Clearwater City Council voted 4-0 Wednesday night to move ahead with a developer’s plan to turn the city-owned Landings Golf Course into a $180 million sports complex. Several big questions remain open, including what the deal will ultimately cost the public.
The council approved an interim agreement with Sunshine Recreational and Entertainment, the entity behind developer Les Porter’s proposal. The 77-acre site at 1875 Airport Drive would be redeveloped into a sports and entertainment district with a water park, pickleball courts, multi-use turf fields and an entertainment center. Council members said construction would take about three years, but more negotiations and approvals are required first.
City staff recommended the company after an evaluation committee ranked its proposal highest. The developer would lease the land from the city, then finance, build and operate the complex. In August, the city’s financial adviser told council that major terms, including the lease, taxes and rent, still had to be negotiated. The developer has said the project would generate more than $500 million in economic impact over ten years, put the property on the tax rolls for the first time and clean up part of the site that was once a landfill.
Dozens of residents spoke Wednesday. Supporters, many in green T-shirts, said the county needs more youth sports facilities, and one speaker said a quality sports venue brings real and immediate economic and social returns. Opponents said the project would harm the environment and their quiet way of life, and some wanted an alternative that preserved the course without major changes. “Beware of developers bearing gifts,” one opponent told council.
The site has been contested before. Clearwater voters rejected a proposed industrial complex at The Landings in a 2020 referendum.
The price tag may also still be moving. St. Pete Catalyst reported Oct. 12 that Porter added a 220,000-square-foot indoor fieldhouse to the plan, bringing the estimated cost to $300 million.
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