Clearwater Starts Construction on $31.6M Downtown Projects Including New City Hall and High-Rise Apartments

Clearwater will break ground within 30 days on several downtown projects. The $31.6 million civic redevelopment includes a new City Hall, a 10-story hotel, and a 28-story apartment building. Assistant City Manager Alfred Battle said construction marks a shift from years of planning to actual ground work.

"I think it's a large change in terms of what you see today and what the future will look like. Part of change is feeling good about the change, but the physical construction, I think, will represent a different part of change. It goes from talking about it and it being policy, conversations, and just conversations over time where the public and the private sector have expressed an interest in seeing this great city come back to life," Battle said, per Fox 13 News.

Crews are working on the new City Hall on South Myrtle Avenue. The two-story building will cover 40,000 square feet. Doors open between August and September 2026.

The Ballad Hotel will stand 10 stories with 158 rooms. An underground parking garage sits below. Retail space fills the lower floors, and a rooftop bar overlooks the BayCare Sound and Coachman Park. Construction starts soon and takes about 21 months to complete.

The Bluff Apartment Development will sit on the former City Hall site near Coachman Park. Construction starts in January 2026 on the 28-story mixed-use building with 400 rental apartments. The tower will have about 10,000 square feet of retail space and an underground parking garage with 440 spaces. Work wraps by April 2028.

A public parking garage at Pierce Street and Osceola Avenue will offer nearly 400 spots and include electric-vehicle chargers. Construction begins soon. The facility will finish in about a year. It also features 12,000 square feet of retail space that the city is marketing.

Crews will make improvements to Osceola Avenue from Court to Drew Streets in early 2026. The work includes underground utility upgrades, new 10-foot sidewalks, improved drainage and on-street parking. The project finishes in early 2027.

Officials said they have seen a surge of visitors following the opening of Coachman Park in 2023 and the BayCare Sound. More than 100 concerts have drawn 336,500 people to the area.

Battle said the city remains optimistic about development opportunities when Pinellas County government moves its buildings from downtown to the ICOT Center Business Park off Ulmerton Road in a couple of years.