Piers going in at Pier Park

Date: 8/8/2008

Construction Update - City Pier at Pier Park

Posted August 7, 2008 @ 7:05 pm by Jason Koertge,

Moving along as scheduled, the city pier at Pier Park is still set to open spring 2009. With the main platform going on now and pilings being driven as they move out into the water, the pier is definitely beginning to take shape.

Construction is “top-down” construction, meaning there will be no barge with a crane in the water driving piles. The crane will “crawl” across the top of the piles that it puts in in order to put the next series of piles. I thought this was pretty cool, as it allows them to continue work even if they have rough seas. Delays will be less likely.

The final design will be around 1,500 feet long and 26 feet off the water. The super-structure design will be different then the last design and should better survive a hurricane or other severe weather. The platform on top of the piles that will be the walkway will not actually be attached to the piles, rather just resting on top of them. Each platform weighs about 600 lbs and will have a setting that will keep them in place, but if significant force should put pressure on them (i.e. hurricane force winds, storm surge, or very rough seas), they can become displaced or even come off completely. This minimizes the damage to the piles (the expensive part) and preserves the overall super-structure.

This all sounds good in theory, but does it actually work? The short answer, yes, it does. Baskerville Donovan has built this design before, and has had the opportunity to see the results of their design after a hurricane. When Ivan hit Gulf Shores as a category 3 Hurricane in September 2004. The Pensacola Pier (designed and constructed by Baskerville Donovan) sustained only $45,000 in damage. The Dan Russell Pier, 100 miles away sustained over $1 million in damage.

The county pier still has yet to begin, I’ll have more information on that soon, but I think it has to do with the EPA and turtle season. Stay tuned.

Panama City Beach Airport - Authority must build public trust.

EDITORIAL: Airport Authority must build public trust

July 17, 2008 08:49:00 AM

Panama City News Herald

A recent Airport Authority meeting might have determined the paving material for the new runway, but the process has left some feeling even more unsettled about the project. And though a number of Bay Countians will continue to object to the new airport, the Airport Authority members should take care not to sour relations with county residents any further.

Tuesday's special meeting was held to discuss the length and construction materials for the runway of the new Panama City-Bay County International Airport being built at West Bay. Plans currently call for an 8,400-foot concrete or asphalt runway, but the board is also considering extending the runway to 10,000 feet. An option for a crosswind runway is also on the table.

James Finch said that his company, Phoenix Construction, was ready to move forward with laying down the runway and he absolutely would not wait because of concerns about rising gas and material costs.

However, Airport Authority Chairman Bill Cramer indicated that he wanted to postpone the decision until bids for the terminal building, the rental car center, the air traffic control tower and other projects at the new airport are tendered in three weeks time.

Things came to a head with Finch telling the authority members, "I'm going to file a claim on your ass." Cramer shot back asking Finch where on the board's anatomy the claim would be filed, and asking airport attorney Franklin Harrison if there were legal grounds for Finch to file a claim on their posteriors.

Dramatics aside, Finch's point is valid.

Time equals money in construction, especially as labor and construction-related costs continue to increase.

However, Cramer was right to call for more time to consider the options because of concerns that the board would be basing its decisions on inadequate information and possible jeopardizing other projects at the airport.

Rushing ahead with decisions without having a complete financial picture is a sure recipe for nasty surprises down the road.

Concrete might be the best long-term option, with a 40-year life as opposed to only a decade for asphalt. But if Cramer's concerns about future cutbacks because the board committed to spending the extra money pan out, the Airport Authority won't win any converts for the relocation project. Deciding the issue on Aug. 8 still put the board ahead of the September deadline for notifying Phoenix about the runway length and materials. As Cramer rightly said, the primary obligation of the board should be looking out for the public trust.

Just look at the tone of the Bay District Schools budget debate in the face of a $20-million shortfall that came after the School Board committed the district to building two new schools before the state budget was finalized.
And Finch's statement that he had brought the project several weeks ahead of schedule at the request of certain airport officials, and not the entire board, can only stir up more bitterness and resentment among those still holding to the ignored 2004 non-binding referendum against relocation.

