Tampa Bay Times reporter Tracey McManus had another major scoop this weekend when she revealed that Scientologist developer Moises Agami has filed plans to build two towering condo buildings in downtown Clearwater, Florida that will be the new tallest structures in the city.
When we first read the news, we thought it turned things upside down in that Gulf Coast town: Wait, a Scientologist developer is going to build things now in downtown rather than hold back progress?
We’re used to the long-running battle in Clearwater, where Scientology surreptitiously invaded in 1975 and has had a stranglehold on its downtown that only got more pronounced after Scientologists went on a buying spree in 2017. (We know that thanks to another major investigative triumph from McManus.)
But traditionally, this has been a story about Scientology preventing downtown development by buying up buildings and keeping them empty, while Clearwater officials have struggled to attract more visitors with recent successes like the new Coachman Park and its amphitheater.
So what does it mean that now Agami, who was the developer behind Tom Cruise’s Clearwater condo, is planning to change the skyline of Clearwater with his two 35-story towers just feet from the intracoastal?
“We’re screwed,” Vice Mayor Mark Bunker told us when we rang him up to ask him what the heck is going on in his beleaguered city.
He told us that he was stunned to read McManus’s story, which revealed that Agami is taking advantage of the city’s attempt to encourage more development by removing some zoning regulations in an effort to lessen “red tape.”
“Everyone was complaining about red tape, so we cut red tape, and now we can’t stop what he’s doing,” Bunker says.
Agami got on our radar when we noticed that his family, which is based in Mexico City, was donating huge amounts to Scientology. And in 2016, we first broke the news that Agami’s plans for renovating a former bank building on Cleveland Street would involve a penthouse double-level condo that Scientology officials told the city would be for Tom Cruise.
Bunker tells us that Agami owns other properties in town and at least one of them has a thriving restaurant, but he would like to see the developer bringing in more businesses to the buildings he already owns rather then put up a couple of new high rise towers.
On the plus side, Bunker says at the least Agami’s new project may make other developers more comfortable with coming downtown. “It’s been hard to convince a developer to be the first one to come down and build projects in the city,” he says.
But he acknowledges that the biggest complaints will come from residents nearby the new project who are already raising questions about safety and about the way the towers will change the character of the area.
We can certainly understand those concerns. But those kinds of complaints would come up no matter where a developer proposed such an alteration to a city’s skyline.
We told Bunker we had a more specific question in mind: How does Agami’s plans to build up downtown with his condo towers fit with David Miscavige’s ongoing efforts to thwart the city’s revival?
“I don't know if this is a devious plan from Miscavige, I doubt it,” Bunker says. “Agami also built a large tower on Fort Harrison Drive on the way to Dunedin in a quiet neighborhood. People there were very upset because of the change to the character of the neighborhood. But he's done these things for commercial reasons.”
Bunker predicts that Agami will charge high prices for his condo units, and he assumes that some or many of them will go to wealthy Scientologists.
For years we’ve been saying that David Miscavige has been circling Scientology’s wagons in Clearwater as the church membership has dwindled and places like Los Angeles and East Grinstead, England have lost their influence. Could Agami’s hi-rise haven for rich Scientologists fit that plan?
“I think you're right about Miscavige circling the wagons. I think we're seeing wealthy and less wealthy Scientologists closing ranks here,” he says. “I'm not going to blame this [Agami’s project] on Miscavige, though. I'm sure it will benefit him, it won't be a negative for him. It will be a negative for the people near it, and it will change the character of the downtown.”
Bunker also points out that Miscavige has been talking about restoring storefronts on Cleveland Street in order to bring back a “neighborhood” charm to downtown. But that’s apparently out the window now.
“If you want a neighborhood feel, that doesn’t really go with gigantic towers.”
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Bye bye to the Clearwater charm. The cherch already has a high rise behind the fort Harrison Hotel. The hubris of ultra rich scientologists is unparalleled. Crassness and tastelessness are the earmarks of the likes of Miscavige, Grant Cardone and Bob Cummings. Add one more golden toilet to the list.
Does Agami know about sinkholes? And hurricanes? And are there enough 'rich' Clams to buy up his condos? The supply of rich Clams is dwindling as we speak, many are just going stealth and others are going awol. Now watch Agami ask for tax abatement and other perks.
The US has been a 'socialist' country ever since Social Security and has been giving out subsidies and out right 'grants' to various businesses to set up shop. The solar panel factory that Musk built in Buffalo has been plagued by not hiring the stipulated number of workers and I have no idea if it is turning a profit at this time. Much of that investment came from public funds.
What will Agami want to build those twin towers?