One of area’s biggest construction companies moves after four decades downtown

Creative Contractors, one of the largest commercial construction firms in the area, has moved into a new space after spending the past 40 years in downtown Clearwater.

The company’s new location is a 14,200-square-foot building on a 5.5-acre site Creative Contractors built for itself.

The building is off of Gulf-to-Bay Boulevard, Clearwater’s main commercial thoroughfare, about a half-mile from the Bayside Bridge. Creative President Josh Bomstein says the new location gives the company better access to where it does its work.

“This more central site brings us closer to the transportation network and the major highways in the area enhancing our access to our projects which are concentrated in Hillsborough, Pasco, Polk and Manatee counties, in addition to Pinellas County,” he says.

The Business Observer ranked Creative Contractors No. 10 on its 2022 list of the top 50 contractors in the region, based on revenue. It reported $155 million in revenue in 2021.

The company, which has been in business for 48 years, has worked on a laundry list of well-known projects, among them Ruth Eckerd Hall’s Experience; the Clearwater Marine Aquarium’s expansion; Tampa International Airport’s terminal F expansion; Embarc Collective’s headquarters; and several projects on the campuses of Saint Leo University, the University of South Florida and St. Petersburg College.

Creative has also worked with several school districts including those in Pinellas, Pasco, Hillsborough and Manatee counties.

As for its own building, designed by Ed Hoffman Jr. of WJ Architects/Hoffman Studio in Tarpon Springs, it is “contemporary, yet evokes Florida vernacular architecture,” according to a statement. 

Vernacular architecture is “a type of local or regional construction, using traditional materials and resources from the area where the building is located,” according to the website ArchDaily.

To that end, Creative Construction says several trees that were removed due to code were turned into furniture for the building and the company’s 15-foot conference room table in its boardroom was made from a monkeypod tree. And to bring in more natural light and create outside views, some of the glass in the building goes as high as 28 feet.

The building also “exhibits the art of structure,” which includes every piece of structural steel being exposed and painted white and every column used as a design element. This, Creative Contractors says, was done to pay homage to its industry.

Creative Contractors did not immediately respond to an email seeking the cost of the project.