Clearwater Beach Marina’s Contract Total Is $43,568,739. The New Fuel Dock Is Not Open.

Clearwater City Council, on July 15, 2024, approved a construction total of $43,568,739 for the Clearwater Beach Marina replacement, and the city’s project page in October 2026 still says the new fuel dock is not operational. The rebuild keeps the marina’s existing 165 slips: 83 recreational, 59 commercial, and 23 transient. The address is 25 Causeway Boulevard. This is the barrier-island marina. Clearwater Harbor Marina, at 206 Pierce Street in Coachman Park, is the city’s downtown marina and has its own rate sheet.

A buyer, a seller, or an owner uses this as the city’s working-waterfront file for Clearwater Beach, beside the Clearwater home guide and the Pinellas County overview. It is not a sale price for a condo on Mandalay Avenue, a mainland house in Countryside, or a Harbor Oaks lot. The four-county Tampa metro price comparison is the separate July price-per-square-foot note. Statewide context stays on Florida markets.

Where the project stands in October 2026

The City of Clearwater’s project page for the Beach Marina replacement lists the schedule as fall 2024 through October 2026. The same page says the work is expected to be fully completed in August 2026, and it lists substantial completion as late September 2026. The Marine and Aviation page for the Beach Marina says the project is expected to be fully complete in August 2026. Those three dates are all printed on city pages at the same time. The operational lines are consistent across them: most of phase one is done, tourism boats are in new slips along Coronado Drive, and the fishing fleet and dinner boats are in temporary locations and still operating.

The project page’s upcoming tasks are finishing the handrail installation, continuing framing, continuing utility work, and the fuel dock building. Kiosks are listed as complete. The new fuel dock is not operational. The Marine and Aviation page adds that a temporary fuel dock is being installed, and that there are no transient or day docks available at the Clearwater Beach Marina while the docks are under renovation.

Construction has reduced parking in the marina lot. The city says marina patrons can still use that lot and the other lots and garages on Clearwater Beach, and that a temporary lot along Memorial Causeway is for construction crews and marina employees. The parking office number on the slip sheet is (727) 562-4707, option 2. Marine and Aviation is (727) 562-4955.

Pile driving, when it occurs, is limited to 7 a.m. to 6 p.m. under the city noise ordinance. The project page says vibration alarms monitor that work.

The engineer of record on the project page is Moffatt and Nichol. The construction manager at risk is Kokolakis Contracting, of Tarpon Springs. The council file number for the guaranteed maximum price is 21-0008-MA, under request for qualifications 19-22.

What council approved on July 15, 2024

File ID#24-0779 passed on July 15, 2024. The title approves an increase and a proposal from Kokolakis Contracting in the amount of $43,469,475, bringing the total to $43,568,739, and a loan of not more than $18,000,000 from the Capital Improvement Fund to the Marine Fund. The $99,264 difference between those two construction figures is the pre-construction amount council authorized on January 12, 2023. The July 2024 summary says the estimated total project budget is $46.5 million.

At the time of that vote, the city reported $28,492,258 available and described the project as underfunded relative to the new budget. The remaining money was to come from that capital-improvement loan: 10 to 20 years, zero interest, not to exceed $18 million, reduced by later grant awards, with the payment structure set once the grants were known. A one-year deferral of payment, measured from project completion, was written in so the marina could reset slip rates and revenue before repayment started. A third-quarter budget amendment was to add $18,000,000 to capital project C1905, Beach Marina Upgrade.

The cost path in the same summary is the reason the July 2024 number sits well above the earlier estimates. In October 2021, council authorized Moffatt & Nichol, of Tampa, to design and permit a replacement of the overwater structures and utilities and to tie Beach Walk into the marina as “Marina Walk.” On October 3, 2022, the engineer’s estimate of probable construction cost was about $28 million. Council then asked for a seawall and a mix of fixed and floating docks. On November 13, 2023, the engineer’s opinion of probable construction cost for the final design was $35.1 million. The July 2024 guaranteed maximum price for construction is the $43,469,475.

