SUBJECT/RECOMMENDATION:
Title
Approve the Contract for Exchange of certain real property owned by the City of Clearwater for a parcel in downtown which is of greater value, by the Church of Scientology Flag Service Organization, Inc. (COS) and authorize the appropriate officials to execute same.
Body
SUMMARY:
There will be need for public parking once the Nolen Project and accompanying amenities are completed in the near future. The property at the southwest corner of Cleveland Street and S Martin Luther King Jr. Avenue abuts this new construction and will provide the needed parking. This property is to be exchanged, to the City, by the COS. COS is under contract to purchase this property, as a pre-requisite to the land swap, from the current owner, 1133 Cleveland Street Properties, LLC. This property appraised at $600,000 by James Millspaugh & Associates, Inc.
For this COS property, the City of Clearwater will exchange three parcels of land more particularly described as:
600 Franklin Street - The South 60’ of Lot 1, Block 7, Gould & Ewing’s 1st and 2nd Addition to Clearwater-Harbor Fla, Plat Book 1, Page 52, Public Records of Hillsborough County, of which Pinellas County was formerly a part.
Dedicated Right-of-Way - a portion of Lot 34 and a portion of the vacated Haven Street, Court Square Subdivision, Plat Book 5, Page 53, Public Records of Pinellas County, Florida.
The North 37’ of the West 121’ of the South half of Lot 1, Block 5, of Gould & Ewing’s 1st and 2nd Addition to Clearwater-Harbor Fla., Plat Book 1, Page 52, of the Public Records of Hillsborough County, Florida, of which Pinellas County was formerly a part.
The Right-of-Way parcel is located on the north side of Court Street, between S Garden Avenue and S Fort Harrison Avenue, and contains Right-of-Way dedicated as Haven Street by plat and Right-of-Way dedicated by ordinance over City-owned property.
The Haven Street portion of the Right-of-Way parcel was dedicated by plat in Plat Book 5, Page 53, Official Records of Pinellas County, Florida in 1922, and will join the adjacent fee-owned lots by operation of law upon vacation. The Right-of-Way dedicated over City-owned Lots 34 and 45 of Court Square Subdivision by Resolution No. 79-50 in Official Records Book 4867, Page 1478, will remain in City ownership to be conveyed as part of the swap. Following the vacation of the Right-of-Way parcel, the remaining City-owned property will be approximately 4,750 S.F. The appraised value of said land has been determined by James Millspaugh & Associates, Inc, to be $200,000.
The second City-owned parcel is located at 600 Franklin Street, and is apart of old Fire Station 45. The property is approximately 3,660 S.F. and the appraised value of the parcel has been determined by James Millspaugh & Associates, Inc, to be $155,000.
The third parcel is located at 28 North Garden Avenue and is known as the City of Clearwater’s North Garden Avenue Parking Lot. This lot abuts Watterson Avenue to the east, and is between Cleveland Street and Hendricks Street. This parking lot is roughly 4,500 S.F. and includes 9 parking spaces, open to the public. The rate at this lot is $0.50 an hour with a maximum time limit of 2 hours. The appraised value of this property, as determined by James Millspaugh & Associates, Inc, is $70,000.
This contract is contingent upon four pre-requisites. The first being the declaration of surplus of these three City owned parcels. The second pre-requisite is the vacation of Haven Street, along with real property dedicated as Right-of-Way in Official Records 4867, Page 1478, of the Public Records of Pinellas County, Florida. The third, being the acquisition of the COS Property by the COS, prior to closing. The fourth contingency is the City being granted adequate access to the COS Property in accordance with the timeframes contemplated for purposes of conducting inspections and investigations, including environmental investigations. If any of these pre-requisite items fail to come to fruition, this contract will be null and void.