenses, is due on March 31st of each year. This annual report briefly summarizes the redevelopment activities conducted by the CRA in FY 04-05 and includes the year’s financial statements. In FY 04-05, the CRA concentrated on several major new projects for the redevelopment area including attracting new urban housing into the downtown core, installing the Downtown Wayfinding Signage, preparing for the Cleveland Street Streetscape project, and attracting a movie theater to the downtown core. The CRA worked closely with developers, the Downtown Development Board (DDB), Main Street Program, property owners, Clearwater Regional Chamber of Commerce, and other stakeholders to coordinate projects that impact the Downtown and spur catalytic development within the CRA district. The CRA’s budget for FY 04-05 was $1,316,281. 1
C O M M U N I T Y R E D E V E L O P M E N T A G E N C Y A N N U A L R E P O R T F Y 2 0 0 4 - 2 0 0 5 B. New Activity East Gateway Task Force and Steering Committee The CRA was expanded to include the East Gateway in 2003. Bounded by Drew Street to the north, Highland Avenue to the east, Missouri Avenue to the west and Court Street to the south, this 175-acre “gateway” represents 32% of the downtown area and includes a mixed use of residential, strip shopping centers and offices. The opening of the new Memorial Causeway Bridge in August 2005 brought a change in traffic patterns. Cleveland Street traffic was diverted to Court Street, which is now the new Florida State Highway 60 to Clearwater Beach. With this change came new opportunities for the “gateway” and the downtown core. City task force and steering committees have been established and are well underway to identify strategies that would stabilize and improve the “gateway” redevelopment area. The creation of neighborhood and business associations, providing home ownership opportunities and land assembly for redevelopment are among the proposed strategies. Moving forward, the city will develop a five-year work program to implement strategies that would establish unity and consensus among the resident and business community and provide a positive, noticeable difference in the East Gateway. Façade Design Analysis For Cleveland Street To complement the new Cleveland Street Streetscape project, CRA staff proposed to conduct a façade design analysis to encourage the adjacent private property and business owners to improve the façades of their buildings. The Façade Design Analysis was a joint project between the CRA and the DDB. In January 2005, a Request For Proposals (RFP) was released to select a consultant to complete the analysis for Cleveland Street. The goals of the analysis were to identify opportunities for façade 2
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FY 2004-2005 - City of Clearwater

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