2015/2016
Northwest Florida’s
11th Annual Downtown Special Edition
Business Climate
DOWNTOWN DEVELOPMENT How ten new projects will change the landscape of Pensacola’s urban core page 19
Roundtable with City Officials New Businesses Restoring the Gulf Coast Historic Pensacola Football at the Maritime Park Foo Foo Fest Downtown Real Estate
nwflbusinessclimate.com | Business Climate | 1
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PENSACO L A S Y M P H O N Y O R C H E S T R A
BRAHMS SYMPHONY NO. 2
OPENING NIGHT
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October 3, 2015 - 7:30pm
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2015 | 2016 CONCERT SEASON
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January 9, 2016 - 7:30pm
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with Ilana Davidson, Soprano Symphony No. 2 Short Ride in a Fast Machine Adagio for Strings An American in Paris
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SHOSTAKOVICH SYMPHONY NO. 10
RUSSIAN SPECTACULAR
April 30, 2016 - 7:30pm
April 2, 2016 - 7:30pm with Yevgeny Kutik, Violin
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Bruch Violin Concerto No. 1
Liadov Kikimora
Shostakovich Symphony No. 10
Prokofiev Violin Concerto No. 2
Sibelius Tapiola
with Jennifer Frautschi, Violin
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PIANO MEN
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ASHLEY BROWN Home For The Holidays
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December 4, 2015 7:30pm December 31, 2015 7:00pm
February 13, 2016 7:30pm
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Downtown Is What We Make It Publisher Malcolm Ballinger Executive Editor Kelly Oden Editor + Layout Josh Newby Art Director Rita Laymon Graphic Design and Ad Coordination Guy Stevens Editorial Assistant Dawn Gresko Editorial Intern Hamishe Randall Advertising Account Executives Jennifer Bullock jennifer@ballingerpublishing.com Paula Rode paula@ballingerpublishing.com Deadline for space and information is the 15th of the month prior to publication. For advertising rates or news tips contact Phone: 433-1166 · Fax: 435-9174
Every year, we like to dedicate an entire expanded issue of Business Climate to the downtown Pensacola area, arguably the heart of commerce and growth in Northwest Florida. Downtown as a geographic location has a lot of different definitions. There’s the areas that fall under the Downtown Improvement Board’s purview, there’s the Urban Redevelopment Advisory Committee’s somewhat looser definition, and then of course there’s the countless different boundaries that residents and business-owners ascribe to the region. These fluid boundaries are representative of the fact that downtown means a lot of different things to a lot of different people. For years, that has been a source of contention and conversation. Is downtown an artistic and cultural destination? Is it restaurant row? Are these historic streets a place for college partying and late-night celebration? I submit that it is all those things, and more, and that it is not our job (or government’s job) to define and therefore limit downtown, but to create an environment where everyone can make it their own. It is in that spirit that we look back on this wonderful year of both private and public prosperity, and look forward to the triumphs that will shape our future. Downtown is constantly in flux, often for good but sometimes for bad, but at least it is moving and not dying. In this issue, we look at how various industries are thriving (real estate, development, new businesses), at new projects that will change the landscape and audience of our area (college football, cultural heritage tourism initiatives), and we even sit down with high-level government officials to get their perspective on all of the above. As we celebrate, we must also look with a critical eye at our past and raise the bar for higher achievement. For all this year’s success stories, there are facets of life in Pensacola that give us motivation to improve. Pedestrian and cyclist accessibility in parts of downtown is still lacking, middle- and low-class housing is a struggle, and education is sorely lacking within the confines of south Pensacola. The accomplishments of today would not have happened without the analytical and astute minds of yesteryear. In that spirit, we should welcome criticism and the challenge to rise to more lofty intentions. So after celebrating the past years’ victories and looking with sober and discerning eyes at our remaining challenges, let’s look forward to how new groups of people will see downtown. Will they see a city that rested on their laurels and congratulated themselves? Or will they see a town that never settled and therefore attracts more diverse groups and encourages more inclusive definitions? Downtown is what we make it, literally and figuratively.
BALLINGER PUBLISHING offices located at 41 N. Jefferson St., Suite 402, Pensacola Florida 32502
Published by Ballinger Publishing NORTHWEST FLORIDA’S BUSINESS CLIMATE is locally owned and operated. It is published monthly for distribution in Pensacola, Florida. All Right Reserved. Reproduction or use of the contents herein is prohibited without written permission from the publisher. Comments and opinions expressed in this magazine represent the personal views of the individuals to whom they are attributed and/or the person identified as the author of the article, and they are not necessarily those of the publisher. This magazine accepts no responsibility for these opinions. The publisher reserves the right to edit all manuscripts. All advertising information is the responsibility of the individual advertiser. Appearance in this magazine does not necessarily reflect endorsement of any products or services by Ballinger Publishing.
ABOUT THE COVER
Photo coutesy of Sperry Van Ness - SouthLand Commercial Real Estate. Shot taken from drone looking north at South Palafocx. Post-production by Guy Stevens.
nwflbusinessclimate.com | Business Climate | 7
Contents Photo by Guy Stevens
Downtown Development Ten upcoming projects that will forever change the landscape and lifestyle of downtown. page 19
Downtown Real Estate: On A Forward Trend
The direction of downtown real estate shows increasing promise - both residentially and commercially. An analysis of downtown real estate. page 10
Our Growing Downtown Welcomes New Businesses
A major indicator of success in any downtown is the growth of new businesses. In that respect Pensacola is a roaring success. page 15
8 | Business Climate | nwflbusinessclimate.com
Restoring the Gulf Coast
How does the RESTORE Act work, and how will it affect downtown Pensacola? page 24
Historic Pensacola
The future of Pensacola’s past is promising with a new strategic plan and focus on attracting the highly soughtafter cultural heritage tourist. page 28
The Game Plan
It’s almost college football time for Pensacola! The UWF Argos team is set to make a huge splash and do wonders for our local economy. page 34
Downtown Roundtable
As important as private investment is to the growth of downtown, very little would get done without the aid of government. We talk to local officials about the triumphs and challenges of our area. page 39
Foo Foo Fest
What’s a Foo Foo? It’s a festival that promotes collaboration, tourism, regional marketing, and so much more. page 44
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Downtown Real Estate:
On A Forward Trend BY HAMISHE RANDALL | PHOTOS BY GUY STEVENS
There is no doubt that downtown Pensacola is booming. The residential and commercial real estate of downtown and surrounding areas of Pensacola have experienced much development and growth within the last few years. Several factors such as the improvement of the national economy, recovery of Pensacola’s tourist industry and the community drive and involvement to revitalize downtown has contributed to progressive growth in real estate. Since the bottoming out of the market in 2008, the trend in real estate has shown a significant increase in sales, fewer foreclosures, and an increase in equity appreciation rates. The average selling price of single-family homes in Pensacola has increased from $181,476 in September of 2014 to $191,670 for the month of July 2015, according to statistics from the Pensacola Association of Realtors. That is compared to the average selling price of $167,189 of single-family homes in 2009. According to Grey Burge, president of Pensacola Association 10 | Business Climate | nwflbusinessclimate.com
of Realtors, some of the factors that helped stimulate the economy in our area were the vigor with which investors came back into the market starting in 2009 and 2010 to get the bottom of the barrel deals on foreclosures, and the low prices we saw at that time. While real estate prices in the Pensacola area have appreciated at an accelerated rate of around 7.1 percent in the last year, the national average saw prices increase slightly less at a 6.7 percent. This high percentage of appreciation, according to Burge, is a difficult rate to sustain. And a more conservative appreciation rate leads to a healthier real estate climate overall. “I think generally something in the 3-4 percent range is a healthy appreciation range,” said Burge. “I think 3-4 percent is sustainable. I hope and feel like we ought to be able to expect somewhere in that 3-4 percent range over the next five years.” For downtown Pensacola, however, all bets are off. Percentages are off the charts simply because there are fewer residential units available and growth is expected to excel by leaps and bounds within the coming years. The overall trend since 2012 shows the vacancy rate is going down and the rental rates are going up, not dramatically, but steadily. Let’s take a look at downtown specifically: according to Chris Palmer, advisor with Sperry Van Ness, there are individual townhouses, which get leased the moment they’re put on the market, and there’s probably a couple hundred of those total on the whole market. Shortly there will be 250 units on one spot
(where the Pensacola News Journal was) and those are probably going to fill up the day they open because they already have a waiting list. So statically it’s hard to comprehend the percentage of growth because that would almost be a 100 percent growth the day that delivers. That’s just on the rental market, and there’s still more demand behind that. That demand of downtown Pensacola shows as land values have gone up around 10 percent in downtown in the last year. Downtown office space is hovering around 7 percent vacancy, which Palmer considers very healthy. Commercial property in the last few years has seen a revival. Buildings that were a few years ago falling apart and vacant are now being repaired and renovated, and are full of life. Now whether commercial developments are fueling residential growth or visa versa is up for debate. That is the timeless question: what came first, the chicken or the egg? “With commercial development typically comes some jobs, and folks who get a better job will move from being renters to being homeowners,” said Burge. “So there is an effect.” Sonny Granger, chairman of Eastside Redevelopment Board for the last two years, says the average price for rentals in the Pensacola area is 94 cents a square foot. The apartments being built downtown are going to be around $1.40 a square foot. That’s a big jump at about 40 percent but you’re paying for location and convenience. However, you can’t out-price income growth, which is one of the biggest issues according
to Palmer. The prices of housing can rise but if someone can’t afford it then it is not going to sell. So it has to be market based. According to Granger, the downtown market will drive assemblages and as the community has proven, by being creative, the convergence of buildings, tearing things down, and thinking differently, it will also push development and growth farther out. The demand is increasing. Competition enters the market, so it triggers an upward force on prices. “The beautiful part about it is success brings success in downtown,” said Granger. “It’s no secret that residential is a big catalyst for downtown growth. We’re working to bring more residential downtown, as there’s more of a push for it, and a demand for it, in all different price ranges.” One question is where are these budding developments going to go? Finding the right place that can be developed that has parking and can accommodate the amenities desired is challenging. There are only a few parcels of land that are big enough in the downtown area. Another issue is considering the infrastructure of downtown buildings and roadways in light of flooding concerns. “One specific issue that’s no secret in downtown growth is storm water retention,” said Palmer. “We can’t have every building flooding whenever we get a hard rain, so there’s going to have to be some serious infrastructure solutions. I know there are some grants and getting those will be huge. Because without it it’s going
“
With commercial development typically comes some jobs, and folks who get a better job will move from being renters to being homeowners.”
