The Clearwater Urban Leadership Coalition is currently working on a North Greenwood Community Redevelopment Area revitalization project, near N. Martin Luther King Jr. Avenue and Tangerine Street.
Currently known as The Village, the initiative is designed to support local businesses and entrepreneurs. Company owners will be able to utilize space in a series of shipping containers.
Many of the future tenants interacted with residents at the “A Taste of the Village” event Monday evening. For the coalition’s executive director Gloria Campbell, it was an opportunity to provide a preview of what is to come.
“We’ve been on this journey for a while,” she explained. “While we’ve made baby steps, the community hasn’t necessarily seen the glory and benefits yet. We’re so close now.”
It’s important for the business owners to start interacting with potential customers ahead of The Village’s opening, Campbell said.
In May, the City of Clearwater Community Development Board unanimously approved the effort. She added that the project has been in the works for six years.
“This is going to be a catalyst,” Campbell said. “In a community that has been totally disenfranchised, this will jumpstart redevelopment in the CRA.”
According to the organization’s website, the project’s goal is to break down “the traditional barriers that have long sidelined local entrepreneurs — high commercial rents, prohibitive build-out costs and limited access to financing.”
By repurposing shipping containers, this can “lower entry costs” and “shorten development timelines.” Shared infrastructure, such as utilities, can “reduce the operating burden on individual tenants.”
Campbell explained that the planned incubator has space for 10 small businesses. Additionally, it will feature about 10 pop-up companies. She added that they may rotate once or twice a month.
“Right now, we have the best situation,” she said. “We have more people who want to be in the container village than we have spaces.”
As the tenant businesses grow and move to larger facilities in the future, the pop-up owners may have the opportunity to relocate to The Village. About 30% of the companies will outgrow their space within three years, Campbell anticipates.
She added that the first shipping containers should be installed by December. Businesses will begin to move in soon after. By early 2027, The Village should be “fully operational.”
LaWanda Griffin, a nurse practitioner and owner of Hydration & More Lounge, already oversees a location in New Port Richey.
The company offers IV therapy, vitamin injections and weight loss management, among other services. She explained that she grew up in Clearwater and wants to “give back to the community.” Griffin hopes that The Village space leads to a permanent presence in the Clearwater area in the future.
“This project means that everybody can bring their businesses here,” said Jerida Lane, owner of coffee company Boss Lady Fuel. “The people of North Greenwood are ready for our businesses and ready to be able to support us and help with wealth growth for all of us.”
She believes The Village could have an invaluable impact on local tourism.
Krystal Campbell, owner of RemiTea, explained that The Village will allow her to “impact the community in a different way.” One of the key goals of her business is to educate others on the health benefits of teas and herbs.
“We’re looking to always impress upon people exactly what natural health means,” Campbell said. “I think right now it’s trending. However, it used to be a way of life. In a lot of different countries, this is really the only thing people have.”
She argued that The Village can help bring the community together again in a time of financial strain.
Clearwater Urban Leadership Coalition website
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