There were likely no shady backroom deals. But the project involves taxpayer dollars and that means the board must ensure all its decisions are made above board in a responsible manner.

Panama City Beach Piers

Panama City Beach Piers

Date: 7/7/2008 Pier into the future By JEREMY MORRISON, Florida Freedom Newspapers 2008-07-07 15:11:00 PANAMA CITY BEACH - The old pier's gone, with a new one to come. In between, waves wash and county officials await permits from the Florida Department of Environmental Protection. Bay County's M.B. Miller Pier was demolished earlier this year. The 470-foot-long structure, damaged in 2005 by Hurricane Dennis, will be replaced with a pier more than three times that length. But before construction may begin, the county must obtain DEP permits, which is expected to happen by November. "If they need the full 90 days, they'll take it," Assistant County Manger Bob Majka said of the state's permitting process. "If they get done earlier than that, we could see something earlier." The county is awaiting a joint coastal permit, which allows the pier to extend farther into the gulf. Also, a submerged land lease for the additional 1,000 feet must be obtained from the state. "We've got to have the physical footprint in the water," Majka said. Even if permits are issued earlier than expected, Majka said construction of a new pier will not begin until January. The same construction company, Shoreline Foundation Inc., is building the new Panama City Beach pier a few miles down the sand. That project, already in progress, dictates the start of the county's construction. The Panama City Beach Public Work's Department cites the tentative completion date for the city's pier as July 2009. Majka said the county's construction should be well under way by next summer. "We would want to have the upland portion done no later than June because of turtle season," he said. "At that point, we'll be in the water." Majka said the county's target finish is January 2010. The two piers, built with the same designs, will mirror each other. County and beach officials got a deal on the pair. "We saved a bunch of money by the city and the county bidding them out together," Bay County Commissioner Mike Thomas said in April. The two-for-one project was put out to bid last August. Shoreline was the lowest bidder, promising both structures for about $7.6 million each. Because of the hurricane damage, the Federal Emergency Management Agency is covering the dollar equivalent of the old 470-foot pier, or $1.7 million. The county also is applying for an additional $2.1 million from the federal government in recognition of the pier being built in a more hurricane-durable manner. The new structure will feature breakaway decking. Fishing also should be better 1,500 feet out into the water. Stretching beyond the second sandbar, it should provide access to king mackerel, bonito and redfish. The twin piers will be the longest along Florida's Panhandle. Pensacola Beach's pier, the basis for these structures, is 1,471 feet. In Alabama, the pier gracing Orange Beach edges a bit farther into the gulf at 1,510 feet.

Date: 6/10/2008

U.S. 98 to be widened near Hathaway Bridge

Work set to begin in July, FDOT official says

June 10, 2008 - 10:22PM

By S. Brady Calhoun

News Herald Writer

PANAMA CITY — The Panama City Commission got a welcome surprise this week.

City officials were planning to ask Florida's Department of Transportation for changes to U.S. 98 near the Hathaway Bridge with the goal of easing congestion. City officials found out the department already was planning the work.

"We found that out yesterday," Assistant City Manager Jeff Brown said Tuesday.

Right now, traffic funnels down from three lanes on the bridge to two on U.S. 98 and bottles up at the Moody Avenue and 23rd Street intersections, FDOT spokesman Tommie Speights said. The work, which will begin in July, Speights said, will add a third eastbound lane and a turn lane from the bridge to Moody Avenue.

"The main idea behind that is to improve safety and ease congestion," Speights said.

You can set your watch to the daily congestion, said Karon Conrad, the daytime manager of the No Name Lounge on U.S. 98.

"It gets busy and backed up all the time," Conrad said. But "you can count on it at 3 p.m."

Workers are leaving Naval Support Activity-Panama City at that time, she added.

Speights called the work a temporary solution. Long-term plans still call for a complete flyover from Hathaway Bridge to 23rd Street. The planning phase on the flyover is nearing completion, but the state's five-year budget plan has no money set aside for the work, Speights said.

Panama City Beach Number 1 Place to Own a Summer Home

Date: 5/31/2008

Panama City Beach Number 1 Place to Own a Summer Home

Posted May 31, 2008 @ 10:13 am by Jason Koertge, Filed under: Real Estate Market

According to AOL Money and Finance, Panama City Beach is The Number 1 Place to Own a Summer Home.

