The Ballad Hotel

The Ballad Hotel is a 10-story, 158-key hotel at 50 N. Osceola Avenue in downtown Clearwater, set atop the bluff on the eastern edge of Coachman Park with views across Clearwater Harbor. It occupies the site of the former Harborview Center, a longtime civic venue for conventions, dining, and community events, demolished in 2019 after a decade of vacancy. Developed by The DeNunzio Group in partnership with the City of Clearwater and the Clearwater Community Redevelopment Agency, the 230,000-square-foot mixed-use project was designed by Behar + Peteranecz Architecture.

The building engages the city on every side. Approximately 21,000 square feet of ground-floor restaurants and retail line Osceola Avenue, including a companion retail building at 40 N. Osceola, framing a central plaza with planters that double as seating. A 169-space underground parking garage keeps cars out of sight. At the top, a rooftop bar, dining room, and meeting rooms open to sweeping views of Coachman Park and the harbor, giving the public a new destination above the waterfront.

The design’s signature moment marks the northeast corner, where a 3D-printed “sound wave” element at the porte cochère pays tribute to The BayCare Sound amphitheater next door. Fabricated locally by Haddy from recyclable material, it joins 3D-printed façade cladding and black aluminum balcony railings in a contemporary exterior palette. Opening in late 2027, The Ballad Hotel will become the threshold between downtown Clearwater and its waterfront, where city streets give way to music, park, and open water.