to limit what can be built and where it can be built downtown.” So where is all this growth coming from? The overall national economy is better than it was a few short years ago. Pensacola’s unemployment rate is at a 4.6 percent, compared to the national average of 5.1 percent. More businesses are relocating downtown from suburban areas and people follow the jobs. The more businesses that are downtown (entertainment, restaurants, and shopping) the more people want to be downtown. The community of Pensacola has truly come together to help build Pensacola. According to Palmer, the tourism sector has done a great job of promoting Pensacola, now breaking tourism records. And they are not just promoting the beaches but promoting other things like downtown and our city’s history as well. This is bringing people to Pensacola who have never been here before. And according to Palmer, they’ve done an incredible job. “We are starting to identify problems,” said Palmer. “We know
Pensacola Residential Market Statistics as of Sept. 2015 2015
2014
2013
2012
2011
2010
Current Active Listings
3,693
3,752
3,323
3,379
4,100
5,194
Sales
782
635
556
477
414
296
Median Sold Price
$159,900
$142,000
$157,000
$152,000
$147,050
$145,000
Avg. Sold Price
$191,670
$167,119
$186,220
$186,800
$173,325
$161,741
Avg. Days on Market
97
104
106
134
161
118
nwflbusinessclimate.com | Business Climate | 11
that storm water and infrastructure is a problem. We know education is a problem. In the past I think people hoped that no one noticed that we had those problems. One thing we’re doing now as a community is focusing on things that are important to businesses, and not just on the incentive package.” With big name players and locals alike determined to revive downtown Pensacola, the growth we see in real estate is likely to continue and improve. Not only is Pensacola welcoming new businesses from out of town, it is experiencing a higher retention rate of local young professionals who are choosing to stay. “For 10 years now, downtown has been doing good things, and I think we’re not even half-way there,” said Burge. “I expect to see greater things moving forward. Part of our challenge is keeping young folks here. I do think that will help sustain our stability of our market. I think we’ve got some smart, progressive folks. There are locals involved and folks involved who didn’t grow up here and I think that’s great. I’m thrilled with the mix that we have right now and hope it continues.” Foreclosures (which seem to be stabilizing to an expected rate), storm water retention, limited development areas, and government-development politics are still a concern. However, with the unemployment percentages going down and sustained job growth, coupled with the cost of living and quality of life, the Pensacola area is becoming more of an attractive location for many to call home. Downtown real estate is clearly on a forward trend, and the Pensacola real estate market appears to be ready for a healthy year in 2016.
Pensacola Office Market Statistics as of Sept. 2015 Market
# Bldgs.
Total RBA
Direct SF
Total SF
Vac. %
Class A Downtown
2
103,817
8,254
8,254
Class B Downtown
82
1,771,631
126,064
Class C Downtown
184
1,461,180
Total Office Market
268
3,336,628
12 | Business Climate | nwflbusinessclimate.com
Absorption
YTD
YTD Deliveries
Under Const. SF
Quoted Rates
8.0%
0
0
0
$20.57
126,064
7.1%
(58,938)
0
0
$18.27
100,352
100,352
6.9%
(20,710)
0
0
$17.10
234,670
234,670
7.0%
(79,648)
0
0
$17.79
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nwflbusinessclimate.com | Business Climate | 13
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NOVEMBER 15, 2015 A FREE concert emulating the legendary spectacle of the original Three Tenors. 14 | Business Climate | nwflbusinessclimate.com
THE MERRY LA TRAVIATA WIDOW JANUARY 22 & 24, 2016
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The true story of a scandalous love affair between a famed courtesan and a naïve nobleman.
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BY HAMISHE RANDALL
OUR GROWING DOWNTOWN WELCOMES NEW BUSINESSES 2015 HAS SEEN GREAT IDEAS AND NEW ENTREPRENEURS EMERGE WITH TANGIBLE BUSINESSES IN PENSACOLA. WE ARE HAPPY TO WELCOME THEM.
WINE WORLD
UNION PUBLIC HOUSE
Robert Montgomery and Chan Cox are bringing a new kind of Wine World to downtown. Building from the ground up, on the vacant lot on 657 E. Romana St. across from Admiral Mason Park on Ninth avenue, the structure will be close to 30,000 square feet. It will consist of two buildings with an alley between. There will be a craft beer bar, wine bar, retail store, artisan cheese shop and about four condominium units above the restaurants. With about 3,000 square feet of outside deck, waterfront and alleyway seating, plus 220 seats in the craft beer bar, and 80 seats in the wine bar, this Palafox meets New Orleans style location will have something to offer everyone in Pensacola. “We’re really excited to be back in downtown Pensacola,” said Montgomery. “All that the city has done and all the improving that they’ve done, it shines like very few places in the country.” The new business will have about 50 employees. They hope to break ground early next year and construction is estimated to take nine months to a year. Specializing in a unique selection of wines that aren’t available anywhere else in Pensacola, Wine World has a tremendous amount of farm to table items available. They even buy whole cows from a rancher in north Okaloosa County and grind their own burgers. Montgomery and Cox are as committed to giving back to the community as they are to offering the best food and drink to Pensacola. Cox started the Destin Charity Wine Auction Foundation 10 years ago, and started the Sandestin wine festival 30 years ago. “We just celebrated our 10th annual wine auction,” said Cox. “The Destin Charity Wine Auction Foundation has raised $10 million in 10 years. We have donated $10 million to local children’s charities. This past year we donated $2.3 million and one of our recipients here in Pensacola is Pathways For Change. We feel very fortunate to be in Northwest Florida. Northwest Florida has been very good to us and Bob (Montgomery) is very generous and we like giving back.”
Blake Rushing and Patrick Bolster co-owners of Union Public House will surely be contenders in the restaurant scene with the opening of their new business. Named the Union Public House because they are a union of this and that, the 3,200 square foot building at 309 Reus St. will also have an additional 1,200 square foot covered deck outside to offer guests a unique experience in Pensacola. With a staff of about 20 to 25, Union Public House will offer an unpretentious setting with southern-roots-foods and a southern refined style that will be charming yet very approachable. They will be curing their own meats, canning their own preserves, jarring their own syrups and selling it. There will also be a garden where they will be growing their own produce and herbs. Everything will be made from scratch in house. “Our mission is to provide our local town another place to go to that offers quality product from the bar side and the food side and the service side,” said Bolster. “The goal for us professionally is to add to the cultural layers to this town, it has gotten better over the last 10 years and I think we can help, as the younger part of the millennial generation, push that to the next level. And personally it’s been a passion of mine to own my place, and to put my own stamp on a town that I love and help drive the service industry culture a little bit further, too.” Union Public House will also be operating a tip share program. A percentage of the sales go to the kitchen and staff so that ultimately all staff makes more money and functions as a team unit. The tip sharing system ensures an equality within the restaurant where the chefs and back of house staff make a fair wage as well as the front of house servers and bartenders. According to Rushing when your staff is happy and comfortable with their job, it translates into good food and good service. “A part of the union thing is to unite different parts of town, we want to be involved with local charities and local things that are making our community better,” said Bolster. “We are very fortunate to be in Pensacola, we love it. Pensacola has given us quite a bit, so we can give back for sure. Us setting a standard of giving back I think is an infectious thing. Our generation of young professionals have always said, we need more things to do, more activities, more bars, more restaurants, more jobs. Well at the end of the day there’s nothing to it, but to do it. This is our shot to put our money where our mouth is.” Union Public House is currently under construction and is expected to be open by end of November 2015. nwflbusinessclimate.com| Business | BusinessClimate Climate| 15 | 15 nwflbusinessclimate.com
RUBY SLIPPER NOM SUSHI IZAKAYA Brad and Elizabeth Jones opened Nom Sushi Izakaya in late 2014 in the SoGo area of Downtown Pensacola at 401 S. Palafox St. Building the inside from scratch, they transformed the 1200 square foot space, which seats about 45, into an intimate Japanese inspired restaurant. Nom employs about 15 people, and the owners have a simple business mission. “We want to put out good food and make people happy,” said Jones. “We want to keep creating, keep doing new things, and see what we can offer the community.” Specializing in in-house-made ramen and fresh fish. This locally owned and operated business prides itself on knowing every ingredient in their from-scratch kitchen. “We bring in really high quality fish, we pay more for it, we don’t charge more for it,” said Jones. “I can tell you the boats some of these fish were caught on, that’s how far I can track it. I know where this stuff is coming from.” Nom Sushi Izakaya may be small but they’re doing something right. They won best new restaurant and best sushi in Best of the Coast 2015.
16 16 || Business Business Climate Climate || nwflbusinessclimate.com nwflbusinessclimate.com
Jennifer and Erich Weishaupt are not restaurant people; they are engineers. So what are a couple of engineers from New Orleans doing with a restaurant? A whole lot of good, it turns out. They opened the Ruby Slipper on July 1, 2015 after renovating the 3,500 square foot space located on 509 S. Palafox St. The space has unmistakable New Orleans charm and style. Their staff of 35 creates unique and delicious New Orleans style food favorites from its scratch kitchen. With no restaurant backgrounds, the couple decided to go into business as a way of rebuilding their neighborhood in New Orleans that got destroyed by Katrina. They wanted another business that might be a hub, a place to go, especially for people who were still rebuilding their houses and wanted to get away. Their thought was if they could break even then it would be good, because they had a real estate business and that was Erich’s primary focus and Jennifer still worked full time as an engineer. They didn’t do it for financial reasons; it was more for their vision for the neighborhood. Well the restaurant became a hit and they opened another and another, eventually deciding to open a location here.
GEORGE ARTISAN BAKERY & BISTRO Luba and George Lazi, owners and operators of George Artisan Bakery & Bistro, moved from New York City to be close to their Pensacola family and in February they opened the bakery and bistro on 1124 W. Garden St. They renovated the 7,200 square foot building, which was previously a bakery, to include around 90 seats. With a staff of around 20, soon to grow to 30 with their new extended dinner hours, the
“We never want to lose sight of the reason that we started this business,” said Jennifer. “It was for our neighbors and our neighborhoods that we operate in. So even though this is a downtown location, I want the people who live in this neighborhood or work in this neighborhood to feel like this is their neighborhood restaurant. That they can come here and that my staff knows their names, knows what they eat, knows what they like to drink, and makes them feel really welcome.” As a neighborhood restaurant, there is a very clear and focused mission on giving back to the community. For their preview event, Ruby Slipper partnered with the Gulf Coast Kids House and raised somewhere in the realm of $3,600. They plan to continue partnering with local charities in the future. “We were really drawn to the coast, because we love to spend time over here,” said Jennifer. “We love historic buildings and we love historic places, so we were just really thrilled with what the city and the downtown development organizations had done to revitalize this historic area and we felt this was the perfect place.”
restaurant offers from-scratch freshly baked goods and an elegant breakfast and lunch menu. “Bread is one of my passions. I saw the opportunity to do artisan bakery, and bistro style food that I love, so I put together these things,” said Lazi. “What we are offering is a bit unique so it’s a unique location, too. We took a risk, everyone said if you’re not on Palafox people won’t come, you’re basically a ‘destination location.’ But I don’t have a problem being a destination, if it’s good people will come.” With the expansion seen in the downtown area, and the unique atmosphere and food offered at George Artisan Bakery & Bistro, you won’t have any excuse not to visit. Be sure to try the bread, George Artisan Bakery & Bistro won the best bread in Best of the Coast 2015.
