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OPENPUBLICA · PUBLIC MEETING RECORD

Record of Proceedings

Clearwater North Greenwood CAC Special Meeting on Armory Redevelopment - April 15, 2026

Clearwater Municipal Meetings — Wednesday, April 15, 2026

BodyClearwater, Florida

SessionClearwater Municipal Meetings

DateWednesday, April 15, 2026

StatusFILED

Video Record

0:00 / 2:01:23

Transcript — VerbatimClick a timed line to jump · ⧉ to share it

0:05

Today is April 15th, 2020 uh 2026 at 7 o'clock p.m.

0:11

Uh, just as an FYI, all meetings are recorded.

0:15

Um, I also wanted to let everyone know that agendas are available on the back table.

0:19

So if you did not receive one, you may uh go ahead and get one.

0:23

Uh we also ask you to be sure that you silence all your electronic devices, and if you wish to make any sort of comments during the meeting, please be sure to fill out a comment card if you have not done so already.

0:38

So at this time, I'll ask all of our committee members to introduce our introduce themselves starting at our left.

0:45

That's all we are.

0:48

Hello, everybody.

0:49

My name is Hannah Menard, and I'm with the Clearwater Brewing Company.

0:54

Good evening.

0:54

I'm Marilyn Terman with the Clewwater Urban Leadership Coalition.

1:00

Good evening, Champlain Davis with the mother's arms.

1:05

Good evening, Jason Corbett with Let's Go Garden.

1:11

And my name is Kennard Robinson.

1:13

I am your committee chair.

1:15

Um, so moving it to the first item on our agenda.

1:18

Uh citizens to be heard regarding any items that are not on the agenda.

1:23

Do we have any?

1:30

Okay, all right.

1:31

Well, as well, seeing seeing none, uh, we'll close uh this this public comment part of our meeting.

1:38

Uh so now we will jump into our new business uh item agenda.

1:43

Um the recommendation of proposal for the redevelopment of 706 North Missouri Avenue uh from St.

1:51

Benedict's Holdings.

1:52

Um at this time, I'll invite our CRA director Jesus uh Nino to uh come up and present.

2:02

Otherwise, I won't be able to hear me.

2:08

Good afternoon, all hopefully you can hear me.

2:10

Do I have to press the button here?

2:12

You're good.

2:12

They need to increase the scale.

2:14

Maybe the yeah, the volume.

2:16

So again, my name is Jesus Nino.

2:19

I'm the CRA executive director for Craywater.

2:23

As far as for the CRA, we have two areas under our purview.

2:26

One is the downtown, and the second one is the North Freedom C area area.

2:31

Uh before I get into my presentation on the actual proposal, I want to give you a quick uh brief overview of what CRAs are.

2:40

So as far as CRAs, there's special districts that are created and municipalities.

2:45

They're actually separate entities from the cities.

2:48

In this case, the CRA is a separate entity from City of Crew AR.

2:51

It's the Clearwater Community Development Agency.

2:55

But we do the work for the agencies.

2:58

Since it has no staff, our city council sits as the CRA board of trustees for the agency.

3:05

Each area of the downtown and the North Greenware area, they have their own trust funds, basically their own accounts as far as funding.

3:13

The funding can't be used from downtown to the North Greenwood area.

3:16

So each area of the downtown gets more funding than over here, but we're starting to grow.

3:22

And one of the ways that we operate is under increment financing using a tool called tax increment financing.

3:29

That's how we generate the revenue.

3:45

That's what we reinvest that into the community as far as grants, programs, any other type of infrastructure work, capital projects, improvements to housing stock or whatever it may be.

4:06

I can't start over again.

4:18

So just in case, please.

4:50

We can do a lot.

4:51

We have to be compliant with that state statute.

4:54

So as far as this particular uh item that we have before you, uh today I'm here to provide an overview of the proposal that was submitted by St.

5:03

Benedict's Podings LLC, which is an affiliate of Yomamas Inc.

5:08

which is down the street here.

5:09

So just to give you a little history to kind of go back a little bit, the property, which is a question right now, is 706 North Missouri Avenue, which is also known as the Armory, the U.S.

5:22

National Guard Armory site.

5:24

So for years that property was owned by the Armory, the military basically, then they transferred it over to the state.

5:32

Then the state leased it out to the city around 2005, basically took parks and recreation so they can use that property for storage of parks and recreation items, and also some light offices for some of the staff members there.

5:49

But that property has been tax exempt now for decades.

5:54

So recently in August of 27, 2025, the state of Florida transferred the ownership of that property over to the city of Clearwater.

Discussion Breakdown — Share of Meeting

Community Engagement█████████████████████████████████████████41%

Economic Development████████████████████████████████32%

Procedural███████████11%

Workforce Development██████████10%

Engineering And Infrastructure██2%

Parks and Recreation█1%

Racial Equity█1%

Technology and Innovation█1%

Public Engagement█1%

Summary of Proceedings

Clearwater North Greenwood CAC Special Meeting on Armory Redevelopment - April 15, 2026

The North Greenwood Citizens Advisory Committee (CAC) held a special meeting on April 15, 2026, at 7:00 PM to review and provide a recommendation on a proposal from St. Benedict Holdings, LLC, an affiliate of YoMamas Inc., for the redevelopment of 706 N. Missouri Avenue (the former U.S. National Guard Armory). The meeting included a presentation by CRA Executive Director Jesus Nino, a proposal presentation by company founder David Habib, extensive public comments, and a committee vote. The committee voted unanimously to request that the CRA reopen the proposal process to allow other potential proposals.