In an article that came out Thursday May 29, 2008 Kelli B. Grant with SmartMoney.com wrote that amid the credit crunch “someone else’s misfortune could work in your favor.” Home prices are down and according to the short article, if you are in for the long-term and plan to use your second home, now is a great time to buy.

Quoting the article for Panama City Beach:

There’s something for everyone in this Panhandle town where white “sugar sand” beaches along the Gulf of Mexico give way to inland attractions, including six championship golf courses and an active restaurant and nightlife scene. Prices for beachfront property run the gamut from $100,000 for a one-bedroom condo, to $2 million-plus for single-family homes of five bedrooms or more, according to vacation rental site HomeAway.com.

Why Buy Now: Besides the weather (temperatures rarely dip below the 60s, even in January) a new international airport is slated to open in the next couple of years. With it comes low-cost carriers and an abundance of nonstop flights. (Currently, flying from New York involves at least one connection and travel time of anywhere from 4.5 to 13 hours. In comparison, a nonstop flight from New York to Orlando takes about two hours.) That ease of access should help boost tourism — and property values, says Anil Pereira, CEO of SecondSpace.com, a property-finding service. “It’ll be more feasible to own a second home there,” he says. “People will be able to fly in for the weekend.”

There you have it folks, the opinion of someone much smarter than I and completely outside our market. We are the number one place to own a summer home, followed by the Pocono Mountains, PA, then The Crystal Coast, NC, Lake Tahoe, CA, and the Great Smokey Mountains, TN.

More than 40 new stores open at Pier Park

Date: 5/1/2008

May 1, 2008 - 2:24PM Walton Sun

Sean Boone and Nate Kelly

PANAMA CITY BEACH – The area’s largest outdoor mall just got a little bigger.
On May 1, 43 new stores and restaurants opened at the Simon Property Group’s Pier Park on U.S. Highway 98.
On Wednesday, Simon held a media tour day to promote the expansion of the shopping center and let business representatives from several stores explain what they will be bringing to the table.
“This is something we should all be proud of,” said Simon Vice-President of Community and Lifestyles Division Paul Ajdaharian. “We want Dothan, Destin, Tallahassee and Jacksonville to come to Pier Park – and we think they will.”
Tootsies’ Orchid Lounge out of Nashville, Tenn. is one of the businesses opening this spring that brings a different flare to the shopping and dining complex.
“We’re like the AA team of country music,” said co-owner Steve Smith.
Tootsies’ is a country bar and restaurant, but also holds a music record label.
Later this month, the label will present their first signed musician, John Stone, at the business’s grand opening in Pier Park.
“We’re also trying to get friends down here,” said Stone. “Bret Michaels, Kid Rock and others, hopefully,”
Pier Park encompasses 93-acres and 900,000-square-feet of open-air shopping, dining and entertainment. The Simon Group plans on expanding the center in the near future, but has yet to release a tentative date with those plans.
Simon President of Community and Lifestyles Division Myles Minton said there will ultimately be 130 retail stores and 30 restaurants on the property and explained that the idea of the beach shopping and dining complex is to create a mindset of where to go in the area.
“What are we going to do now?” he asked. “Hopefully Pier Park will be their answer.”

New Restaurants at Pier Park in Panama City Beach

Date: 4/16/2008

More restaurants coming to Pier Park

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4/16/2008
By Daniel Carson Florida Freedom Newspapers

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PANAMA CITY BEACH - It’s not hard to find a place to eat at Pier Park, with new restaurants like Jimmy Buffett’s Margaritaville, Hofbrau Beer Garden, and Bootleg Barbeque opening this spring at the Panama City Beach development.

Indianapolis-based developer Simon Property Group on Tuesday announced four more new eateries coming to Pier Park this year, including the Olive Garden Italian Restaurant. Also coming are Tootsies Orchid Lounge, Baja Café and Guy Harvey’s Island Grill.

Simon also announced beach and resort-wear shop Paradise Found would be opening its doors this spring in Pier Park’s Boardwalk section.