FOSKO & PURE BARRE Catalina Lehman, owner of Fosko and Pure Barre, is not your typical business owner. She is 24 years old, yet despite her youth, this young professional is already making strides in our downtown. Partnered with her grandfather, Denny Wilkins, Lehmen owns the building on 6 Palafox St. and did a substantial amount of renovations to the downstairs floor to make Fosko and Pure Barre the beautiful businesses they are. The insides are completely remodeled yet maintain that old historic charm. The entrance retains its original door and griffin gargoyles. Fosko opened in March, has six employees and it occupies around 1,800 square feet. The name Fosko is from the old Fosko soda company, which her grandfather Denny Wilkins owns. It was his idea to apply the Fosko brand to the coffee house. Fosko is a coffee shop with unique coffees, teas, and foods perfect for the busy downtowner who needs a break. “Everything I know, my grandfather taught me,” said Lehman. “He taught me how to run a business, do payroll, etc. He is my mentor.” Pure Barre opened in December 2014 and has childcare available. It won best non-gym workout and best new business for Best of the Coast 2015.
nwflbusinessclimate.com | Business Climate | 17
The Retreat is a special place, and experience, that has been described as refreshing, supportive, fun, assuring, caring and heartwarming by those who participate and their families. Positive outcomes for participants include increased socialization, improved mood and behavior, greater sense of purpose and improved sleep habits. Family caregivers gain peace of mind knowing their loved ones are in a safe place while they go off to work or get much needed respite.
Call 850.266.2503 to arrange a tour. 875 Royce Street, Pensacola (ACHA#9051) Monday-Friday 7:30am-5:30pm Daily fee includes breakfast, lunch and activities.
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DEVELOPING DOWNTOWN
IHMC
The Florida Institute for Human and Machine Cognition (IHMC) is about 40 percent done expanding its downtown facility, doubling its current space and increasing its research and public event capabilities. The new, 30,000-square-foot addition will consolidate efforts currently housed at four separate rental sites in the area. The entire project is slated to cost about $8 million, money that Escambia County procured in the form of a municipal loan
TEN UPCOMING PROJECTS THAT WILL FOREVER CHANGE THE LANDSCAPE AND LIFESTYLE OF DOWNTOWN. BY JOSH NEWBY
which IHMC is solely responsible for repaying over the next 15 years. The new building broke ground in April 2014. One of the spaces will be an expansion of their current meeting space, which will increase capacity from 150 to 300. The threestory addition will be on Romana Street, behind the current facility, on land IHMC owns between Alcaniz and Florida Blanca streets. The new building’s first floor will largely consist of research labs, including an expanded robotics lab and a multi-sensory interfaces lab focused on sensory displays and human-machine interfaces. The second floor will feature a glass-walled observation area for public tour groups and others to observe the Robotics Lab safely and without interfering with the work. The third floor will hold additional offices, conference rooms and research space. “Not only will it have a big robotics lab with a viewing area for the public, but part of the first floor will also house what is likely to be the world’s only visual vestibular balance device, a 14-foot-wide sphere that allows cutting-edge research into how to augment
PHOTO BY TOWER DRONES
people’s damaged balance systems,” said Will Rabb, communications coordinator for IHMC. “When soldiers and others suffer traumatic brain injury, they often have severe balance issues, and can’t walk because of it. The sphere was custom-built and allows a patient to stand inside a carriage while the sphere turns and tilts around him. This allows IHMC researchers to test new devices that can provide signals to the patient’s brain and hopefully augment the patient’s inner-ear (vestibular) balance systems.” The new space is built with sustainable material and practices, and the team is striving for a LEED (Leadership in Energy & Environmental Design) Gold certification. Public spaces with natural light, LED lighting and environmentally conscious electrical and plumbing work will make the building reflective of the science-based and forwardthinking initiatives IHMC represents. The new building will also be elevated to avoid the flooding problems that affected IHMC during Hurricane Ivan in 2004. It will house sensitive electronic and computer infrastructure and be complete by March or April of 2016. nwflbusinessclimate.com nwflbusinessclimate.com || Business Business Climate Climate || 19 19
PALAFOX-GARDEN CORRIDOR
When Robert Switzer announced early in 2015 that he had purchased a 4.5-acre plot of land and buildings in the heart of downtown Pensacola, speculation went wild about what the businessman had planned for the Palafox-Garden block that was home to restaurants, office space, parking and more. His ideas do not disappoint, and include middleclass historic residential spaces, a completely renovated interior and exterior for all buildings, a breezeway, coworking space, gym, outdoor dining and more. “People are going to start seeing a lot of this happen really soon,” said Billy Lovelace, Switzer’s business partner. “We’re working on making sure our tenants know what’s going on, but we’ll begin renewing the façade on the Blount and adjacent buildings in October 2015.” Renovations and repairs have been an uphill battle for Switzer thus far, as he strives to maintain the historic aesthetic of the properties while modernizing much of the infrastructure.
“We have to do everything according to city and historical guidelines, of course,” said Switzer. “You do get tax credits for being a historical space, but unfortunately the cost of maintaining that is more than the tax credits. It will be worth it, though. It’s such a cool space and people will appreciate that.” People seem to already be appreciating that, as local insurance company McMahon Hadder plans to move into the first floor of the Blount Building. Other tenants report a very positive experience with improvements and accommodations thus far. Infrastructurally, Switzer hopes to bring carbon-fiber Internet to the space and upgrade suites to attract high-wage, high-talent tenants. He has even spoken with Gulf Power about integrating geothermal energy. A 10,000 sqft. coworking space will also be housed on the second floor of the Blount Building, facing Palafox. The idea is for people of completely different industries to work alongside one another, collaborating and having
a dedicated business space for minimal rent. Below, a breezeway will connect the parking lot to Palafox. Right now, New York Nicks owner Nick Zangari has a lease through March 2017, so that portion of the plan will have to wait. Eventually, though, Switzer would like to see a restaurant on one side of the breezeway and deep retail spaces on the other side. That retail is crucial to the success of this entire project, according to Switzer. Having a drug store, a grocery store, or a place to buy greeting cards or shoes is the type of retail environment he is envisioning and that he believes the coming residential density will support. The second and third floors of the Blount Building will also house residential spaces. Switzer says there will be eight 500 to 600 sqft. single-bedroom spaces and 18 two-bedroom spaces that are quite a bit larger at 1,700 sqft. “This place is going to have sex-appeal,” said Switzer. “It’s going to reeducate the people of Pensacola about what a downtown should be.”
OLD PNJ PROPERTY It is hard to believe what Pensacola would be like without the Quint Studer business acumen and willingness to invest. The healthcare management professional has taken the downtown area under his wing, investing in various properties, bringing retail to the southern portion of the area, and even facilitating the arrival of a baseball team to the bay front. He is nowhere near done, however, and his arguably biggest project is currently underway. In late 2013, he bought the land that the old Pensacola News Journal building sat on for $3.4 million. The southeast corner of Romana and Jefferson will soon be the site of one of the greatest cultural and residential resurgences in Pensacola’s history. Studer is planning a $52 million development, a six-story building with parking, retail, services and residential spaces that will sit close to the new YMCA property that Studer has also helped finance. The community response has been amazing. Right now, there are more than 450 people on a waiting list for apartments that will not even be ready until February of 2017. The site has received Architectural Review Board (ARB) approval and is moving forward on construction now that demolition of the old site is complete. 20 20 || Business Business Climate Climate || nwflbusinessclimate.com nwflbusinessclimate.com
Restaurant and retail spaces will comprise the first two stories on the southwest corner of the property, with leasing and administrative offices on the south east side. Apartments will rise for up to six stories, with 260 spaces that range from studio accommodations to three-bedroom options. Andrew Rothfeder, president of Studer Properties, has been sending out surveys to those on the waiting list and has received an unprecedented 81 percent response rate, unheard of in residential surveying. “We’ve also hosted focus groups and brought in outside consultants to make sure we do this right,” said Rothfeder. “This needs to be a place that people take ownership of and really enjoy. All that feedback has been incorporated into the plans. Quint is really about improving the quality of live so that people can truly live, work and play downtown.” This project marks Studer’s 11th to date,
and promises to be his most successful. Many tenants are already interested in the retail space, as well. Rothfeder hopes for service industries, too, like dog grooming, a dentist, a salon, coffee shop, gym, grocery store and more. Previously, a challenge to downtown was bridging together the success of Palafox and the bay front with the more eastern parts of the city. Rothfeder hopes this project, situated in between the heart of the city and the less active eastern portion of downtown, will accomplish that.
BUBBA’S SWEET SPOT
YMCA On Aug. 13, 2015, the YMCA of Northwest Florida broke ground on the new $16 million, 52,000 sqft., two-story facility in the heart of downtown. The new Y is going to be a two-story health and wellness facility featuring strength and cardio training, a gym, aquatic center, slide, lap pool, studios, family locker rooms, a social center, demo kitchen, meeting space and more. It is a definite step up from the current location, where the YMCA has been located since 1902. The new Y will be next to the new Studer apartments, as a sector of the Studer-purchased land was donated to the cause. “Our goal is to provide resources to our community to work toward a healthier population,” said Michael Bodenhausen, the YMCA of Northwest Florida’s CEO. “The Panhandle is not as healthy as it can be. In fact, it’s extremely unhealthy in a lot of ways.” The projected opening for the new facility is Jan. 1, 2017. The Y has 3,200 members downtown, even though the
current location is functionally obsolete and only 33,000 sqft., a little more than half the real estate the new building will boast. “The Y is a self-sufficient brand and we’re really expecting it to enhance downtown,” said Bodenhausen. “We hope the transition from old to new will be seamless. We’ll close down one night at the old place and open up the next morning at the new place.” According to Bodenhausen, the new building is a godsend because it serves a variety of health-related needs beyond just exercise. The cooking classes will teach participants how to eat healthy. The pool and studios will engage people with healthy living in a fun way. He hopes it will be a catalyst for greater health in the community. “The new building will be socially relevant for the next 50 years, at least,” said Bodenhausen. “We want to enhance the health and wellness of members and non-members. This Y belongs to the community.”
On the other end of downtown, Bubba’s Sweet Spot, a partnership between professional golfer Bubba Watson and Quint Studer, is already taking shape. The project received ARB approval in September of 2015 and construction will begin soon on the corner of Baylen and Main streets. The 3,500 sqft. brick building will be a candy, ice cream and hot fudge shop for the young and young at heart in downtown to enjoy. It will also feature kids areas. According to Rothfeder, the idea first came to Rishy Studer when she visited other cities and noticed that most downtown areas have a child-centric retail and food service space. She thought downtown Pensacola would really benefit from a touch of childlike whimsy, with bright decorations and bold, local flavors. Watson wanted in and the partnership was born. The project should be complete by late 2016.
