      
|
||
|
PO Box 1212 Tampa, FL 33601 Pinellas Updated January 2006
|
|
RETURN TO NEWS INDEX
His prolific plans earn some mixed reviews
CLEARWATER BEACH - The beach was as it was.
Then Roland Rogers rolled into town, driving a black Escalade.
Nothing has been the same since.
Rogers, 44, is a developer. Clearwater Beach has been his muse. And on the boomerang-shaped island, his work has been prolific.
In less than five years, Rogers has finished more than a dozen residential projects and has another half-dozen about to be built. His projects are not 150-foot-tall high-rises or the grand resorts expected to transform S Gulfview Boulevard.
"He just comes at it from a more horizontal level," City Council member John Doran said.
And the units add up: Rogers has built or has approvals to build more than 150 townhomes and condominiums on Clearwater Beach. And he's working on putting together projects that could have hundreds more.
Rogers has developed rows of townhomes on south Clearwater Beach, and he has small condominium projects coming to the north. He has acquired land in the beach's east shore neighborhood and across Coronado Drive from two planned four-star hotels.
He wants to build a parking garage and a small hotel, too.
But for some, a Roland Rogers development is the symbol of what's wrong with Clearwater Beach. Skeptics question the designs of his buildings and the results of his work.
The change is stark.
Thirty- to 40-foot-tall buildings now hover over both sides of the street. The units are different colors, part of what Rogers calls "a village effect."
In an interview at his Clearwater Beach offices, Rogers defended his work.
"The designs are all modern," Rogers said, adding that sales have been brisk and units are equipped with private elevators, rooftop balconies and boat slips. They also comply with the city's beach design guidelines, he insists.
"We're taking buildings that don't meet code and are really dilapidated, and turning them into someplace special," Rogers said.
Residents, real estate agents and city officials agree Rogers has followed the process the city created to redevelop Brightwater.
They are much less convinced the outcome is special.
Alex Plisko, a member of the Community Development Board, has called the redevelopment of Brightwater Drive "a disaster."
City planners themselves label the street a mistake. They're working on changes across other parts of the beach so there's not "another Brightwater Drive."
"I've got good friends who ask, 'How can you let this happen?' " council member Doran said.
Council member Bill Jonson has pushed for stricter guidelines to increase space between buildings on the beach, hoping to offset what city leaders call a canyon effect - rows of buildings built tightly together on both sides of the street.
"I think some of (the developments) would be quite nice if there was some space around them," Jonson said of Brightwater development. "It's almost as if they're shouting at each other."
Rogers doesn't understand the city's disapproval.
"There have been a few complaints from the city, but the people we've sold to on Brightwater Drive don't seem to share the opinion with their city fathers," Rogers said. "They're very happy. And that's why the criticism bothers me so much.
"I do take it personally."
A carpenter by trade, Rogers worked for several developers, including his uncle, before forming his own business. A fifth- generation Floridian, Rogers is now the registered agent of at least two dozen limited liability corporations. He's soft-spoken and keeps sunglasses nearby to shield his hazel eyes, even on cloudy days. A salt-and-pepper beard covers his chin.
The building boom on Clearwater Beach has almost doubled the asking price of land as well as the cost of built-out units, Rogers said. He said he now pays $280,000 to $300,000 per unit for land costs. For a 0.225-acre parcel, Rogers paid $1.9-million last August.
In turn, unit sales prices have increased. Units in Rogers' project now cost between $800,000 and $1.2-million.
Rogers is aggressive when it comes to business, says fellow beach developer Uday Lele.
"He focuses on anything he can buy," Lele said.
Rogers said he now controls about 3 acres along Coronado Drive, the middle of three north-south roads on the beach. For the site he envisions his first large project: an 80-unit condominium, a small hotel, retail spaces and a public parking garage with 350 to 600 spaces.
He said he is negotiating with the city to build the project, and wants to vacate a city road for the project. He would not say which one.
City officials generally said they have talked with several parties about potential parking garage projects but have described conversations as preliminary. Without naming names, they've said some prospective garage developers have asked for a lot from the city.
Rogers said he has a good project. "We view this as probably one of the last chances the city has for a parking garage on south beach," he said.
"There is a point of no return," when the garage would have to be scrapped, Rogers said. "It's coming up, but we're not there yet."
He now controls three properties along East Shore Drive, land that was once part of the defunct Bluewater Isle Resort megadevelopment. Rogers said he is still assessing his options for the site.
Other deals are still percolating, Rogers said. Though there's already been more than $1-billion in new construction already planned for Clearwater Beach, more work remains, he said.
"This is a market correction. This is not a real estate bubble," Rogers said. "There's nothing that happened here for 25 years. We're talking about waterfront property. It's recession-proof."
|
|