Of the newly announced restaurants, the Olive Garden is scheduled to open in the fall and will be located off Back Beach Road. Owned by Darden Restaurants, the Italian restaurant chain operates 628 location in the United States and Canada, including a State 77 location in Panama City.

Baja Café, with its mix of Cajun, Caribbean, Southwestern and American cuisine, will be located in the Town Center area with a planned summer opening.

Morris said Tootsies was scheduled for a July opening in the Boardwalk section. The restaurant is known as a Nashville, Tenn., mecca for country music artists, and Tootsies’ Web site says early customers included Willie Nelson, Kris Kristofferson, Patsy Cline and Mel Tillis.

Guy Harvey’s also will open in the Boardwalk section this fall and will be a combination of restaurant, outdoor boat bar and retail store. It will serve a variety of American foods, with a percentage of all its proceeds going to the Guy Harvey Ocean Foundation, which is dedicated to ocean preservation.

There are now more than 40 stores open at Pier Park.

Simon Property Group spokesman Les Morris said Payless Shoes and Zales opened earlier this month. Old Navy, Solace Day Spa & Salon and A.M. Café and Accessories on the Boardwalk were scheduled to open this week.

There may be more restaurant opening announcements in the future, Morris said. Restaurant leasing is important to a property, particularly an outdoor center such as Pier Park, he said.

“I think we’ve seen it with Hofbrau, Margaritaville and Five Guys Burgers & Fries,” Morris said.

He pointed out that Simon’s restaurant leasing department is the only one companywide dedicated to a specific leasing area.

“So we’re talking to restaurants often,” Morris said.

New Pier Park in Panama City Beach is a Hit!

Date: 3/20/2008

(Walton Sun) March 20, 2008 - 9:40AM

Joyce Owen

PANAMA CITY BEACH – One month after the opening of the first stores in Pier Park, crowds continue to visit the shopping complex – and shop.

Bill Hanke of Edwardsville, Ill., was visiting Panama City Beach on March 11 for the first time with friends who have been regulars to the Emerald Coast for years.

Although his friends usually stayed in Destin, “This year they upgraded to a Wyndam timeshare in Panama City Beach,” Hanke said.

“We were driving around and checking things out in the area when we saw this. We came here and loved it. Look at all the shops that are open,” Hanke said. “My wife and her friend are shopping.”

Although Hanke and his friends were among the older visitors that vacation here during the winter, spring breakers have also discovered Pier Park.

Michelle Creighton, 20, from Ontario, was visiting for the first time. The rest of her group, including her friend Kate Shannon, 20, and her mother Kathy Shannon, and Joanne Rutten, also from Ontario, have been to Panama City Beach many times.

Although their favorite place is still the beach, shopping at Pier Park ran a close second.

Kathy Shannon said the men were golfing while they shopped. Everyone carried a bag or two.

As new shops open each week and new restaurants kick off grand opening celebrations, visitors were thrilled to have a new place in Panama City Beach.

“We’ve been coming here for 20 years. First, we came with our kids, now we come with our grandkids,” said Ann Svoboda of Aurora, Ill. “They’ve needed something like this.”

“The opening has been a success,” Simon Property Group executive Les Morris said. “Additional stores will continue to open throughout the spring.”

Pier Park is located on 93 acres .between Front Beach Road and U.S. Highway 98 in Panama City Beach.

Panama City Beach Airport Groundbreaking

Date: 11/1/2007

PANAMA CITY, Florida (November 1, 2007) – The Panama City – Bay County International Airport and Industrial District (Airport Authority) today held a ceremonial groundbreaking initiating the construction phase its new state-of-the-art international airport.

The airport is being built in the 75,000-acre West Bay Area Sector on 1,300 acres of a 4,000-acre site being donated to the Airport Authority by The St. Joe Company (NYSE: JOE).

With this ceremony, work also soon will began on an unprecedented environmental preservation effort designed to help protect the entire West Bay watershed, an area considered one of Florida’s environmental jewels. Relocation of the airport triggers the creation of the West Bay Preservation Area, a conservation area that will permanently protect approximately 40,000 acres around West Bay, including 33 miles of undeveloped shoreline and an additional 44 miles of creeks and tributaries.