The summary attributes the increase to labor, up 10 to 15 percent in the prior 18 months, and to materials. It cites a 40 percent rise since 2020 in the cost of concrete used for the floating docks and Marina Walk, using the producer price index for cement and concrete. It says aluminum was up 25 percent and copper was up 26 percent in the four months before the memo, that electrical equipment and conductors had risen sharply, that specialty marine products such as cleats and pedestals were up 20 to 30 percent in 18 months, and that phasing the work so commercial boats could keep operating added $1,000,000. Those percentages are the city’s July 2024 account of why the estimate moved. They are not an October 2026 bid.

The project page now lists three awarded grants that the July 2024 summary still treated as an outstanding tourist-development application: $7.85 million in Pinellas County tourist-tax dollars for the commercial area of the marina, $4 million from the Florida Department of Environmental Protection for resiliency improvements, and $1.7 million from the Florida Fish and Wildlife Conservation Commission. Added together, those three lines are $13.55 million. The July 2024 loan was written to shrink when grants landed. The project page does not reprint a revised loan balance, so this note does not invent one.

A parking garage was discussed as a separate project. On October 6, 2022, council directed a supplemental work order on parking and a preliminary garage option so it could be coordinated with the marina. The July 2024 summary says staff were working on that garage separately, with the intent to fold construction into the marina’s phases and to bring the option back to council later. The October 2026 project page describes a reduced surface lot and a temporary crew lot. It does not describe a garage as built.

165 slips, raised docks, and Marina Walk

The July 2024 summary states the marina will keep its current count of 165 slips: 83 recreational, 59 commercial, and 23 transient. The arithmetic is 83 + 59 + 23. The project goals on the city page say the same thing in different words: maximize city-owned submerged land and maintain the existing slip count and a balanced mix. Commercial boats stay on fixed docks along the perimeter. Non-commercial users get floating docks. Two ferry slips were included in the council summary for vessels the city then expected to be operating in early 2025. The project goals still list two boat slips for a water taxi.

The fuel dock, once it is operating, is described in that summary as serving tenants, visitors, and residents. In October 2026 the new fuel dock is the piece the city says is not open, with a temporary fuel dock being installed.

Resiliency is built into the heights. Fixed docks and gangway platforms are raised 15 to 24 inches. The bulkhead replacement raises the cap 15 to 18 inches. The November 2023 design presentation, as summarized in the July 2024 file, also included updated utilities, dredging, floating docks, and the ability to add charging for electric boats later. The finished design on the project page adds an ADA-compliant facility, kiosks upland near the primary dock entrances, and Marina Walk as an extension of Beach Walk with shade and seating. The council summary says Marina Walk includes 24 kiosks the commercial fleet can lease for ticket sales. The project page lists the kiosks as a completed task.

The city has run a marina on Clearwater Beach since the 1940s. The July 2024 summary says historical aerials show the Beach Marina built before 1951 and expanded by 1965 into essentially the footprint that was still there. Repairs over the following fifty years did not replace it. In 2005 the city considered replacing only the docks, at an estimated $8 million, and did not start that project. The replacement now underway is the full overwater rebuild, not that 2005 dock-only estimate.

Two marinas, and the rates on the October 1, 2025 sheet

The slip-fee sheet is titled for the Clearwater Beach Municipal Marina at 25 Causeway Boulevard, and the prices are effective October 1, 2025. Recreational wet-slip rent is $16.88 per foot per month for a resident of the incorporated city and $19.18 per foot per month for a non-resident. The sheet’s example of “non-resident” is an address in unincorporated Pinellas County. Rates follow the length of the slip. A dock box, water, and electric are extra. Sales tax applies. Wi-Fi and 24-hour security are included. Pump-out is free. The marina is not a liveaboard facility. A recreational tenant may stay aboard up to eight nights a month. Deposit and the first month are due when the docking permit is signed. Written notice of at least 30 days is required if the deposit is to be applied to the last month.

