Downtown Clearwater’s waterfront facing transformation
By Breanne Williams
Tampa Bay Business Journal
Published: Jun 24, 2022

Clearwater is one step closer to securing two substantial developments on its downtown waterfront.

City council unanimously voted on June 16 to move forward with negotiations with New York-based Gotham and Palm Harbor's DeNunzio Group to redevelop two city-owned properties near the Imagine Clearwater project. Gotham and The DeNunzio Group were also unanimously recommended by a staff committee.

The team’s proposal is called The Bluffs and includes plans to redevelop both the 1.43-acre former Harborview Center site at Cleveland Street and North Osceola Avenue and the 2.6-acre former city hall site at Pierce Street and South Osceola Avenue. Now that Gotham was selected, the city has a handful of weeks to negotiate and draft a development agreement that council will vote on July 7.

Staff is racing against the clock to get an agreement made due to the project needing to go to referendum in November. Without voter support, the development won’t come to life.

During the discussion on June 16, council had to decide whether to sell both properties to the team or sell one and lease the other. City Attorney David Margolis warned that splitting it up would cause the referendum to more than likely include two separate questions — which hypothetically could lead to one passing and the other not. Council chose to negotiate the sale of both properties with deed restrictions.

The Bluffs plan shows the group was offering to pay $15.4 million for the former city hall site and $9.3 million for the former Harborview Center site. The group is proposing to build 25,000 square feet of retail and restaurant space along with 600 residential units in two 27-story towers on the 2.6-acre former city hall site. The plan is to build the towers in two phases, which would take approximately six years to complete.

An elevated pedestrian bridge would connect this site to the former Harborview Center site. The group wants to build a 150-key, 13-story hotel there with 15,000 square feet of retail and restaurant space, a 4,000-square-foot rooftop bar and a 1,000-person conference center.

In addition to Gotham and the DeNunzio Group, the team includes Stantec, Coastal Construction, Behar + Peteranecz Architecture and owner’s representative Joe Burdette. Stantec is currently building Imagine Clearwater for the city.