Cedarwood Development Inc. has entered into an agreement with the owners of The Shoppes of Sand Key to acquire the property. According to Kevin Fallon, Vice President of Cedarwood, they are not sure what type of development would be best for the area. Cedarwood is considering as many as five different options in conjunction with their existing Marriott hotel.
Cedarwood must first complete their due diligence by the end of the year. Part of the period will be used to estimate their costs to buy out the existing leases at the Shoppes. If the feasibility of the project looks acceptable, the developer will enter into a firm purchase agreement with the seller.
During a recent meeting of the Sand Key Civic Association, Mr. Fallon assured the group they were trying to be “good neighbors” and would keep the group informed of their plans. Cedarwood will have to get city approval for any development proposal.
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Wondering what Sand Key Civic has planned for this? Hopefully they will advise all of us soon.
There are two issues that need to be considered:
1. Anything they want to build will be at least 100 feet high and further disrupt the skyline and views on our Island. (And I’m sure they’ll ask for some type of variance.) This is unacceptable.
2. The loss of the Shoppes will be a great inconvenience to all residents on Sand Key.
A. We will lose the convenience of a Bank and ready access to their services.
B. We lose four restaurants.
C. We lose the Grocery store and the convenience of a quick run for incidentals.
D. By losing these conveniences we will then lose value as now everything we may need will require leaving the Island to get it.
I, for one, am against this and feel we should fight to have the property rezoned properly to maintain what is there.
I also think it is time we consider forming the Clearwater Beach community to include Sand Key, Clearwater Beach and Island Estates. Let’s take control of our community and stop having the mainland take our tax dollars and do what is good for them, but, not necessarily good for us. What next, eminent domain of all low rise buildings so the city can increase their tax base even more? The Clearwater Beach community is responsible for 35% of the taxes paid, do we get that much back in services?
Sandkey does not need another high rise structure on this sliver of property. Sandkey would lose its quaintness and serenity that makes it distinct from main Clearwater Beach, which is the reason I bought on this part of the beach / intercoastal area. The family owned and operated shops are an asset to Sandkey…they would be gone, and so would the peace and serenity of this area. The zoning commission needs to hear our concerns before re-zoning for another hotel.
Please post your concerns.
Those of us who live on this section, or have lived here, know it will dramatically affect Sand key and not necessarily for the better.
Sandkey is developed enough.
Does anyone know if an environmental impact statement would be required? This is such a tiny sliver of land how would it be able to support the increased density of traffic, people, etc.?
The loss of the Shoppes is no big problem for me. Although I do go to Backwater once in awhile, there is nothing else there to attract me. I do banking on internet and mail. Nearby W Bay has good grocery. A new, planned resort would probably look better than the not bad but tired looking Shoppes.
I believe it would be a terrible mistake to build another high rise on Sand Key. I believe Sand Key is overbuilt now. The Shoppes at Sand Key are a wonderful convience to the residents and should not be lost.
this is a shame. we need to fight this. the shoppes on sand key are a necessity for many people in the area, as they do not have driving privileges. the restaurants and shops are part of what attracts tourism to sand key. the shoppes on sand key are our neighborhood stores and we want to keep them! the city of clearwater has ruined clearwater beach. they need to leave sand key alone.
More high rises? They must be out of their minds! They obviously do not live on our wonderful Island, otherwise why would they even think of such a thing. Leave us alone, we like our shops as does the tourists. We must fight this.
JC
I am very much opposed to the Marriot proposal. Replacing the Shoppes with another hi rise would be a travesty. Many residents of Sand Key frequent the shoppes and depend on them for every day needs. Rather then keep building resorts/hotels/condos to generate more tax revenue, our local government needs to spend money from the current tax base more wisely. All of the aspects of living on Sand Key need to be considered. It is not merely losing a few shops. A lot of the appeal of this area would be lost. A new resort/hotel complex on that property would precipitate many other changes which could have a very negative effect.
Sand Key has always been a residential community away from the noisey activity of Clearwater Beach. How soon we forget this simple fact.
The public cannot afford to remain silent on this issue. We cannot let our development board and city commission ruin Sand Key as they have Clearwater Beach. Profits and revenue is no excuse to destroy a community.
The fact that State Representative Ed Hooper is representing “against” Sand Key is highly suspect. Although I’m sure that like most politicians, he doesn’t see a conflict. When we elected him we expected him to be representing our best interests, he’s obviously not.
