CLEARWATER - Not long ago, popular south Clearwater Beach was teeming with tourists staying at the Beach Towers, Days Inn, Spyglass, Holiday Inn Sunspree and the Adam's Mark.
But those hotels and others were knocked down or closed in recent years to make way for nine high-end condominium and hotel projects, valued at $1.4-billion. And more closures are expected.
The thinking was the beach community could absorb the loss of an estimated 1,100 rooms because the new units would attract more tourists, residents and money.
Somewhere amid the "condo boom," however, prices skyrocketed, the market softened, insurance rates escalated - and buyers vanished.
Developers delayed or changed projects. Some refunded deposits, downsized rooms or lowered prices. Nearly all have pushed back construction.
What was supposed to be a time of great optimism, of unprecedented construction on the famed beach, has given way to quiet and an uncertain future. It could be many years before the rooms - and the millions of dollars in business - return to the beach.
Real estate, financial and government experts say the delays - some of which have left rubble-filled spots where hotels once stood - could make the beach less accessible, shrink city business revenues and cripple the tourist industry.
"We might never make up for what we've lost," said David Little, a real estate agent and redevelopment chairman for the Clearwater Beach Chamber of Commerce.
Source : http://www.sptimes.com/
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