The Clearwater Community Redevelopment Agency voted Jan. 13 to authorize the CRA executive director to enter negotiations with the Clearwater Urban Leadership Coalition (CULC) for a lease and development agreement to create a mini container-village on four adjoining parcels at the northeast corner of North Martin Luther King Jr. Avenue and Tangerine Drive.

CRA assistant director Anne Lopez told trustees the parcels total 0.347 acres; one parcel is owned by the CRA and three are city‑owned (the city parcels would be declared surplus at a future date if negotiations succeed). The coalition’s proposal envisions five shipping containers configured to host roughly 15 small businesses, with the coalition managing operations under a proposed five‑year lease and responsibility for utilities, property taxes, insurance and maintenance. Staff said the CRA has $500,000 allocated for the project and that eligible costs would include purchasing containers, design, permitting and construction tied to project milestones.

Gloria Campbell, executive director of the Clearwater Urban Leadership Coalition, addressed trustees at length and framed the project as a catalytic first step to revitalize the North Greenwood corridor, create jobs and foster small-business opportunities. Campbell said the $500,000 would be an initial public investment intended to leverage private and philanthropic follow‑on funding, and that eight businesses have already been vetted for space. “This project is the first that will get us there,” Campbell said, urging trustees to authorize negotiations so construction could begin and businesses could occupy the site by the second quarter of 2025.

Trustees asked about operational details, including management, leasing vetting and milestone reporting. Lopez said staff intends to retain a review role in vetting prospective tenants and that rent deferment until certificate of occupancy could be part of the lease. Staff corrected a numerical error in the coalition’s submittal, clarifying the coalition’s total estimated project budget was $900,000, not $1,000,000.

A motion to authorize the CRA executive director to negotiate the lease and operating agreement moved, was seconded and carried. Trustees and several members of the public praised the coalition’s years of organizing and urged prompt action to prevent rising costs to build the project.