WINE WORLD
A new spin on an old northwest Florida favorite is coming soon to South Ninth Avenue near Veterans Memorial Park. Wine World will combine a retail wine operation, a wine bar with cheeses and gourmet lunch and dinner options, and a gastropub experience with high-end drinks and cuisine. Robert Montgomery and Chain Cox, the brains behind the operation, are hoping for a Palafoxmeets-New Orleans architectural style. The different dining and retail options will also work in concert with each other in the same way that many high-end eateries function in other cities. “There’s a real synergy that’s created with people who dine here and then walk next store to shop the products they enjoy,” said Montgomery. “We will also build some condominium units above the restaurants, and the view from those units will be breathtaking. I don’t think there is a better view from downtown Pensacola.”
The retail spaces should be available by early 2016. While there will only be about three or four units, they will be large, up to 3,500 sqft. “The total structure will be close to 30,000 sqft., including the condos,” said Cox. “It’ll be a substantial structure. There will be an alley way that is 20 feet wide, with seating on both sides of the walkway, seating on all the outside of the building, seating on the waterside of the building, and the ally way will have lighting above and be a real festive atmosphere, that’ll just create an ambiance that I don’t think exists in Pensacola.” The location will feature 220 seats in the craft beer bar and 80 in the wine bar, plus outdoor seating. With all this experience at the helm and one of the best views in the city, Wine World may very well be downtown Pensacola’s new hotspot. They should be open for business by late 2016.
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FURTHER ON DOWN THE ROAD SPACE FLORIDA
An empty plot of land in downtown Pensacola has a troubled past. The Tech Park, as it is known, is nine acres of prime real estate that was donated by the City of Pensacola and Escambia County in 2010, with $2 million worth of infrastructure added in 2011 thanks to a grant from the Economic Development Administration. Though officially able to house tenants since September 2011, the land has remained vacant, due mainly to firm land use restrictions and lease fees. In early 2014, the Pensacola Chamber worked with the City and Escambia County to loosen restrictions. Late last year, it was announced that the Chamber’s economic development arm, now called Florida West, was working with Space Florida to erect a new building with high-tech tenants. Now, a year after that idea was floated, things continue to move forward. Space Florida’s board authorized a move to the next level of design engineering. For the next several months, they plan on fine-tuning floor plans and the logistics of construction. An official groundbreaking will probably not occur until the first quarter of 2016, after construction bids have gone out. The building would be about 60,000 sqft. and there are no cost projections yet. “We have a few tenants interested, but they are waiting until price details are more concrete,” said Scott Luth, CEO of Florida West.
HOLIDAY INN EXPRESS
Further down the road than many of these projects but still exciting for tourism is the Holiday Inn Express, which received approval for a building permit at the Aug. 20, 2015 Architectural Review Board meeting. The five-story building would be built at 101 E. Main St. and be the largest hotel in the downtown area. “They will be required to come back before the ARB for final brick sample, landscaping, window detail and any exterior lighting changes,” said Vernon Stewart, public information officer for the City of Pensacola. “We are not sure when construction will begin but Building Inspections reports they have submitted plans, received comments from the City and we are now awaiting their revisions. Once the revisions are received and approved they will be able to begin construction.” According to the project’s architects, construction should take about a year and the hotel should be open to tourists visiting downtown sometime in 2016.
EAST HILL PUBLIX
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ECUA PROPERTY Much further out than any of the proposed or in-progress projects is downtown’s longtime wildcard, the old Emerald Coast Utilities Authority (ECUA) property on Main St. The land was once home to a 70-year-old sewage plant, which closed in March 2011. The property, located across from Maritime Park and near City Hall, remained for sale for a while until Quint Studer purchased it for $5.2 million in early 2015. “We definitely see it as a function of connectivity between downtown and west Pensacola,” said Andrew Rothfeder, president of Studer Properties. “It could connect Maritime Park with the Belmont area and the Westside.” According to Rothfeder, the Studer Properties staff is playing around with many different ideas, concepts that mix art and science and are responsive to the market downtown. “We just have to do our research first,” said Rothfeder when asked how long until a plan is in place. “We want to develop a process that has reasonable expectations. Magic happens when expectations and reality line up, and we’re still waiting for that alignment.”
In 2013, Jim White bought the A.V. Clubbs School property on East Cervantes between 11th and 12 Avenue for $3 million. Shortly after, it was announced that a Publix grocery would replace the current building. The East Hill Publix will front Cervantes and be about two-thirds the traditional store size, or about 28,000 sqft. This Publix answers the long-lasting call for a mainstream downtown grocer to meet the needs of East Hill and North Hill in a healthy, meaningful way. Demolition of the current school building began in October, with construction slated to start in early 2016 for an early 2017 grand opening.
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RESTORING GULF COAST
the
The Gulf Coast has come a long way in repairing the damage done by the Deepwater Oil explosion that caused oil to ripple through the Gulf of Mexico in 2010, creating an unchecked flow of oil that seeped into our coastal waters for three months to form the largest offshore oil spill in the United States. However, five years after the spill, Escambia County and other Gulf Coast regions are still working to improve the conditions of our environment, economy and infrastructure. On July 6, 2012 the President signed into law the Resources and Ecosystems Sustainability, Tourist Opportunities, and Revived Economics of the Gulf Coast States (RESTORE) Act, which was the first step to restoring our coastal home and habitat. A few months later, the Escambia Board of County Commissioners (BCC) adopted a resolution to establish the RESTORE Advisory Committee (RAC) on Oct. 18, 2012. The RAC consists of nine members including chair Bentina Terry and vice-chair Alan McMillan, as well as Gregg Beck, Tammy Bohannon, Susan Carleton, Alvin Coby, Michelle Inere, Donald McMahon, III, Christian Wagley, John Soule, and Courtney Peterson. Each member assumes a position that represents a different aspect of our community. Two members act within unrestricted at-large positions, while one member takes a position that represents the City of Pensacola. The remaining six members represent respectively the Escambia County financial industry, business community, transportation, government, local environmental advocacy organizations, and citizens at large. In October of 2014, the US Treasury became responsible for issuing compliance and auditing procedures for the entire RESTORE
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Photo by Patrick Kelley
Act. Before funds can be received by Escambia County they must first go through a scoring and review process, and the county must develop a MultiYear Implementation Plan (MYIP), which must be submitted to and approved by the US Treasury. The purpose of the RAC is to develop a plan, solicit public input in the form of online project portal submissions and public reviews of the MYIP. Additionally, the members set goals for Escambia County’s use of any funds received from the RESTORE Act. The Committee is also tasked with reviewing projects before submitting recommendations to the BCC for consideration. To aid in the project scoring process, Escambia County hired a consulting agency called Dewberry to provide the committee with a technical review as well as a resource for comparing projects. Projects are scored according to eligibility, impact, success, sustainability, budget, and achievability. As of Oct. 5, a total of 123 projects had been submitted for scoring on the online portal on the RESTORE Advisory Committee’s website. However, not all projects that are submitted are guaranteed funding. All submittals must be within the 11 eligible activities as outlined within the RESTORE Act. The 11 eligible activities are those that fall within the following nonexhaustive categories: restoration and protection of the natural resources and ecosystems of the Gulf Coast region, mitigation of damage to wildlife and natural resources, implementation of a federally approved marine or comprehensive conservation management plan, workforce development and job creation, improvements to or on state parks located in coastal areas affected by Deepwater Horizon oil spill, infrastructure projects benefitting the economy or ecological resources,
“THERE ARE A GREAT DEAL OF PEOPLE WHO CARE ABOUT PENSACOLA AND HOW THIS MONEY IS GOING TO BE SPENT, AND THEY HAVE MADE THE PROJECT REVIEWING PROCESS BETTER.”
coastal flood protection and related infrastructure, planning assistance, administrative costs of complying with this subsection, promotion of tourism in the Gulf Coast region, as well as promotion of consumption of seafood harvested from the Gulf Coast region. The Committee will begin evaluating projects beginning Oct. 20 for the Transocean settlement of $10.6 million. “The public has been awesome,” said Bentina Terry, chair of RESTORE Advisory Committee. “There are a great deal of people who care about Pensacola and how this money is going to be spent, and they have made the project reviewing process better. We’ll evaluate what we have now and make our recommendations to the BCC and, for people really interested, they should follow that. If they’re interested in making an impact on where RESTORE funding goes, they should get engaged and ensure BCC does what the people and that includes downtown advocates.” Escambia County receives the largest allocation of RESTORE funds out of all Gulf Coast areas affected by the oil spill, including 23 counties in
Florida. This year, Escambia County has been allocated $69 million to the RESTORE Pot 1, which will be distributed to the county over the course of 15 years. The county will not receive the money as one lump sum, but as a stipend that changes each year according to the needs of the community determined by the assessment of submitted projects. The money comes from both the BP litigation settlement of $59 million and the Transocean settlement of $10.6 million. For those who may not recall, Transocean is the company that constructed and operated the Deepwater Horizon oil rig. Escambia County is expected to receive a total of over $75 million between Pot 1 through Pot 3 RESTORE funding alone, but additional funding is possible since Escambia was listed as a category 2 (likely to receive funding in the future). Money for RESTORE is further distributed between five “pots,” or additional sources of money allocated to restore our community beyond damages from the oil spill.