The city’s own 40-foot example for a resident is a $675.20 deposit, which is $16.88 times 40. Monthly rent on that example is the $675.20, plus a $7.01 dock box, $47.75 tax, and a $5 utility service charge, for $734.96. The non-resident 40-foot example is a $767.20 deposit and $833.40 a month after the same dock box, $54.19 tax, and the $5 charge. The 60-foot resident example is $1,012.80 before the extras and $1,096.20 a month with them. The 60-foot non-resident example is $1,150.80 before the extras and $1,243.86 a month. Those are the sheet’s examples, not a quote for a slip that happens to be open.

The same sheet prints transient rates for the Beach marina: $3.50 per foot per day, $17.50 per foot per week, and $53.27 per foot per month, plus a $10 non-refundable charge on every reservation, a three-month maximum stay per tenant per rolling year, and 7 percent sales tax. Reservations run through Dockwa, and proof of insurance is required. The Marine and Aviation page, read beside that sheet, says there are no transient or day docks available during the renovation. The rate and the availability are two different city pages. A boater who needs a transient slip calls (727) 562-4955, option 2, rather than treating the printed daily rate as an open dock.

Island Estates slips, behind the Clearwater Marine Aquarium, are a third line on the same sheet and are not the Causeway Boulevard rebuild. The resident rate there is $16.16 per foot per month and the non-resident rate is $18.47. Only 40-foot slips are listed. Water and parking are not charged at that location. Electricity is.

Clearwater Harbor Municipal Marina is the downtown facility at 206 Pierce Street. Its recreational rates, also effective October 1, 2025, are $17.46 per foot per month for a city resident and $19.61 for a non-resident. The sheet’s 30-foot resident example is $572.97 a month after the dock box, tax, and utility charge, on a $523.80 base. The 40-foot resident example is $759.79 a month on a $698.40 base. Transient rates match the Beach marina’s per-foot prices, with a one-month maximum stay per tenant per rolling year instead of three. Harbor Marina sits in Coachman Park, on the Intracoastal at the Memorial Causeway Bridge, in the downtown retail district. It is not the Beach replacement, and a downtown slip rate is not a beach slip rate.

The county sand project on the same beach

Pinellas County’s 2025 beach nourishment is the other official file a Clearwater Beach reader will meet, and it is a county project rather than this marina contract. On June 17, 2025, the Board of County Commissioners authorized a one-time emergency nourishment for Sand Key — Clearwater Beach through Belleair Beach, and Indian Rocks Beach through North Redington Beach — plus Treasure Island and Upham Beach. The county estimates more than 2.5 million cubic yards of sand. It does not print a Clearwater Beach-only yardage.

The overall schedule on the county page is August 2025 through February 11, 2026. The Clearwater Beach window on that schedule is October through November 2025. Belleair Beach is October through early November 2025. Indian Rocks Beach is November through early December 2025. The project update dated May 21, 2026, says planting is complete and asks people to stay off the dunes and use the marked accesses. The page was last updated September 16, 2026.

The county’s funding section puts the project at $125.7 million, supported by the tourist development tax and state grants. The State of Florida’s share is $14.2 million in grant reimbursement. Earlier nourishments had a 65 percent federal cost share through the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers. The county says that without easements from all beachfront owners it is no longer eligible for that federal share, which is why this round was designed, permitted, and built with county funds. Where owners did not sign, or could not be found, sand was placed only seaward of the erosion control line or was not placed. The county names low spots as a particular issue on Indian Rocks Beach, Indian Shores, and Redington Shores.

The marina grants and the nourishment budget answer different questions. The $7.85 million tourist-tax line is a city-listed grant for the commercial part of the marina. The $125.7 million is the county’s sand project along Sand Key, Treasure Island, and Upham Beach. Adding them would mix a dock contract with a beach-fill contract.