With local elections fast approaching we must pay attention to what position Mayor Hibbard
is taking and be prepared to vote accordingly. The same goes for Ed Hooper.
You can bet your bottom dollar that this development will have a negative effect on Sand Key, if you take the revenue motives out of the equation. If this massive structure is approved the Sheraton Sand Key won’t be far behind.
And what next, the replacement of the Coast Guard property with a Hyatt? With “our” State Representative’s support, anything is possible.
Sand Key does not want to be like Clearwater Beach, never has. We like our vista views of the Intracoastal and Gulf. We like the quiet nature of our residential community. We don’t want the negative environmental effects, noise or traffic increases. We don’t want any part of this developement.
Don’t be fooled, the louder Sand Key Residents get, the more stealth this project will become. The SKCA must stand up to this attempt at creating Clearwater Beach sprawl, formerly known as Sand Key. Just say no and vote accordingly to send a message.
We the residents of Sand Key do not want to lose, the shops, restaurants and Bank. I came to live here in 1984 before the shopping parade was built. It’s a convenience that’s very much appreciated. To the Marriott Developers why not consider the Adams Mark site as an alternative?
We like Sand Key, our “slice of heaven” the way it is. How about a petition for residents to make their voice heard.
As the former Supervisor of Sand Key Park, from 1989 until 2002, I came to appreciate the community that I was a part of. Much of that community feeling has come from having the Shoppes at Sand Key shopping center with it’s many and varied shops and eateries close at hand. I am now a ’snowbird’ visitor myself and cannot envision the loss of the shopping center to this community. It will become just another stretch of Gulf Blvd.
i think we need to start boycotting the marriot. if you have friends/family coming down for a visit, tell them not to stay there. don’t use the marriot restaurant or spa.
As one of the shop owners in the Shoppes on Sand Key, I want to thank Mr. D. A. Bennett for letting us know! This is the FIRST I’ve heard of this. He doens’t even have the decency of letting his tenants know what’s going on. I was getting ready to repaint, recarpet and spruce up the store for what?? To be kicked out or torn down? I hope the residents of Sand Key help fight to keep us around. We’ve taken places to stay away from our tourists…now let’s take away all of their shopping, too! Good plan!
email our friend and represetative mr. hooper at
http://www.myfloridahouse.gov/Sections/Representatives/emailrepresentative.aspx?MemberId=4390&SessionId=57
tell him we do not reelect politicians who threaten their constituents.
‘Hooper warned them that they needed to consider that “commercial” also included warehouses and storage units.’
email the city of clearwater http://www.clearwater-fl.com/services/cits/index.asp
sand key should take its 35% of clearwater’s tax base and form its own government.
I also don’t like to see loosing the shops, I think that will be a mistake.
Does anyone remember a little shopping center on Clearwater Beach, that the owner did not want to sell to a developer and the city was filing for eminent domain on behalf of the developer? It was near where the Sand Pearl is now (it may still be there; I’m not sure what ever happened in that case). The argument was that is was best for the greater good of the citizens of Clearwater in tax revenue. Now, theowner of the Shoppes at Sand Key and certain council members are arguing he should be allowed to do with his property what he wishes. Why was the owner of the shopping center on Clearwater Beach not defended by city government in the same manner? If the argument the city made back then is that it is in the best interest of the rest of the citizens, then the city council should now consider the “rest of the citizens” on Sand Key who are against both a zoning of “tourist” (T) and “commercial” (C).
OH PLEASE, NO!!!!!!!
We SO look forward to the shoppes every time we visit.
We are condo owners on the key and would be seriously disappointed if we could not eat at Maggie Mae’s!
Great! Clearwater will ruin Sand Key just like they did with the round-a-bout fiasco and surrounding area.
What the Shoppes at Sand Key needs is a design makeover bringing in “quaint” businesses that are worth coming to.
Better yet Clearwater, why don’t we build another Shepard’s where we can hear the music blasting all hours of the night. That would add to the ambiance of Sand Key. Geez.
Well this so called progression has to stop otherwise we will have more of the corridor effect, no skyline whatsoever. The other terrible impact will be on the smaller hotel owners and apartment owner who rent their places out, no money coming into the area just more room maid jobs at minimum wage.The whole beauty of this area is erroding, in the name of progression. There is far too much concrete in that area already, if they want city life then go to a real city like Miami. This is a little barrier island and the weight of another disgusting high rise will be so detrimental to the island in monetary terms for the locals, and enviromentally. This is all too sad how verywhere due to backward ideals is turning into ugly barren desperate concrete jungles.