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Harborview Center’s future uncertain
City Council mulls over options for ‘wrong facility in the wrong place’
By LESTER R. DAILEY
Article published on Wednesday, June 18, 2008 |
CLEARWATER – The City Council spent a great deal of time at its June 16 work session discussing solutions to the problem of what to do with the city’s white elephant convention center, which is losing $280,000 a year.
That’s a far cry from the “giant cash register” that then City Comissioner Fred Thomas promised when he persuaded his colleagues to buy the 33-year-old former Maas Brothers department store in 1994.
“It’s the wrong facility in the wrong place,” Councilman Paul Gibson said of the Harborview. “We just can’t fix that.”
In hopes of finding a solution, Assistant City Manager Rod Irwin consulted four developers who specialize in the type of mixed-use “lifestyle” projects that city officials envision for the Harborview’s location. But they told him that the plan has three things going against it.
Today’s sluggish economy would hurt the project, they said, as would the city’s lack of clarity regarding its overall plans for the area. But the biggest problem, they added, is the nature of the 3.18-acre parcel itself. It is too small for a stand-alone shopping destination and would need to be part of a larger “super block” project and have off-site parking.
“You really need to have a critical mass attraction to bring people downtown and keep them coming back,” Irwin said. “We’re not getting good feedback at this time.”
The developers suggested three alternatives for the parcel. The city could continue the present arrangement in the hope that business will improve, raze the building and use the land as a spectacular entrance to Coachman Park, or build a mid-size hotel and convention center on the site.
“Quite frankly, I don’t see it as a convention center site,” Mayor Frank Hibbard said.
“No matter what we do with the building, it’s going to cost us money,” Councilwoman Carlen Petersen said. “If we close it we’re going to have a dark building there, and that’s the worst thing we could do to downtown Clearwater right now. We need activity there.”
“I’m not in favor of having a dark building there,” Gibson replied. “I’m in favor of having no building there.”
But shutting down the facility isn’t as easy as locking the door and calling in the wrecking ball. Two tenants and a management company all have contracts with the facility. The contracts of the Stein Mart department store and the Global Spectrum management company expire next year, but the Pickles Plus restaurant’s contract has another 12 years to run.
To ensure a smooth transition and honor commitments to rent the hall, the city has asked Global Spectrum to extend its contract until Dec. 31, 2010, when the facility would be shut down. Hibbard instructed Irwin to see if Stein Mart would be willing to do the same.
“If they’re not, in my opinion, it’s the end of the game,” Hibbard said. “I’m leaning toward stopping it next year.”
But that still leaves the problem of what to do about Pickles’ long-term lease. Petersen advised that it would “cost a fortune” for the city to buy its way out of the lease.
“It’s the worst lease I’ve ever seen in my life,” Hibbard said, adding that a previous city administration, desperate for a tenant, had given the restaurant terms that were much too generous.
“You can force them out of the building,” City Attorney Pam Akin told the council. “But there is going to be litigation and it will cost you.”
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Article published on Wednesday, June 18, 2008
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