SPOTLIGHT
In one of the first substantive initiatives to address its affordable housing problem, the city of Pensacola has approved a development lease that will transform a vacant motel into 84 one-bedroom apartments.
Under the deal with the Delray Beach-based Smith and Henzy Affordable Group, 42 units will be available to military personnel or veterans and the remaining 42 units to anyone with eligible income levels. Five of the second 42 units will be set aside and rented only to homeless veterans at well below market rates.
Pensacola Mayor D.C. Reeves says he feels confident awarding the lease to Smith and Henzy because of their track record of completing affordable housing projects across Florida.
Developers say the plan is to begin the renovation in the fall of 2025 and begin leasing to tenants in June 2027.
MANUFACTURING
- Panama City-based Eastern Shipbuilding Group, one of Northwest Florida’s largest private employers, is expanding its satellite shipyard in Port St. Joe and hiring a large number of painters, welders, pipe welders, pipefitters, millwright machinists, electricians and mechanics. The family-owned company, headed by CEO Joey D’Isernia, builds large oceangoing ships for the U.S. Department of Defense and also ferries and other vessels for private-sector companies. The company’s recent growth surge has been fueled by contracts for two multi-purpose support vessels for Louisiana-based Hornbeck Offshore Services. Eastern is also building a first-of-its-kind service operation vessel whose design is tailored to help meet demand from the U.S. offshore wind generation market. The third ship under construction by Eastern at its Port St. Joe facility is a 302-foot ferry slated for delivery in early 2025. The Port St. Joe facility employs more than 320 workers.
AVIATION/TRANSPORTATION
- Silver Airways has begun daily flights from Tallahassee International Airport to Tampa International Airport; a daily flight to Nassau in the Bahamas; and three daily flights to Key West.
HEALTH/RESEARCH
- The University of West Florida has received an $895,905 grant to be used to improve access to breast cancer screenings in underserved Northwest Florida rural communities.
HOUSING/CONSTRUCTION
- Escambia County’s homebuilding surge shows no immediate signs of slowing down. County officials have approved several new projects that will add another 750 new homes to Escambia’s residential landscape. The largest of these projects includes a 440 single-family subdivision on 131 acres of land in the Cantonment area about 10 miles north of Pensacola.
RECREATION/TOURISM
- Escambia County officials and members of Pensacola Sports, a nonprofit promotional organization, are pushing plans to build a $60-million indoor sports facility and finance a $30-million upgrade to the Pensacola Bay Center. Both projects would be financed through a $90-million bond issue funded by bed tax revenues. The centerpiece of the projects would be a 100,000-sq.-ft. building that could be configured to host eight basketball courts or 16 volleyball courts at once or serve as an exhibition hall. The cost of the building is estimated to be between $48 million and $61 million. A study commissioned by Pensacola Sports says the indoor facility would have a $37-million impact on the local economy and would generate $2.7 million in tax revenues each year.