USPS Publication Number 16300
T h is C o m mu n i t y N ewsp a p er is a pu bl ica t ion of E sca m bia-S a n t a Rosa B a r Assoc ia t ion
Se r v i ng t he Fi r st Jud icia l Ci rcu it Section A, Page 1
Vol. 20, No. 50
Visit The Summation Weekly Online: www.summationweekly.com
December 9, 2020
1 Section, 8 Pages
WE ST M A I N M A ST E R PL A N DR AW S I N NATION AL TALEN T & S E T S S I GHT FOR THE FU TU R E by Gina Castro
The West Main Master Plan project is a journey that started to take shape 15 years ago when voters approved a referendum to develop the former JANUARY 15 2020 Trillium property along Pensascola’s waterfront. Since then, the site has seen significant development. This 27.5 acre property, known as Vince J. Whibbs, Sr. Community Maritime Park, features the successful Blue Wahoos Stadium, which was named America’s Best Double-A Ballpark this year, Maritime Place, an amphitheatre, playground and festival grounds. Even after those developments, there were still nine acres left unused. In 2015, Studer Properties purchased the 19-acre Main Street site formerly home to an Emerald Coast Utilities Authority (ECUA) wastewater treatment plant. These large undeveloped parcels of land along Main Street offered endless potential. Studer Properties had many goals for this land, but among the most important were to connect the downtown core to the waterfront and meet the community’s needs. Studer Properties funded a marketability study and master plan to help them discover the most successful uses for the bayfront property. In 2019, DPZ Design and Speck and Associates developed a master plan for the former ECUA site and the maritime parcels, which included a marketability study by Weitzman Associates. The marketability study included analysis of local demographic and economic trends, interviews with stakeholders and business owners and extensive housing market research. There were more than 400 people involved in the study. This study found that there was an overflowing need for downtown housing, positive demographic trends and increased employment growth. So, the West Main Master Plan was created, and the Pensacola City Council adopted it
at the end of 2019. It has been a long time coming for this project, but Studer Properties recently announced its three development teams that will be bringing this vision to fruition. An independent 8-person selection committee reviewed the development proposals and recommended the following three development teams: The Dawson Company & EJ Smith Enterprises, LLC; Edwards Communities Development Company & Silver Hills; and Valencia Hotel Group. All of the selected businesses, aside from The Dawson Company, are based outside of Pensacola, which Studer Properties President, Andrew Rothfeder said is a good thing. “The goal is to always bring outside capital and outside money into your community for investment. If you don’t get that, then any community is just trading its dollars around to each other, and it never grows,” Rothfeder explained. “If outside investors want to put money into real estate or businesses, it is a huge signal of positive growth for any community.” The Dawson Company & EJ Smith Enterprises, also known as Inspired Communities, have the ECUA parcel and Maritime parcels 3,6,8 and 9. The Dawson Company
was SKETCH the development - NORTH manager FACADE and several major cities in for Southtowne Apartments in Florida, such as Orlando, Taldowntown Pensacola, which lahassee and Daytona. TogethCONCEPT DESIGN PRESENTATION was owned by Studer Proper Edwards Companies and erties before it was sold for Silver Hills proposed to build $60.63 million. The Dawson a four to five story mixed-use Company is currently developproject consisting of aparting Inspire Apartments, a luxments, retail and a shared-use ury apartment complex, across parking garage. from Navy Federal Campus “While Downtown Pensacoon Nine Mile Road. EJ Smith la has developed into a vibrant Enterprises is headed by Pencommunity with a multitude sacola native and former NFL of entertainment options and a running back Emmitt Smith. business hub for the metropolOne of EJ Smith Enterprises itan area, there is a shortage of former projects is The Zenith high quality apartment rental 21-story luxury apartments loproducts in the area. We becated in Baltimore, Maryland. lieve that our project will help Inspired Communities plans to alleviate this need and will to build a mixed-use developallow the downtown area to ment that includes a range of continue to be built out,” Ryan residential units, community Solow, Silver Hills amenities, retail and entertainPresident of Development ment space, a hotel, daycare and General Counsel, said. facilities and ample parking to “Our proposed project, Silver sustain those entities. Hills at Pensacola, represents “Emmitt Smith still has the perfect bridge between our deep roots and connections New Orleans developments with family and friends here and our Florida communities in town,” Rothfeder said. “He in Fort Myers, Orlando, Tallais incredibly excited about gethassee, and Daytona. We strive ting to do a project back in his to create unique apartment hometown, and we’re excited communities using time-tested to work with him.” product that caters to the difThe Edwards Companies and ferent strengths of each local Silver Hills development team market. In Pensacola, we plan has Maritime parcels 4 and 5. to blend our New Orleans inThe Edwards Companies is a spired architecture, incorpofamily-owned corporation that rating brick and stucco façades is widely recognized for its to embrace Pensacola’s history, creative approach to addresswith our Florida waterfront ining challenges in real estate fluences that highlight the outdevelopment and construction. door lifestyle.” Edwards Companies has built Based out of Texas, Valenmore than 50,000 residential cia Hotel Group will be buildhousing units since 1959. This ing its first of several hotels development team proposed a in Florida. Valencia plans to four to five story mixed-use build Isabella Court Hotel, an project consisting of apartupscale hotel, on the former ments, retail and a shared-use ECUA site, Maritime parcel 7. parking garage. Silver Hills The hotel will offer 180 large has a $1.3 billion commercial guest rooms including a luxureal-estate portfolio. Silver rious presidential suite, 9,000 Hills has constructed luxury square feet of meeting space, apartments in New Orleans a spa, two restaurants, a resort
WE'RE SOCIAL!
pool and valet parking. One wing of the hotel will have cabana rooms. Valencia ExecuVALENCIA - PENSACOLA C tive Vice President, John Keeling explained that Pensacola is missing a high-end hotel like Isabella Court. “Pensacola lacks a highend, full-service hotel. Downtown has been undergoing a renaissance and needs a quality full-service hotel to round out its offerings,” Keeling said. “The Valencia hotel will be the highest quality hotel in either Pensacola or Pensacola Beach. It will attract a moreaffluent leisure traveler and provide an impressive location for businesses trying to recruit professionals or relocate to Pensacola.” The three development teams are in the predevelopment agreement phase with the City. At this point, the developers are having exclusive negotiations with the City, and once they come to an agreement, each developer will come before the city council for approval. Rothfeder estimates that this step will be complete by November. After that step, the developers will begin site control, which is when they meet with architects, engineers and consultants to study the site. Rothfeder explained that this step is the most time consuming. He estimates that it will be complete by the end of 2021 and construction will begin one to two years later. Although this project’s completion date is distant, the West Main Master Plan gives Pensacola a great deal to look forward to. These developments will create more jobs and opportunities for the community.
CONNECT WITH US ON SOCIAL MEDIA