A 144-room resort will replace the existing hotel at the Palm Pavilion property on Clearwater Beach, expanding the site and raising the property to roughly 136 units per acre using 91 units from Clearwater Beach’s hotel density reserve while preserving the Palm Pavilion restaurant along the Gulf.
The redevelopment follows the $23 million sale of the property earlier this year, which split ownership between Beachside Hospitality Group, which acquired the restaurant, and McKibbon Equities, which purchased the inn, with both buyers committing to maintain the Palm Pavilion brand.
The 1.06-acre site currently has a one-story restaurant and a 30-room hotel. The new resort will replace the lodging portion with a nine-level building that includes guest rooms, a structured parking garage, amenity space, a pool deck and a hotel lobby.
The podium will occupy the first four floors, with 173 parking spaces; the fifth floor will house amenities, including the pool deck and lobby; and guest rooms will fill floors six through nine. Architectural plans depict a mid-rise Mediterranean-inspired hotel with walkways connecting it to the existing restaurant.
The agreement requires the property to operate solely as a hotel. Units cannot include full kitchens, must remain available for short-term guests, and the hotel must close and evacuate whenever the National Hurricane Center issues a hurricane watch for Clearwater Beach.
McKibbon Hospitality, which manages other Clearwater Beach properties including the Hampton Inn & Suites and Dolphin Sands, will operate the resort. Developers have one year to secure site plan approval, four years to begin construction and six years to complete the project and receive a certificate of occupancy.
The project will be heard at a Council Work Session on May 18, 2026, and at a City Council public hearing on June 4, 2026.
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