Public Comments & Testimony

Barbara Sorry Love (President, Clearwater African American Foundation) opposed the sale, arguing that the advertising for proposals was inadequate and that the community was not properly informed. She stated the company should hire at least 67 more people to meet a 10% local hiring target.
Multiple residents expressed strong opposition based on lack of community engagement, broken promises from the city, and the historical and cultural significance of the Armory. They criticized the company for not hiring enough local residents, for not being transparent about job opportunities, and for not investing in the community beyond its own facilities.
Gloria Campbell (Executive Director, Clearwater Urban Leadership Coalition) detailed the coalition's years of interest in the Armory and their disappointment that the proposal was brought forward without community input. She stated the community had been denied access to the building previously.
Tony Bradley (local business owner) characterized the company's community engagement as passive rather than active, and said the proposal lacked emotional connection to the community.
Lois Dale (resident) cited broken promises from the city and expressed concern that the proposal would not benefit the community as promised.
Mary Favorett (employee of YoMamas) spoke in support, stating she was given a chance with on-the-job training and that the company does hire locally and offer summer jobs.
Several other residents questioned the company's hiring practices, its minority-owned status, its involvement with community organizations, and the impact of automation on job creation.

Presentation and Discussion

Jesus Nino (CRA Executive Director) provided background on the property: acquired by the city from the state in 2025, transferred to the CRA in January 2026, and advertised for adaptive reuse in February 2026. The only responsive proposal was from St. Benedict Holdings, LLC, offering $2 million for the property. The proposal aligns with the CRA redevelopment plan by activating underutilized sites, creating jobs, and generating tax revenue that would be reinvested in North Greenwood.
David Habib (Founder of YoMamas Inc.) presented the proposal: a $5 million total investment to restore and occupy the Armory for e-commerce and distribution, adding 20-30 jobs to the existing 30-person workforce. He emphasized the company's six-year history in North Greenwood, its $3.5 million investment in the area, and its charitable work (52,000 meals donated). He pledged to increase local hiring and community engagement.
Committee members asked about local hiring (currently 10% of employees from the CRA zone), community outreach, and guarantees against gentrification. David Habib acknowledged the need for better outreach and committed to increasing efforts.
Al Battle (Assistant City Manager) took responsibility for not bringing the proposal to the CAC earlier and stated that any future development agreement would include performance metrics. He noted that state statute requires the property to remain in accordance with the CRA plan even after sale.

Key Outcomes

The committee voted unanimously (by a voice vote with all hands raised in favor) to recommend that the CRA reopen the proposal process to allow other potential proposals. The motion was made by Champlain Davis and seconded by Marilyn Terman.
The CRA trustees meeting scheduled for April 20, 2026, at 1:00 PM will consider this recommendation. The committee's action directs staff to communicate the request for reopening the process.

Meeting Transcript

Today is April 15th, 2020 uh 2026 at 7 o'clock p.m. Uh, just as an FYI, all meetings are recorded. Um, I also wanted to let everyone know that agendas are available on the back table. So if you did not receive one, you may uh go ahead and get one. Uh we also ask you to be sure that you silence all your electronic devices, and if you wish to make any sort of comments during the meeting, please be sure to fill out a comment card if you have not done so already. So at this time, I'll ask all of our committee members to introduce our introduce themselves starting at our left. That's all we are. Hello, everybody. My name is Hannah Menard, and I'm with the Clearwater Brewing Company. Good evening. I'm Marilyn Terman with the Clewwater Urban Leadership Coalition. Good evening, Champlain Davis with the mother's arms. Good evening, Jason Corbett with Let's Go Garden. And my name is Kennard Robinson. I am your committee chair. Um, so moving it to the first item on our agenda. Uh citizens to be heard regarding any items that are not on the agenda. Do we have any? Okay, all right. Well, as well, seeing seeing none, uh, we'll close uh this this public comment part of our meeting. Uh so now we will jump into our new business uh item agenda. Um the recommendation of proposal for the redevelopment of 706 North Missouri Avenue uh from St. Benedict's Holdings. Um at this time, I'll invite our CRA director Jesus uh Nino to uh come up and present. Otherwise, I won't be able to hear me. Good afternoon, all hopefully you can hear me. Do I have to press the button here? You're good. They need to increase the scale. Maybe the yeah, the volume. So again, my name is Jesus Nino. I'm the CRA executive director for Craywater. As far as for the CRA, we have two areas under our purview. One is the downtown, and the second one is the North Freedom C area area. Uh before I get into my presentation on the actual proposal, I want to give you a quick uh brief overview of what CRAs are. So as far as CRAs, there's special districts that are created and municipalities. They're actually separate entities from the cities. In this case, the CRA is a separate entity from City of Crew AR. It's the Clearwater Community Development Agency. But we do the work for the agencies. Since it has no staff, our city council sits as the CRA board of trustees for the agency. Each area of the downtown and the North Greenware area, they have their own trust funds, basically their own accounts as far as funding. The funding can't be used from downtown to the North Greenwood area. So each area of the downtown gets more funding than over here, but we're starting to grow. And one of the ways that we operate is under increment financing using a tool called tax increment financing. That's how we generate the revenue. That's what we reinvest that into the community as far as grants, programs, any other type of infrastructure work, capital projects, improvements to housing stock or whatever it may be. I can't start over again. So just in case, please. We can do a lot.

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