Last week, downtown Clearwater witnessed the inaugural step towards a major development project with a ceremonial groundbreaking for The Ballad Hotel. This venture, sprouting in the heart of the city, is a joint effort backed by city officials, the Clearwater Community Redevelopment Agency and various project partners such as the DeNunzio Group, KAST Construction, Behar + Peteranecz Architecture, and Thornton Tomasetti. Shared excitement was palpable as these entities gathered to signal the project’s initiation, which aims to bolster local tourism and activity near the waterfront, as reported by Clearwater Community Redevelopment Agency.
Redevelopment stories often stand atop a historical foundation. Where The Ballad Hotel is now breaking ground, once was Harborview Center—an institution in its own right, housing retail, dining, and numerous community engagements from conventions and trade shows to weddings. Clearwater made the strategic move back in 2022, when it facilitated the property’s sale at $9.3 million, signaling a clear agenda for revitalizing the waterfront site and tying in with long-term aspirations for economic and tourism development in the downtown precinct. These nuances, recounted by the Clearwater Community Redevelopment Agency, paint a picture of continuous community evolution.