In a prepared statement, Florida Governor Charlie Crist said the new airport is “a national model for economic transformation and environmental preservation.” Crist added: “The State of Florida stands as a proud partner of this project for the new jobs it will create and the environmental jewels it will protect.”

“Though we celebrate today, tomorrow we redouble our efforts to harvest the potential of this project for the people of Northwest Florida,” said Airport Authority Chairman Joe Tannehill. “We will work together to attract better air service and high-quality jobs to our region, and we will continue to work with a range of partners to make this airport as green as it possibly can be.”

“I am very proud of the way our community pulled together to create a shared vision of better air service, stronger economic development and permanent environmental protection for West Bay,” said Tannehill.

“We have planned this property to allow this airport to serve this region and our children for the next fifty years and beyond,” said Tannehill. “At the same time, we have worked with the environmental community, the state of Florida, Bay County and St. Joe to create an unprecedented environmental preservation area that protects West Bay for those future generations.

“Over the past ten years hundreds, if not thousands of people contributed to make this day possible,” said Tannehill. “It would be impossible to recognize them all. But we do thank them. And we pledge to work harder than ever to make this airport a tremendous asset for this community, for the Panhandle, and for the entire state of Florida.”

About the Relocated Panama City – Bay County International Airport

The Panama City – Bay County International Airport and Industrial District (Airport Authority) is nearing completion of a ten-year process to relocate the Panama City – Bay County airport. The relocated airport is expected to be the first new airport built since September 11, 2001.

In late 1980s the Airport Authority began an effort to address significant deficiencies at the existing airport, including non-standard runway safety areas. When local environmentalists and the Florida Department of Environmental Protection objected to extending the existing runway system into Goose Bayou, a particularly environmentally sensitive part of St. Andrews Bay, the Airport Authority began considering relocating the airport.

After working with the FAA to complete a feasibility study in 2000 and a site selection study in 2001, the Airport Authority identified a new site for the airport in northwestern Bay County (West Bay) on land owned by The St. Joe Company (NYSE: JOE).

Following the FAA’s selection of the site, the Airport Authority partnered with the State of Florida, Bay County and The St. Joe Company in an innovative planning process authorized by Florida law known as “optional sector permitting and planning.” The process included dozens of public meetings, data gathering, analysis and visioning for the future. The plan was approved by Bay County and the State of Florida in 2002 and detailed specific area plans were also approved in 2003. Its policies will guide future development and conservation of the West Bay area.

One of the most innovative elements of the plan, in addition to the airport and economic development provisions, is the proposed West Bay Preservation Area. The West Bay Preservation was designed by local and state environmental leaders to preserve the health and habitat of West Bay forever. This watershed scale plan will preserve approximately 40,000 acres and, when fully implemented, include the provision of habitat corridors, open space and stream protection.

Simplified, the objective of the West Bay Preservation Area is to maintain West Bay in its present, pristine state forever. Its vision, especially when compared to the development that has occurred on Florida’s other bay front lands, holds the potential to be one of the most significant conservation measures in Florida history. The plan was won statewide praise including the “2007 Promising Practices Award” from the Council for Sustainable Florida this month.

In 2004 the FAA began preparing a Draft Environmental Impact Statement considering two-dozen alternatives for addressing the deficiencies at the existing airport. In May 2006 the FAA issued its Final Environmental Impact Statement, identifying relocation to the West Bay Site as its Preferred Alternative. In September 2006, the FAA issued its Record of Decision recommending and approving relocation of the Panama City airport to the proposed site in West Bay.

In August 2007, after extensive review, the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers issued a Section 404 permit, the final permit necessary to begin construction of the airport.

In September 2007, the Airport Authority approved a contract to sell the current airport site to a subsidiary of Leucadia National Corporation of New York (NYSE: LUK) for $56.5 million in cash and an estimated $38 million in transfer fees from the sale of future properties developed on site. The current airport site is approximately 700 acres adjacent to North Bay in Panama City.

Under the Airport Authority’s current schedule, the new airport is expected to open in the first quarter of 2010.