A BRIEF HISTORY OF RESTORE Apr. 20, 2010 – Deepwater Horizon exploded, creating the largest offshore oil spill in the US July 6, 2012 – President signed into law the Resources and Ecosystems Sustainability, Tourist Opportunities, and Revived Economies of the Gulf Coast States (RESTORE) Act Oct. 18, 2012 – Escambia County Board of Commissioners adopted resolution to establish RESTORE Advisory Committee Oct. 14, 2014 – US Treasury became responsible for issuing compliance and auditing procedures for the entire RESTORE Act July 1 – Sept. 30, 2015 – Online project portal for public submissions opened in July and closed in September Oct. 20, 2015 – RESTORE Advisory Committee will begin evaluating submitted projects for the Transocean settlement of $10.6 million. Aug. 5, 2016 – Escambia County reviews and resubmits Multi-Year Implementation Plan for approval by US Treasury nwflbusinessclimate.com | Business Climate | 25
Photo by Patrick Kelley
There are a few misconceptions about RESTORE funding and the money received by RESTORE from the BP oil spill. RESTORE is not the only oil spill funding source in Escambia County. There are private claims awarded to assist people or businesses that were directly harmed by the oil spill, as well as a tourism promotion funding source that issues grants to revitalize affected tourism organizations with local tourism promotion knowledge and experience. Then there’s funding that goes to National Resource Damage Assessment (NRDA) and National Fish and Wildlife Foundation (NFWF). Grants are issued to NRDA to repair environmental damages and lack of use as a result of the oil spill, and grants are awarded to NFWF to boost population of VARIOUS affected and at-risk species fish and wildlife. FUNDING The RESTORE Act established the Gulf Coast SOURCES Restoration Trust Fund to receive penalty dollars collected TO from responsible parties associated with the BP oil spill. RECTIFY Bentina Terry used a helpful analogy to explain how BP oil spill funding gets allocated between the five major fundDAMAGES ing sources: Private claims, tourism promotion, NRDA, CAUSED NFWF, and RESTORE. BY THE “If you got into a car accident and you were driving BP OIL drunk,” explained Terry. “You get a ticket and pay the SPILL county a fine or penalty, as a form of restitution for breaking the law. Furthermore, if it was determined you had beer, you’d incur additional fees for committing the crime of driving drunk. If you also hit a tree on personal property, then you pay for damages to the tree. Additionally, if you injure a person you’d have to pay that individual. The money that goes to Escambia County is the actual fines, or penalties, BP agreed to pay for breaking the law (running the red light). Other funding sources receive money based on fees or damages caused related to nature of spill.” In other words, each funding source receives money for the specific damages BP has agreed to pay, which include damages to persons and businesses, as well as the environment and economy of Escambia County. Here’s the breakdown: the money RESTORE receives are from the criminal charges BP agreed to pay for breaking the law (running the red light). On the other hand, the money given to the private claims funding source would be the fines BP paid for damages to an individual or business (injuring a person). The money that NFWF received comes from BP’s agreement to pay criminal charges (driving drunk). NRDA receives funding from BP’s agreement to pay for damages to the environment (hitting a tree). “If you’re looking at opportunities for downtown,”
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said Wilkins. “So much of RESTORE’s proposed projects are taking advantage of BP’s flow of funds and working to improve infrastructure downtown, improve floodwater handling, and improve quality of water. But the projects go beyond natural resources, and aim to make improvements in workforce and economic development, port infrastructure, and broadband availability for internet connectivity and speed downtown.” Other proposed projects in Downtown Pensacola that will be evaluated if they meet the eligible activity and scoring criteria include a Pensacola MESS Hall new facility planning grant, Maritime sports tourism development project, Maritime heritage and natural trail, Seville harbor breakwater, Veteran Memorial Park improvements, and electrifying the ferry system (speculated
FUNDING SOURCE
to start in Downtown Pensacola and carry passengers over to Pensacola Beach). These projects include those submitted by Escambia County residents. “There’s lot of things RESTORE funding can do for Downtown Pensacola like dealing flooding issues,” said Terry, recalling last year’s flood in April when the city received more than 24 inches of rain in 24 hours. “These funds are a great way to fix big issues we have that we wouldn’t be able to fix otherwise. Personally, I want to look for projects that are going to change the face of Pensacola not just put a little band-aid or do something we honestly could have done without the funds. I’d like to look for projects that are evolutionary for Pensacola. This is a one-time opportunity for us to do things that are transformative for our community.”
DEFINITION
Private Claims
Claims awarded to assist people or businesses that were directly harmed by the oil spill.
Tourism Promotion
Grants issued to revitalize affected tourism to organizations with local tourism promotion knowledge and experience.
NRDA
Grants issued to repair environmental damages and lack of use from the oil spill.
NFWF
Grants awarded to boost populations of affected fish and wildlife, focusing on the most at-risk species.
RESTORE
Monies specifically allocated to affected areas to restore communities beyond damages from the oil spill.
Pot 1
A non-competitive allocation to Escambia County to address environmental, economic, infrastructure and other needs of the community under 11 RESTORE eligible activities.
Pot 2
A competitive allocation to the Gulf Council that would restore and protect the natural resources, ecosystems, fisheries, marine and wildlife habitats, beaches, coastal wetlands, and economy of the Gulf Coast
Pot 3
A competitive allocation to the affected states where projects must contribute to economic or environmental recovery of the Gulf.
Pot 4 & 5
Monies for research and monitoring.
Pensacola’s Local NewsTalk Station
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HISTORIC PENSACOLA How the UWF Historic Trust is engaging visitors and bringing the past to life. By Kelly Oden
Opening photo by Guy Stevens
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The National Trust for Historic Preservation defines cultural heritage tourism as the act of traveling to experience the places and activities that authentically represent the stories and people of the past and present. These places can include historic, cultural and natural resources. The heritage traveler is a unique and sought after demographic because they travel more frequently, stay longer and spend more money. According to a 2003 U.S. cultural traveler study by the Travel Association of America, 81 percent of the 146.4 million U.S. adults who took a trip of 50 miles or
more away from home can be considered cultural and heritage tourists. The cultural heritage tourist spent $623 on average per party, per visit while the general traveler spent $454. Cultural heritage tourists spent four nights per trip while general travelers spent 3.2 on average and cultural heritage tourists had 2.2 people in the party versus 2.1 for general tourists. Roughly 62 percent of all cultural heritage tourists stayed in a hotel while 55 percent of general travelers stayed in a hotel. Based on this data, the average U.S. cultural heritage traveler spends 1.36 times as much per party, stays 1.53 times as long at the destination and
has 1.04 times as many people in the party as general traveler. The calculated per-person daily expenditures for the cultural heritage traveler are 1.04 times higher than the general traveler. These economic benefits are not the only reason why heritage tourism is good for communities. Heritage tourism helps promote civic pride and preserve a community’s unique character. A vibrant heritage tourism market also makes room for more recreational activities for locals such as expanded dining options, entertainment, shopping and more. This data combined with the fact that cultural heritage travel is considered one of the fastest growing segments of the tourism industry, appealing to both baby boomers and millennials, bodes extremely well for Pensacola, the oldest non-continuous settlement in the United States. With a rich array of cultural and historic experiences going back over 450 years, Pensacola’s unique history is often cited as a top reason for travelers’ decisions to visit. And, while historic sites such as Fort Pickens, the Pensacola Lighthouse and the Naval Aviation Museum are outside of the downtown area, the vast majority of our earliest history lies within the 44 blocks that define historic Downtown Pensacola. Many of these properties sat in neglect for decades until 1967 when a group of concerned citizens, local preservation groups and state officials helped to restore and protect these vital community assets. This group became a preservation board that operated until the early 2000s. In 2001, the University
of West Florida stepped up to manage the preservation and programming for what is now called the UWF Historic Trust, which includes Historic Pensacola. Historic Pensacola consists of 28 properties in the Pensacola National Register Historic District. Eleven of these properties are interpreted facilities that are open to the public such as, the Pensacola Children’s Museum, the T.T. Wentworth, Jr. Florida State Museum, and Historic Pensacola Village, which offers tours and a number of educational programs, including a living history program in which costumed guides welcome visitors into Historic Pensacola Village, sharing early colonial life-ways and offering various programs highlighting Spanish Colonial Pensacola. Historic Pensacola Village is located on the site of a later 18th century Spanish fort, Fort San Miguel--what would become modern downtown Pensacola.
AVERAGE VISITOR TO ESCAMBIA COUNTY Average age: 41 Average household income: $81,768 Average length of stay: 7 days Average total spending during stay: $1,127 Source: Visit Pensacola’s Destination 2020 Report nwflbusinessclimate.com | Business Climate | 29
we have in terms of all of our locations. We need to focus that experience to make sure it is a good one.” Other potential changes include expanded operating hours, night and weekend programming, and augmented reality experiences. Augmented reality allows visitors to see digital mapping of historic sites on handheld devices so that visitors can see what was there before. The Trust unveiled its interpretive plan on Oct. 20 at the Museum of Commerce. The Trust’s annual report also shows a growing interest in the historic culture and properties in Downtown Pensacola. Historic Pensacola’s visitor rates are growing year by year. The downtown properties hosted 115,304 visitors in the 2014-15 fiscal year, approximately 11,291 of those were school children. In addition, another Trust property, Milton’s Arcadia Mill, hosted 6,900 visitors. The organization has a full time staff of 19, a part time staff of 15 to 20, and about 40 volunteers. In
2014-15, there were a total of about 4,120 volunteer hours served. Many of the properties serve as venues for Trust events and are available for private rentals. In the 2014-2015 fiscal year a total of 302 special events were held at Trust properties. Pensacola is a city rich in history, and much of that history centers on Pensacola’s historic, waterfront downtown district. No doubt the expanded efforts of the UWF Historic Trust will have a positive impact on quality of life and tourism growth in our area for years to come.
HISTORIC DOWNTOWN CAMPUS
ARCADIA MILL
Education and School Tour Attendees Schools - Various Counties 10,774 Private Groups 517 Total 11,291
Education and School Tour Attendees Schools - Various Counties 1,200
Site Visitors Historic Pensacola Village Special Events Total
Site Visitors Arcadia Mill Archeological Site 5,500 Lecture Series 200 Total 5,700 Total Visitors 6,900
Wentworth will be inviting, attracting visitors and passers-by to enter. People will be represented by statues, and graphically in the windows as a reminder that history is about people.
The Trust recently completed an interpretative master plan in order to create a unified brand and guide the development of the museums and sites. Robert Overton, Jr., executive director of UWF Historic Trust, also wanted the study to help “transform the public perception of what Historic Pensacola is.” To achieve this goal, the Trust hired Haley Sharpe Design, a consulting firm that has worked with the Smithsonian, Jamestown, the Alamo and the Museum of the Americas. The firm worked with museum staff to develop a number of exciting changes and additions to enrich the site and how it is interpreted. Their recommendations include improved signage, shaded seating with interpretive exhibits or signs, shade coverings for archeological dig sites and enhanced entryways for the Museum of Commerce and the T.T. Wentworth, Jr. Museum. These updates will serve to tie the Trust’s properties together in order to create a single interpretive experience for visitors. “We have multiple stories to tell,” says Overton. “What stories are we telling and how can we better tell them? We’ve got to look at ways to make the properties that we manage, which include buildings and green spaces, work harder to help tell the story.” One of the projects Overton and his team wanted was to create a “front porch” of sorts for Historic Pensacola. Overton sees the T.T. Wentworth as that point of entry. “It’s a visual icon,” says Overton. “People know the building and we can do a better job of getting people in there and once they are in there, giving them a better overview of what
69,978 34,065 104,013
Total Visitors 115,304
Locating spots throughout the Site, where people can get out of the sun and have a rest, provides additional opportunities for visitors to reflect on the history and archaeology surrounding them.
ARCADIA MILL
The facilities need a common look that identifies them as being a part of the interpretive experience, angled structures and panels shaped like the fort could be used for this purpose.