How this sits next to the rest of the Clearwater file

Memorial Causeway is the trip from mainland Clearwater to 25 Causeway Boulevard. Gulf-to-Bay Boulevard, which is State Road 60, is the east-west road through downtown and toward the Courtney Campbell. U.S. 19 is the commercial spine of the mainland. A house on the mainland and a condo on the Beach share a city name and a Saturday outing. They do not share a flood file, a parking file, or a comp. The Clearwater home guide separates Harbor Oaks, Countryside, Island Estates, Sand Key, and the Beach. St. Petersburg, Dunedin, and Palm Harbor are the neighboring city guides.

The labor file for the metro that contains Clearwater is the August unemployment release. In the St. Petersburg-Clearwater-Largo division, the August 2026 rate was 4.3 percent, not seasonally adjusted, on a labor force of 493,907, with 21,290 people unemployed. The Tampa-St. Petersburg-Clearwater metro was 4.7 percent. Both figures are in the August metro unemployment note. They describe residents and jobs. They do not describe a marina slip or a beach condo.

August building permits for the Tampa-St. Petersburg-Clearwater metro were 2,060 units, in the Florida permits note. That is the metro authorization count. It is not a count of permits inside the marina contract. July’s Tampa-metro price per square foot, $198 for new homes and $226 for existing homes, is the four-county figure in the price-per-square-foot note. It includes Pinellas and it is not a Clearwater Beach sale.

The mortgage coupon in force is still the one tied to the September rate decision. The Federal Reserve’s target range after the September 16 vote is 3.75 to 4.00 percent, covered in the hike note. A written quote for a purchase sits on the mortgage page. Selling sits on residential sales. Buying sits on residential.

What a buyer, a seller, or an owner can do with this

A buyer looking at Clearwater Beach can treat the marina page as the city’s own status board for the docks at the north end of the beach: phase one largely complete, commercial boats operating, the new fuel dock not open, marina-lot parking reduced, and transient docks unavailable until the city says otherwise. The county’s nourishment page is the sand file: Clearwater Beach was on the October–November 2025 placement window, and the May 21, 2026 update says planting is complete. Neither page is a list price. Flood, wind, condo documents, and rental rules still belong to the building, which is the work in the Clearwater home guide.

A seller on the Beach can expect shoppers to have driven past the construction. The contract total of $43,568,739 and the 165-slip count describe the city’s marina. They do not adjust a condo comp. A seller on the mainland, in Countryside or along Gulf-to-Bay, is on the other side of Memorial Causeway. Price that house to its own streets. The Pinellas overview is the county frame.

An owner who keeps a boat has two city marinas and one smaller Island Estates line, each with an October 1, 2025 rate. The Beach marina’s recreational rate is $16.88 per foot for a city resident. The Harbor marina’s is $17.46. Availability at the Beach marina is constrained by the renovation: the city says transient and day docks are not available there now. Permanent-slip questions go to Marine and Aviation. An owner who does not keep a boat still meets this project as traffic, parking, and the sound of marine construction between 7 a.m. and 6 p.m. when pile driving is underway.

An owner or a buyer of commercial space near the marina — a charter office, a dockside restaurant, a kiosk — is looking at the commercial half of the same file. The design keeps commercial boats on the perimeter, puts ticket sales in upland kiosks, and aims to cut congestion on Coronado Drive. The $7.85 million tourist-tax grant is the portion the city assigns to that commercial area. A shop lease is still a lease. The commercial pages are the place to start that file, and a local assignment starts at contact or (352) 515-0226.

The July 2024 council summary expected construction to begin in October 2024 and to finish in the spring of 2026. The project page now prints a schedule through October 2026, an August 2026 full-completion line, and a late-September 2026 substantial-completion line, and it still lists the fuel dock as not operational. Use the page that matches the question: the July 15, 2024 file for the dollar amount and the slip count, and the project page for what the city says is finished.