Brownfields Success Stories

Clearwater's Revitalization Spectrum: From High-tech Industry to Community Health Clinic

The City of Clearwater, Florida, is beginning a growth spurt that promises to create hundreds of jobs, increase the city's tax base, and enhance its neglected neighborhoods while cleaning up its brownfields and improving the environment. From $200,000 in EPA Brownfields Pilot grants, the city has leveraged more than $9 million in additional federal, state, and local funding. One of Clearwater's most successful brownfields restoration efforts involves the 14-acre site of a former auto service center that is now home to Information Management Resource's (IMR) Global Center headquarters. This project has resulted in more than $51 million in capitol investment and is the largest business deal in the city's history. Redevelopment plans call for the construction of six buildings with a total of 310,000 square feet of office space. The first building was completed in July 1999 and opened with 175 employees. A second building opened in early 2000, and there are now more than 500 employees working on site. When all six buildings are finished and in operation, 1,000 people will be employed with an average salary of $40,000. More than 1,500 additional new jobs in the county are projected to be generated.

Among Clearwater's other brownfields restoration projects is a new health clinic being built to serve the residents of North Greenwood, the largest minority community in the city. As part of the city's environmental justice plan, representatives of North Greenwood participated in redevelopment planning and voted unanimously for the city to lease the property to the nonprofit clinic. On March 18, 2000, ground was broken for the Greenwood Community Health Resource Center. Once construction is complete, North Greenwood will have a new health facility offering immunizations, physicals, tests and screenings, flu shots, and counseling to residents of the neighborhood. For more information about the Clearwater Brownfields Pilot, contact Miles Ballogg, Brownfields Coordinator, Clearwater Economic Development Team, at (727) 562 4023.