Get Full Government Meeting Transcripts, Videos, & Alerts Forever!
Get email alerts on the Downtown Activation topic
No spam. Unsubscribe anytime.
CRA director highlights downtown activation, Cleveland Street challenges and MLK property appraisal
Summary
CRA Executive Director Jesus Nino reported active downtown construction and activation projects, a completed rehousing of an old motel into 'Clearwater Gardens,' concerns about Cleveland Street market closures, progress on a shipping-container small-business initiative with a $36,000 architectural contract, and an MLK/Washington property appraisal of $2,520,000 slated for disposition.
At the Nov. 17 CRA meeting, Executive Director Jesus Nino framed recent downtown work as evidence of the CRA's mission while flagging persistent business-viability issues on Cleveland Street.
Nino told trustees the CRA has roughly 66 grants in process across downtown and North Greenwood and is reprinting Spanish outreach flyers to increase small-business participation. He described the conversion of a former motel into a completed affordable-housing asset called Clearwater Gardens, which CRA staff and partners are beginning to lease to tenants and plan to ribbon-cut soon as an example of CRA reinvestment.
On commercial activity, Nino said some Cleveland Street businesses are closing and staff is coordinating with economic development and the Small Business Development Center to assist affected owners. Trustees discussed foot-traffic constraints on Cleveland Street and recommended stronger, coordinated event-driven marketing and activation to drive consistent visits. Multiple trustees urged more proactive promotion of new openings and an organized event calendar to increase sustained downtown visitation.
Nino outlined an entrepreneurial shipping-container project with the Clearwater Urban Leadership Coalition and reported the CRA issued a $36,000 check to Gulf Coast Consulting to prepare civil/site plans and facilitate planning-department coordination. He said community meetings with potential tenants and financial institutions were held to explore prospects and lending support.
On property disposition, staff said tranche number three includes an MLK and Washington property appraised at $2,520,000; a Phase I environmental report was returned clean and staff expects to solicit bids in the coming month. Trustees asked whether the city should include the North Ward property in a county assemblage list; staff confirmed that CBRE (the county contractor) has a list of contiguous properties and staff can provide additional parcels for consideration.
Public comment at the earlier CRA portion raised specific concerns: Kelly Meyer asserted that a private organization claimed ownership of a portion of South Garden Avenue based on decades-old plats; staff did not provide evidence at the meeting to substantiate or refute this claim. Erica Escamilla, representing Unimex and LULAC, urged CRA support for El Mercado vendors, requesting branded tables/chairs, a microgrant program (suggested $500–$1,000 per vendor) and multilingual assistance to help Hispanic business owners access funding.
Next steps: staff will continue outreach to downtown businesses, proceed with the shipping-container site planning, and prepare property-disposition materials for trustee review when solicitations are ready.