FOUNTAIN BARKLEY PARK HOUSE 10
120
TOTAL VOLUNTEER HOURS
4,120
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EDUCATION RESEARCH, VOLUNTEERS LIBRARY, COLLECTIONS
1,923
2,077
TOTAL EVENTS
302
OLD CHRIST CHURCH
VOICES OF 100 PENSACOLA 75 MUSEUM OF COMMERCE
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UWF HISTORIC TRUST PROPERTIES Museum of Commerce 201 E. Zaragoza St. Inside this brick turn-of-the-century warehouse is a reconstructed 1890s era streetscape. On exhibit are historic shops featuring toys, hardware, music, household and leather goods. A print shop exhibit contains one of the most complete collections of antique presses and type in the Southeast. An interesting collection of horse-drawn buggies is also part of this nostalgic recreation of yesteryear’s commerce.
Lear/Rocheblave House 214 E. Zaragoza St. An example of two-story Folk Victorian architecture, its spacious rooms and delicate jig sawed porches recall a time when large families lived near Seville Square. Although it was built in 1890 for John and Kate Lear, they never lived in the house. The Captain Benito Rocheblave family owned and lived in the house for many years during the turn-ofthe-century.
Tivoli High House 205 E. Zaragoza St. Reconstructed for the bicentennial in 1976 from photographic and archaeological evidence, the original Tivoli House, 1805, was once a boarding and gaming house. To the east of the original structure was a large octagonal theatre and ballroom that served as a meeting place for early Pensacolians. The first floor of the Tivoli House serves as the gift shop and ticket office for Historic Pensacola Village.
Old Christ Church 405 S. Adams St. Completed in 1832, Old Christ Church is one of the oldest surviving church buildings in Florida, serving the Pensacola community as an Episcopal Church, public library and museum. The building was also occupied by Federal troops during the Civil War. Today, it continues to serve the public by operating as a museum, special event facility and meeting hall.
Manuel Barrios Cottage 207 E. Zaragoza St. The pyramidal roof Gulf Coast cottage, built around 1888, was once a common sight in Pensacola. Often these small houses had only two rooms, which were rented separately. Today this simple cottage displays the fascinating history of the “Roaring Twenties” in Pensacola.
Dorr House 311 S. Adams St. Built in 1871 by Clara Barkley Dorr, the Dorr house is an example of Greek Revival architecture in West Florida. The Dorr House represents a Victorian era family in Pensacola after the Civil War. During this time, Pensacola was undergoing an economic boom, with prosperity achieved in part through a thriving lumbering industry. It is the best-preserved example of post Civil War Classical Revival architecture in the Pensacola Historic District.
Museum of Industry 200 E. Zaragoza St. The Museum of Industry plays an integral role in UWF Historic Trust’s museum complex and showcases some of Pensacola’s best-known industries: lumbering, brick making, commercial fishing, railroads and the port. These industries enabled Pensacola to grow from a sleepy frontier garrison town into a thriving commercial center during the 19th century.
The Pensacola Children’s Museum 115 E. Zaragoza St. The Pensacola Children’s Museum is located in the Arbona Building at 115 East Zaragoza Street. It is a hands-on exploration of Pensacola history for ages 2 to 13. The Discovery Gallery on the first floor is a handson exploration of Pensacola’s colonial history. The second floor explores Pensacola’s military, maritime, industrial, multicultural, Native American, and Civil War history.
Julee Cottage 210 E. Zaragoza St. Built around 1805, the Julee Cottage is an early example of platform frame construction. It presently displays a “saltbox” shape, built to the sidewalk with no front porch, but cut-off roof joists at the south wall suggest the building once had an overhang. Its construction is reminiscent of the Creole cottages of the New Orleans French Quarter and it is the only surviving form of this urban Creole architecture in Pensacola.
T.T. Wentworth, Jr. Florida State Museum 330 S. Jefferson St. This elaborate Renaissance Revival building was the height of architectural fashion when it was built as Pensacola’s City Hall in 1907. Its symmetrical design is graced with wide overhanging eaves, a red tile roof, an arched entry porch, and a second-story arcade. The museum houses a treasure trove of artifacts displaying West Florida’s rich heritage.
Lavalle House 205 E. Church St. An example of French Creole colonial architecture, the Lavalle House was built in 1805 during Florida’s second Spanish period by Carlos Lavalle and Marianna Bonifay. The house is furnished with authentic 18th and 19th century artifacts, recreating the frontier lifestyle of Pensacola in the early 19th century.
Voices of Pensacola presented by Gulf Power 117 E. Government St. In 2014, the UWF Historic Trust opened “Voices of Pensacola,” a multicultural resource center highlighting the city’s diverse history. Voices of Pensacola features dynamic multifunctional exhibits representative of the cultural groups that have shaped Pensacola’s history. nwflbusinessclimate.com | Business Climate | 31
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WE HAVE MULTIPLE STORIES TO TELL,” SAYS OVERTON. “WHAT STORIES ARE WE TELLING AND HOW CAN WE BETTER TELL THEM? WE’VE GOT TO LOOK AT WAYS TO MAKE THE PROPERTIES THAT WE MANAGE, WHICH INCLUDE BUILDINGS AND GREEN SPACES, WORK HARDER TO HELP TELL THE STORY.”
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ARE YOU READY FOR SOME DOWNTOWN FOOTBALL?
AFTER YEARS OF PLANNING AND EVEN MORE YEARS OF WAITING, COLLEGE FOOTBALL IS FINALLY READY TO BECOME A REALITY FOR PENSACOLA. THE UNIVERSITY OF WEST FLORIDA HAS ALREADY LAUNCHED ITS DIVISION II PROGRAM, WITH GAMES SET TO BEGIN IN 2016. THE INFRASTRUCTURE IS IN PLACE, TICKETS HAVE BEEN SOLD, AND UNIFORMS ARE READY. BUT WHAT WILL BE THE IMPACT BE FOR DOWNTOWN, THE LOCATION OF GAMES FOR THE FIRST COUPLE YEARS? DAWN GRESKO LOOKS AT THE PLAYBOOK, WITH PHOTOS BY BILL STOCKLAND. Although the official football season for the University of West Florida (UWF) Argonauts does not begin until fall of 2016, the UWF Athletics Department has already begun working on the 25-year master plan for UWF football, which includes building a football stadium and additional athletic facilities on campus. In the meantime, until the campus stadium is constructed, the Argonauts will be playing all home games at the Bayfront stadium in Downtown Pensacola. “One of the benefits of signing on with Bayfront stadium was it took a lot of construction costs out of the equation and pushed those costs off into the future,” said Dave Scott, UWF athletics director. “Obviously one day we want to be able to play on campus, but right now what we’re building are practice fields and we’re clearing infrastructure for the facility that would house not only football locker rooms and meeting rooms, but athletic training areas for all of our student athletes.” Although the Bayfront stadium has only been host to baseball games up until this point, the stadium was designed to be flexible for either football or baseball games. The field will be altered so that it runs down to the third baseline and a good way into the infield. The fence will extend to the left field, so it becomes a full length football field (100 yards) within the stadium. Bleachers will be set up in the outfield to create a football venue that 34 | Business Climate | nwflbusinessclimate.com
runs parallel to the third baseline. The Hancock Club will still be used as a President’s Box, and a lot of the original stands will be used for seating. The cost for what the team has dubbed “Phase 1A,” which includes the construction of practice fields and a facility for locker and meeting rooms as well as training areas, is at $6.4 million and the team hopes to have construction completed in February of 2016 before the inaugural season starts. The team is looking at a budget of $1.5 million for the inaugural 2016 season. Part of the budget will be split between salaries for players and staff, travel expenses, and scholarships. The largest portion will go toward scholarships, and the team hopes to progressively increase the number of scholarships it offers. Division II can offer up to 36 scholarships per team. Last year, UWF Athletics Department offered 14 scholarships and next year there will be a total of 28 scholarships to give to student athletes. The team has a total of 104 student athletes. Four are from our own Pensacola community, and others hail from areas of Florida, Alabama, Mississippi, Texas, Missouri, Virginia and North Carolina. The Argos unveiled their new, official uniforms on Aug. 17 of this year. Although the team does not break down the budget according to how much it costs to fund
Sept. 5, 2013 – University of West Florida’s President Bense confirmed plan to start UWF football in 2016 Sept. 18, 2013 – UWF reached an agreement with CMPA to play football at Bayfront stadium Jan. 31, 2014 – UWF named Pete Shinnick as first football headcoach Sept. 9, 2014 – The Burrs donated $770,000 to UWF, $250,000 of which went to UWF football Aug. 10, 2015 – UWF Football Kickoff event and fundraiser held at Seville Quarter Aug. 17, 2015 – UWF unveils first official football uniforms Sept. 12, 2015 – UWF football’s first instrasquad scrimmage at University Park Field Sept. 3, 2016 – Start of UWF football’s inaugural 2016 season
“The Wahoos have done a great job providing an awesome entertainment experience at Bayfront stadium. We want to work with them to do the same for UWF football and bring additional people to the downtown community.
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to offer scholarships to student athletes. Aside from Florida Tech, UWF is the only other Division II school with football in Florida. On the Division II level, teams typically bring in an annual revenue of $250,000 to $500,000 from corporate sponsors, ticket sales, and revenue from boosters. This excludes the additional revenue from team merchandise sold at the UWF Bookstore. The team aims to have a vendor selling team merchandise at next year’s official games. The team will announce its sponsors once they move into the stadium next year. Florida Tech, the other Division II team in Florida, generated $40,000 from merchandise alone that was sold at their first game in 2013. UWF Argos intend on signing with a company to become their official representative and provide merchandising at next year’s games for similar, if not equal, earnings in merchandise sales. Aside from the additional equipment needed to play at the Bayfront, since the stadium has only been
The uniforms will feature four different combinations for home and away, with the primary home uniform featuring a royal blue jersey with white pants and the primary away uniform featuring a white jersey with grey pants.
each player, each kelly-green and royal-blue Argonaut uniform cost $1,275 to fund. For a team of 104, you’re looking at a price of $132,600 to fund uniforms for all players. The cost of uniforms includes materials, helmets, safety padding and design. The Argos football team has also received a great deal of support and aid from the community. At the UWF Football Founders Kickoff event at Seville Square in August, 100 uniforms were purchased by attendees at $1,275 each. Uniforms were sold out, funded without taking money away from the team’s budget for next year. Currently, the team is in the process of a Locker Initiative, or a fundraiser for a new locker room. The team is looking to sell at least 120 lockers at $1,500 each. The lockers are 25 to 30 percent sold already. All donations are helping the team move forward and toward a successful 2016 season. In addition to fundraising events, the team has received monetary gifts from those within the Pensacola community. The Burr family made a generous donation of $250,000 toward a new athletic facility on campus, which will be designed with athletic training and strength conditioning programs in mind. Eric Nicholson and his wife made a donation of $50,000 toward the new athletic program, as well. The UWF Argonauts, more popularly known by Argos for short, are classified as an NCAA Division II team. In other words, the team is in the intermediate-level division of competition and it is part of the NCAA college division. Division II prides itself on being able 36 | Business Climate | nwflbusinessclimate.com
equipped for baseball games, the team will be paying to rent the stadium for the five home games scheduled in 2016. “We have a contract with the NPA for basically $5,000 per game that we play at Bayfront stadium,” said Dave Scott. “There’s also a standard $1 per ticket
charge. Then we figure about $15,000 in fees for staffing.” When you do the math, the cost for the team to play at Bayfront stadium is roughly $10,000 per game. The costs goes up to $25,000 if you count the additional $15,000 for staffing. “A typical Division II game will pull about 3,100 people,” said Dave Scott. “The Gulf Coast Conference pulls about 5,100 people. We’re at the lower end of what we can provide attendance wise at Bayfront stadium, so there will be a challenge getting people into the stadium. We know we’ll overflow into the parking lots and amphitheater, but we think that’s going to create a nice opportunity for downtown businesses and people excited about games on Saturdays.” Not only is the new football team bringing in additional revenue for UWF, but, because of games at the Bayfront stadium, the team is bringing additional opportunities for downtown establishments to increase revenue from increased foot traffic on weekends. At least 5,100 pairs of feet will be traversing the downtown areas on game nights, which is good news for nearby restaurants and shops that will surely be hit before and/ or after games. If the team makes the playoffs, then that will mean additional games and revenue for Downtown Pensacola.
