Imagine Clearwater
City of Clearwater
HR&A led the development of Imagine Clearwater, a transformative master plan with a framework for expanding Clearwater’s downtown park into a signature 66-acre destination that rebrands the area, increases visitation, improves connectivity, and catalyzes adjacent residential development. Our work resulted in voter-approved charter modifications and City Council approval, and the detailed design implementation phase is currently underway.
Clearwater’s downtown waterfront represented a significant unrealized opportunity for the city, with disconnected public spaces and underutilized land failing to capitalize on its natural assets or contribute meaningfully to downtown vitality. HR&A addressed this challenge by orchestrating a comprehensive community-driven planning process that engaged over 700 residents across seven workshops to build consensus around a bold new vision. Our approach integrated economic development strategy with placemaking principles to create a plan that balanced ambitious transformation with practical implementation steps. Working with the City, we developed a phased redevelopment strategy that identified catalyst sites, outlined critical public and private investments, and created an action-oriented roadmap for implementation.
The impact of HR&A’s work extends beyond the plan document to tangible implementation progress. Following City Council approval, the community voted to modify the city charter to enable key elements of the plan, demonstrating the broad public support generated through our engagement process. The city has now advanced into detailed design and engineering for the redevelopment, with completion anticipated by the mid-late 2020s. Our subsequent work has built on this foundation by reconvening the Stakeholder Coalition to develop governance strategies and sustainable funding models for waterfront programming and operations. Through this comprehensive approach, HR&A has helped Clearwater transform its waterfront from an underperforming asset into a catalyst for economic development and community vitality that will benefit residents and visitors for generations.
