Here's a good rundown on a few of the projects around the area from the Pensacola Business Journal.
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Published - December, 28, 2007
Carlton Proctor
cproctor@pnj.com
Although still mired in a prolonged residential housing and auto sales slump, a forecast of the Pensacola Bay Area's 2008 economy is not without its bright spots.
Some big-money commercial and residential projects under way in Escambia and Santa Rosa counties should pump hundreds of millions of dollars into the local economy and help keep the jobless rate near all-time lows.
Some of the major commercial projects expected to break ground or complete construction this year include:
$30 million Seashells Collections:
An up-scale shopping center in Gulf Breeze, anchored by a Publix supermarket. Developed by Moulton Properties of Pensacola, the development features several "green" features that will minimize the environmental impact and storm water runoff from the 16-acre site.
Completion of the shopping center is expected by late spring of this year.
Jubilee:
A huge residential project planned for the Pace area, is moving forward again despite facing more than $5.5 million in liens last year.
Originally proposed by Atlanta-based The Eagle Group, the 2,718-acre project is now under the control of a company called 2718 Santa Rosa, L.L.C.
The first phase was scheduled to have 588 single-family homes priced from $275,000 to $1.5 million. At completion, the three-phase project was to have boasted thousands of homes.
Developers of Jubilee have submitted an application for development approval to Santa Rosa County, according to Bill DuBois with the division of Planning and Zoning.
Hawkshaw Village:
A $20 million-plus joint venture by Hawkshaw Eastside Inc. and Moulton Properties, both of Pensacola, is also on track to start construction this year.
The proposed first phase of the new four-acre development would have:
- Thirty units of affordable housing with a price range of $125,000 to $250,000.
- Some 110,000 square feet of mixed-use space for offices, retail shops and restaurants.
- Construction of a $1 million retention pond/lake on a portion of Admiral Mason Park.
- Surface parking space and landscaping.
Hawkshaw Village is proposed for about four acres of property located adjacent Gulf Power's headquarters on Bayfront Parkway.
$40 million Gulfview Marina on Bayou Chico:
To be located on a 13-acre Bayou Chico site, that was once the site of the former Runyan Shipyards, long considered an industrial eyesore is being developed by South Florida investor Colin Farnum and his Destin-based partners.
Plans calls for a marina whose centerpiece will be a hurricane resistant structure that can provide dry storage for up to 1,000 boats.
Farnum said site preparation and environmental cleanup have been completed, and construction will get underway sometime in early 2008.
"This will be a state-of-the-art boating center that will serve our community for years to come," said Farnum. "Our dry storage building will be constructed to withstand 140 mph winds."
Farnum said the project will be built in several stages, the first with 300 boat slips, and more as the marina fills up.
"We completed a market study of the Panhandle and found that the marinas are 95 percent full. During the high season, and especially during hurricane season, you cannot find a spot to park your boat," he said.
In addition to the marina, Farnum said retail space is planned, but how much will be determined by another marketing study.
Holiday Inn property on Pensacola Beach:
Construction is expected to begin early this year on a 162-room, upscale boutique hotel on the old Holiday Inn property on Pensacola Beach.
The project is being developed by Little Sabine Inc., a Pensacola-based company associated with American Fidelity Life Insurance Co.
Joe McCay, general manager for the Crowne Plaza Pensacola Grand,cqsaid the hotel will be a franchise of the Indigo brand developed by IHG, parent company of Holiday Inn, Crowne Plaza and Intercontinental.
"Indigo is a boutique hotel," said McCay. "The color schemes and furnishings will be very different from anything at Pensacola Beach. ... Every season the color schemes will change in the hotel."
Room sizes will average 498 square feet, and the hotel will have a restaurant and lounge, in addition to 2,000 square feet of meeting space.
McCay said plans call for construction to be completed by mid-2009.
The nine-story hotel will be part of a three-phase plan for redevelopment of the Gulf side property and old Holiday Inn, destroyed by Hurricane Ivan in 2004.
The Adache Group Architects, designer of the Portofino towers on Pensacola Beach, has been hired to draw plans for the Indigo Hotel.
In addition to the Indigo project, Pensacola-based hotel developer Julian MacQueen's announced plans late last year for a 190-room Embassy Suites on a site just east of his existing Hilton Hotel on Pensacola Beach.
Together, the two major hotel projects would add more than 350 upscale rooms to Pensacola Beach's lodging inventory that was nearly cut in half by damages from Ivan.
http://www.pensacolabusinessjournal....712280303/1115
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Great news for P-Cola. Glad to have another beautiful city in the surrounding area. Our entire region is starting to boom.
Some good news for downtown Pensacola, an old, fairly run-down hotel is being completely gutted and reconstructed.
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