The team held its first scrimmage at UWF on Sept. 12 and drew a whopping total of 750 people who cheered on the football players from the sidelines. If the first scrimmage is any indication of what attendance will be like at the official games next season, then the team is already a fifth of the way toward filling the 5,100 seats at Bayfront stadium. On the topic of scrimmages, four more will be played this fall with three played on campus at University Park Field. On Oct. 17 there was a special scrimmage hosted at Bayfront stadium, a precursor to the first home game to be held at the stadium next September. The scrimmage at Bayfront stadium was what Dave Scott referred to as a “dry run.” “Maritime Park is there but we’ll have to adjust it to football,” explained Dave Scott. “The dry run gave us the chance to change and observe logistics such as the equipment we’ll need on field. We’ll also develop plans for transporting it all to downtown for next year. It’s not the same experience that we’ll have next year when we’re prepared, but we’re really just trying to work out any kinks in the system so we’ll be ready to go for our inaugural season.” Essentially, scrimmages create an opportunity for players to have a game environment before the official season begins, so they are used to a play being called.
Tickets for the inaugural season are already on sale and the team strongly suggests buying tickets now, since they are already being reserved for boosters, players and athletics staff. There were roughly 1,200 boosters for all UWF sports last year, and 40 percent of boosters bought tickets. The average number of tickets bought per purchase is four. If at least 500 people (250 less than the crowd drawn to the first scrimmage) buy four tickets each, that’s already 2,000 less seats available at the stadium. That’s not considering the team also reserves four tickets for each student athlete, as well as for other UWF alumni. Currently, season tickets are on sale at $250 for the Dugout Club, $115 for Blue Level, $95 for Green Level, and $70 for Silver Level. “The Wahoos have done a great job providing an awesome entertainment experience at Bayfront stadium,” said Dave Scott. “We want to work with them to do the same for UWF football and bring additional people to the downtown community.”
Maritime Park laid out for UWF Argonauts football games.
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Downtown continues to evolve, offering a different experience for every demographic that visits its roughly three square-miles. As it shifts, government has had to adjust, sometimes proactively and sometimes reactively. The result is usually pretty, sometimes unseemly, but always uniquely Pensacola. We wanted to look at the process and talk to the highest ranking local officials about how the sausage gets made. Because at the end of the day, we are Pensacola, and those officials answer to us.
Downtown is growing a lot and continuing to grow. With increased residential, tourist and industrial traffic, how does our infrastructure continue to support that?
Downtown Roundtable Josh Newby speaks with Mayor Ashton Hayward, Pensacola City Councilman Brian Spencer, and Downtown Improvement Board Executive Director Ron Butlin about downtown’s economic diversity, liveability in the area, Gallery Night’s challenges and successes, and the role
Hayward: Well I like to think about parking. Used to be, people were worried about parking and where to find a parking spot. But now the cultural vibrancy of downtown has shifted so much that people aren’t so much worried about parking. They want a reservation at the restaurant they’re going to. So infrastructure is incredibly important. We pave roads, we pick up the trash, we cut the grass. That’s something we think about everyday at City Hall. Where are we going to find the funding? That’s obviously via revenue from taxes. But the more people that come downtown, you’re going to have more crowding on the streets. And we’re an old city. But as more people come downtown, they’re also paying more in taxes so we have the revenue to maintain the infrastructure. It’s a good problem to have, to have that many people coming downtown and wanting to visit your retail and restaurants and parks. We are going to have to focus in on that problem. When you look at funding infrastructure, it’s more ad valorem taxes when people live downtown and come downtown. The more people come down here and invest in the community, obviously there’s a return for the government. And that’s what the government’s responsibility is.
of government in private development. What do you feel the government’s role is in fostering economic growth and diversity? Hayward: When I ran for office in 2010, we preached that downtown is the hub of any community. If you have a dead community, you have a dead city. Cities across America nwflbusinessclimate.com | Business Climate | 39
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Beautification is one of the most important things we can do as a community. People always say that we need jobs, but if your city is not attractive aesthetically, people are not going to come here.
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have collapsed. So we want to create that energy and vibrancy with the Downtown Improvement Board (DIB) to get people down here. The private sector has really stepped up in a major way. But from the government’s standpoint, you have to have a government that’s ready and willing to embrace business. I have to be supporting people who want to come downtown. One of the things I did immediately was beg people to move their businesses to downtown Pensacola. I mean, there’s no retail space left right now on Palafox between Garden and Main. We encouraged it from a government’s standpoint. Downtown is the hub. It is the heart. They’re working here, they’re living here more than ever. So our local government needs to make it as easy as possible in the private sector to make investments, pull permits, etc. Our goal is to make it as customer service-oriented as possible. Butlin: I look at the government as really being responsible for setting the stage and removing barriers. Encouragement is key. We don’t necessarily do anything, but we have a responsibility for the infrastructure, cleanliness and really setting that stage so people want to be here. Hayward: Diversity is really important, too. If we bring people to this community now, they’re completely wowed. People love to visit downtown, have great meals, go shopping, see a show, and go down to the beach. That diverse element is incredibly important. In the last five years, we’ve really seen different demographics join this town from senior citizens to families to young people. It’s really cool to see the diversity that I often witness. The culture shifted faster than anyone expected, but that’s because you have these cheerleaders for downtown. That’s what we do each and every day. Spencer: Setting the stage is saying it well. Our
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Our role should be to optimize the venue that serves as the backdrop for the private sector to manifest their vision. Their vision can include retail, restaurants, a solution for housing, whatever.
Encouragement is key. We have a responsibility for the infrastructure, cleanliness and really setting that stage so people want to be here.
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The Rex Theatre reopened in 2015 after being closed for more than 20 years.
Photo by Guy Stevens
role should be to optimize the venue that serves as the backdrop for the private sector to manifest their vision. Their vision can include retail, restaurants, a solution for housing, whatever. What we recognize is we are in the competition of attraction. We’re in the attraction industry. If you don’t embrace that as a reality, you will lose in that competition. We can do everything to make the context more attractive for investors. Butlin: The city is our product. That’s what we sell. Spencer: Create a context of confidence. That context can expand to not only mean the physical environment, but also the procedural and process environment. Our reputation that we want to gain is that we are hyper customer-friendly. Hayward: I think people feel that, too. You’re seeing overwhelming confidence from the private sector and there’s a lot of big things to talk about.
In what ways would you like to see processes and procedures for development and standards consistency improve? Spencer: Consistency. You have to establish a pattern or a methodology that is clearly delineated. Information needs to be reliable in order for you to make the next step’s decision. And we as officials can serve as tour guides to provide a no-barrier access to the lay of the land. And all of that should be a service we can provide with zero resistance.
You mention the no-barrier access. Do you think the City has achieved that, and if not, what can be done to achieve that? Spencer: I think the City has made tremendous progress under Mayor Hayward’s direction by creating a weekly roundtable format in which department directors can participate in the process. That’s a predictable, consistent thing. Access to people who are experienced and accountable is valuable.
Let’s talk about affordable housing, education and walkability downtown. Evenings in Olde Seville, a popular public music event that takes place in Seville Square weekly during the summer, returned in 2013 after a hiatus and change of management. 40 | Business Climate | nwflbusinessclimate.com
Spencer: I suggest that we expand the definition of affordable housing and describe it as a wide variety of housing options.
Well right now we have the more expensive end of those options. But how can we bring that average down a little bit and make housing more accessible to others downtown? Spencer: I think it achievable only through higher density projects due to land values. Butlin: And I think that’s a long-term goal. Downtowns across the country struggle with this concept of family-friendly. Downtowns by their very nature are just not attractive to very young families. They just don’t achieve that. To young people, absolutely. You tend to see the development pattern being young adults with no kids, and then when they get kids they move out of town before coming back when they get a little older. I’d love to change that but in a city our size there’s a lot of other things to tackle first. Spencer: That may be an actual product of a much more heavily populated downtown. Hayward: I think people visit a large metropolitan city that’s heavily dense and they would love to have all that they see there. And you get higher standards, which is great. But do we have the numbers to justify it?
Seville Square is the oldest entertainment venue in downtown, and features rooms for sportswatching, karaokesinging, drinking, live performances and more.
Hayward: I think Gallery Night as an event is very attractive. And we need to keep studying it consistently to make sure we’re making the most of it. We’re doing a lot of good things. We need to continue to raise the bar, though. Beautification is one of the most important things we can do as a community. People always say that we need jobs, but if your city is not attractive aesthetically, people are not going to come here. Businesses want to move to a city that’s very attractive. And that’s one of the things that we push. That’s what sells. The flower beds on Palafox are a great example of a public-private partnership that makes the place more attractive and sells. I think we’ve sold the community on the importance of beautification, so more people will get on that. We can borrow ideas from other cities and say, “We want to do that here, too.”
Is beautification something that government should own or that private business should own?
The Palafox Market brings thousands of people to downtown every Saturday of the year for fresh produce, flowers, fine arts and crafts, herbs, soaps, candles and more.
Hayward: I’m a big believer that private business does not create jobs. Government has a role to help facilitate, but it’s important to have the private sector involved. Having a sponsor is important. It’s more of a private sector deal. The role of government is to make sure it’s as easy as possible for businesses to do their thing. Spencer: I think we have a responsibility
What do you all see as the goal of Gallery Night and is it accomplishing that? Butlin: It’s about what the people want. It’s not something that we said, “It has to be this thing,” and it’s now that thing. In the big picture, the goal has been to expose people to downtown and help create that cool factor that there’s something to do and it’s cool. And try to get people to come spend money downtown, of course. Are there things we can improve? Of course. Gallery Night morphs every single time, then we have to adapt to the changes.
How about the DIB’s role in the facilitation of Gallery Night? Butlin: Well it would simplify my life if we got two or three really big sponsors to kind of close that deal so that we wouldn’t have to address funding month to month.
Do you see the DIB’s role as beautification or promotion? Butlin: They’re very similar. It starts with parking, it starts with cleanliness. We want that to be the case so people come down here and visit the shops, so they’re intimately tied together.
The Pensacola Symphony Orchestra is just one of many organizations that lends downtown a distinctly cultural and big-city aesthetic.
to provide a forum for stakeholders and those responsible for Gallery Night to give us feedback. We need to provide that forum. Gallery Night shouldn’t disproportionately affect a particular sector, positively or negatively. Hayward: You look at the business model and see if we need to adjust it at all or raise the bar. Spencer: The most recent Gallery Night, I was up at 6 am cleaning up unbelievable amounts of trash for a 5K that day. I collected giant containers of alcohol. Butlin: Well, we have guys that come and nwflbusinessclimate.com | Business Climate | 41
clean that stuff up, just not at 6 am. We didn’t realize we had a race coming through. Spencer: If we’re going to have this festivity, then the cleanup crew is going to have to be at 2 am, because people are running and walking, touching and feeling our downtown very early. The collateral damage from the alcohol-centric businesses is substantial and putting an unfair burden on others. The amount of trash versus the amount of manpower is not equal. And the alcohol-centric businesses are not paying their fair share of this monthly burden that makes our downtown look terrific until the aftermath. Hayward: When the demand gets there, the expectation gets higher. We’re going through this growth stage, so it’s very important to get the model down. Other cities have histories of dealing with the revelry that alcohol creates all the time. We’ve got to get everyone around the table and realize it’s not cheap and we need buy-in. Sometimes you got to pay a little more to be a part of the success. Let’s keep the momentum, attractiveness and cleanliness up.
Is this level of revelry consistent with what we want Gallery Night to be? Spencer: Don’t forget the vision was to create a venue that was a destination to expose and introduce people to the downtown streetscape. We wanted to utilize what was an otherwise under utilized public realm. It’s the perfect example of how a street can have a multiuse function. The goal was and still should be to have those storefronts be very permeable and have people migrate in and out. Some of those growing pains include how we enhance the permeability for all establishments so that pedestrians and users don’t use too much of their dollars staying outside of the establishment.
So your issue is not with what Gallery Night has become but with how we deal with the aftermath? Spencer: The transition into the later hours. Butlin: The management has to keep pace with what it’s become. Spencer: And we want to create a setting that is consistent with the vision for the future of downtown, which is much more mixed use and residential. I like to fast forward and think about the Gallery Night of the future and make it compatible with that future vision.
Photo by Dominique Wright
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Butlin: And it’s not just Gallery Night. It’s all events. Hayward: We’ve had this growth of population and events. We want to set up the blueprint for the next administration so it’s all easier to manage. The demand to have events downtown is a good problem to have, because that was one of our goals. But we have to have the right blueprint that’s manageable. Spencer: Right, so that we don’t leave future elected officials with the task of deconstructing things.
How do you feel about walkabiltiy and bikeability downtown? Spencer: The level of incompatibility of biking in our downtown is not Pensacola-unique. Most every city in America is challenged with the trend for fitness, which includes biking, and the reality of vehiculardependent culture. It’s only in cities that are large enough to fund and support infrastructure for mass transportation and remove single vehicles off the road that have an edge on us. Those roadways can then become more cycle-centric. We’re capable of doing it if the public is willing to relax the culture of vehicular dominance. And they would have to be willing to sacrifice some of the road real estate so we could have dedicated facilities for bikes. And I also want to point out that this is one hot and humid climate. It’s a joke to say people want to bike to work. I get frustrated when I’m in these meetings and people shout for more money to help people bike to work. I don’t want my employees showing up in the middle of July for a meeting after they’ve biked to work. You can’t do it. When I talk about cycling, I like to put it in the recreational fitness category. You’re dressed for it and setting aside time to do it. Hayward: It’s a socioeconomics thing. It’s population. It’s the culture that we want to be bikefriendly. The steps that the Council and I have made, like bringing those bike racks downtown, have allowed the public to buy in. People are saying, “Oh, it’s cool to bike now.” The culture is shifting on a lot of fronts and the community in general is slowly getting in. Smart people want to live in a bikeable and walkable community. We believe it, for sure, but we need to educate the public and people that live here to look out for bikers and slow down. You can’t just flip the switch overnight. Spencer: But to get it more walkable, it’s crucial to think about shade with sidewalks. Many cities have that problem. You don’t pave 10 feet of sidewalk if you haven’t figured out how to shade those 10 feet for the hot summer months.
Gallery Night is downtown’s signature event, when large portions of Palafox Street are blocked off for 15,000 people to peruse shops, sample wine, enjoy live music, purchase art, and enjoy the city’s vibrant nightlife 12 nights a year.
What are you most proud of in downtown? Hayward: It’s really a “we” deal. We ran on a platform of creating a great downtown with lots of growth for Pensacola. Councilman Spencer and I have worked hard towards that. People want to feel alive and to see how fast the growth has happened in the last five years, people feel that. You have neighborhoods, healthcare, workspaces and more. We’ve changed that canvas so quickly, where values have gone through the roof in a short amount of time. It’s been a community effort from the beginning. We allowed it to happen freely and we embraced it. We’re becoming this great city in Florida. Spencer: I’d like to remind the Mayor of one of his
Photo by Guy Stevens
For many street performers, Gallery Night exposes them to the highest number of fans both current and potential for the lowest cost.
biggest accomplishments. I personally watched the Mayor inherit the bold vision of his predecessors in the form of transporting one of our largest toxic sites into a public space. He inherited that and he saw an opportunity to take that dream and make it even better. Thanks to the partnership of Quint Studer who realized that the stadium could be even better, he took that park and made it what it is today. That’s his biggest legacy for downtown. Main Street was going to be a high-speed unadorned thoroughfare and he advocated enlarging that water feature and changed it into a beautiful thing. The Mayor recognized how important these things are. Hayward: It was a team effort. It was a $60 million project. Spencer: You pressed pause and said, “Let’s do it right.” Hayward: That retention was going to look like a retention pond, and look what it is today. Main Street was not going to look like that.
Butlin: And that will be catalytic for 50 years. That’s what leadership is. Hayward: As long as we’re serving the public, it’s our fiduciary right to give the public the greatness it deserves. Spencer: I’m proud we were able to participate in the fulfillment of a bold vision authored by others.
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Foo Foo W
Fest
hat’s a Foo Foo? It’s a question that was shared by many in 2014. While the name may still be a source of confusion (it’s a 19th-century shipping term to describe an impromptu musical celebration comprised of seamen), there’s no wondering about what Foo Foo Fest represents. It is a platform for all of Pensacola’s best arts, culture, sports, cuisine, heritage and history to be on display for visitors and residents alike. Foo Foo Fest is also a previously unprecedented collaboration between various governmental, tourism and non-profit entities to market the region as a whole. By Josh Newby
44 | Business Climate | nwflbusinessclimate.com
It all started about 15 years ago, when the now-defunct Arts Council of Northwest Florida, now Arts Culture and Entertainment, Inc. (ACE), decided to lobby on behalf of arts and culture issues in the community for funding from the City, County Commissioners, and chamber of commerce. There was initially hesitance, said ACE board president David Bear, as those entities did not understand the value of an overarching marketing initiative that promoted cultural entities as part of one large tourism package. “There were a lot of individual organizations fighting for their own funding, instead of working together to accomplish a joint goal,” said Bear. “We wanted to promote collaboration and working together in a way that targeted community outreach, instead of just artistic value.” This drive toward umbrella funding and marketing grew alongside downtown Pensacola’s business and cultural renaissance, and slowly people in governmental power began to see the value. It was important, Bear argued, to extend Pensacola’s tourism season from the peak summer beach months to the colder, less busy months toward the end of the calendar. November is also among the prettiest months in Northwest Florida, with less severe temperatures and lots of great events already happening, like the Great Gulf Coast Arts Festival and the Blue Angels homecoming show. The festival’s 12 days also bears significance, as most cultural tourists will leave on a Friday and travel back on a Monday. By making the events start on a Thursday, however, they are able to capture people a day earlier. “The end of the year saw hotel vacancies and slow restaurant business,” said Bear. “But we have so much to offer during those times. We just had to get everyone working together to get it out there.” A lot of Pensacola’s peer and aspirant cities, like Savannah, St. Augustine, Asheville and more, attract millions of cultural tourists each year. Smart marketing, an existing infrastructure, and partnership on the local level drive this strong industry. When the chamber of commerce separated from its tourism development arm to form Visit Pensacola, Bear saw the chance for funding and a facilitator. The Escambia Board of County Commissioners and 25 percent of the previous years’ unused local bed tax made the 12-day festival last year possible. With the $575,000 they created a grant program for Foo Foo Fest events
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We look at where cultural tourists originate, where they want to go, and why they want to go there.”
and hired a marketing and advertising firm to push the event out to key driving-distance locations such as Birmingham, Mobile, Nashville, etc. The first year was a huge success, with over two dozen events sprinkling the calendar from Nov. 6 to 17, 2014. Organizations like Artel Gallery, Ballet Pensacola, Frank Brown Foundation, Pensacola Little Theatre, Pensacola Museum of Art and Pensacola Sports Association received 100 percent funding for the facilitation of an event. In 2015, the grant structure was changed slightly to fund 85 percent of the event costs, in order to ensure that organizations have some existing funding to pledge and skin in the game. “We can also meet a greater demand for programs if we can spread the funding just a little thinner,” said Bear. “More and more people are applying for the grants, so we want to ensure event diversity.” This year, Bear foresees about 25 to 30 events, some of which will receive grants, and some of which will be filed under the Foo Foo banner because they coincide with the dates. The grant process is relatively easy, with a one-page application, cover page and event budget. To not receive money but still have an
event listed alongside the Foo Foo platform, participants must simply go to the foofoofest. com and fill out an application and check a certain category. “We want to have as many events as possible,” said Bear. “We don’t want any daylong gaps without things to do. If you have even a small gap, people may leave.” Bear and his team rely heavily on digital advertising and marketing to make sure Foo Foo Fest is well known in the Southeast. Although they could not gather a lot of data in the first year, they plan to have analysts at some key events in 2015 so that they can adapt their marketing plan for next year likewise. “We look at where cultural tourists originate, where they want to go, and why they want to go there,” said Bear. 2015’s Foo Foo Fest is Nov. 5 through 16. With many previously disparate events occurring in downtown toward the end of the year, the Foo Foo Fest promises to continue being a majorly successful family of celebrations and marketing banner to drive tourists—and their money—to the Pensacola area.
FOO FOO FEST 2014 MARKETING BREAKDOWN
nwflbusinessclimate.com | Business Climate | 45
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