Spring Break Forum: Answer to Cash vs. Chaos Conundrum? Management

Wednesday morning, the Panama City Beach TDC held a community forum for local residents to air out their opinions on the raucous season and to, together, find solutions to the polarizing can of worms. The comment of the morning came from Mr. Charles Hilton. The respected Mr. Hilton addressed the board directly and said, “If you are thinking of getting rid of anything in this economy, you’re out of your mind.” An attentive audience leaned in to listen as he went on. “It’s not about Spring Break, it’s just us screwing it up. We can’t afford to run off anyone, we need to learn how to manage Spring Break better. Spring Breakers are just people and we know how to manage people.”

His sentiment was repeated throughout the morning forum; Panama City Beach businesses and councils need to work together to better manage spring break. Peter Yesawich and Dr. Klages returned to reacquaint the community with their respective reports concluding that Spring Break has a negative impact on Panama City Beach’s image. The reports showed that Panama City Beach’s customer satisfaction during the month of March is 90.3% percent when talking to spring breakers but drops considerably to 56.5% when talking to guests who are visiting Panama City Beach in March but aren’t Spring Breakers. What this report underscored was the theme of the forum; people come to Panama City Beach during Spring Break and more will come after the airport, but the rowdy Spring Breakers need to be met with better management.

Several quotes were aimed at this notion. Mr. Jack Bishop acknowledged this by saying, “It’s not a question of whether we are in or out. We are in the business of Spring Break. But the crux of the problem is hosting. We host Spring Break. We just do a bad job of it.”

While there was lots of talk of management being the problem, there were just as many possible solutions spoken ranging from additional law enforcement and drinking ordinances to a better handling of public relations and a more targeted messaging campaign. One interesting comment came from Mr. Julian Bennet about creating a capacity/number of units to security ratio ordinance, meaning that a certain building capacity or certain number of units would require a certain number of security guards; i.e 1 guard every 25 units.

No final decisions were made, but it was clear that the future of Spring Break will not lie in marketing or advertising, but in Panama City Beach’s ability to manage the event properly.

Click here to see the 10 Spring Break Solutions

The Beach Show Secrets to Success

This is really not a tip, rather an explanation of what Jason and I are up to and how and why we do the thing we do (sounds like a song). As many of you know, for the past 19 weeks we have been having a great time doing thebeachshow.com. It is the ONLY INTERNET TV SHOW ALL ABOUT REAL ESTATE on Panama City Beach. If you know both of us and many of you do, I do not have to tell you who the techno brain child is. . . AND it ain’t me.

Realtors and others call me each week to find out how can they get on our goofy little show and does it cost anything for their property to be featured? So I thought an explanation was in order. Jason came up with the idea that this format would be an incredible, far reaching way to get the word out about hot properties and be an incredible marketing tool. It has far surpassed that and we are having a great time while doing it. WE do not charge any money for listings to be on our site and we have a high integrity level of what makes the grade for the show. I am in charge of searching the internet and the streets in hot pursuit of what I think is a great deal. We consider price, rental dollars, affordability and basically finding what the real customers are looking for. Bottom line, if it looks great to me I bet you will like it too.

Each week I pick 3 great deals and many times they are not our listings so I call and get permission from the listing Realtor and we go shoot a video. WE give a very informal preview of the home and why we think it is a hot deal. It is not rehearsed as you can tell and we just want to be fun and informative. It is our quest for people to feel like we are having a conversation with friends about the Real Estate that we find while living and loving our beach. We have met so many nice people because of this adventure and have built great relationships with other Realtors as well. We just love it when one of the properties sells whether it is ours or not. It is kind of our version of paying it forward.

We shoot every Tuesday, rain or shine, and Jason spends the better part of that day and night uploading and editing the video. About midnight I usually write my Real Estate tips because who wants to do it early? Thanks to Hunter Palmer each week for providing us with a Mortage minute. You will find thebeachshow.com on the air and up and running each Wednesday at 11:00 AM and again on PCBdaily the following Monday. Please feel free to share it with your friends and let us know what you think.

You will notice that sometimes we keep visiting an area and it seems that some areas become hot areas because the price has finally hit the point where people start buying. A perfect example of that would be Wild Heron. Last year much of nothing sold and this year it has busted wide open with over 20 houses and condos selling since January, not to mention the lots are moving now as well. I am excited to say that condos on the beach are moving too and the buyers just keep on coming.

We so appreciative of all the Realtors who have been so kind to cooperate with us and also are tickled when they call us up and say, “Karen I think I have a hot one.” If we think it is a super deal then we may switch properties at the last minute and go shoot that one. Last week was great example as we were heading in one direction and found out about a foreclosure that just hit the market we turned the jeep around and headed west. Of the 3 properties that we featured in Episode 18 we are happy to report that 2 out of 3 are under contract. Wow you just gotta love it!!!!

What an exciting time to be a Realtor, no more business as usual. But who wants business as usual, NOT ME. I love that we are having to stretch and grow and reach and climb and find different ways of reaching our market. I think the thing I most like about challenging times is the power and the persistence that I see in people. Creativity is born and new ways of doing life are fostered. Hellen Keller put it just right for all of us today. . . “One can never consent to creep when one feels an impulse to soar.” I do not know about you but I am not much for creeping and it is a good thing because our market today calls for us to SOAR!!!!!!

Mixed Signals in Housing Data

We got a mixed bag of economic data on the housing front this week that, on one hand disappointed, but upon closer analysis showed yet another sign that the battered housing market is recovering. On Tuesday the Commerce Department said that initial construction of new homes fell in July after surging in June. Housing starts fell 11% to a seasonally adjusted rate of 581,000 down form 587,000 in June. Commerce also reported that applications for new building permits also fell in July by a more modest 1.8% though both reports came in below economist’s forecasts.

One caveat, however, was that when broken out by construction type, housing starts for single-family homes actually posted a 1.7% gain in July and applications for single-family permits rose by 5.8%. This is the silver lining in these reports as single-family homes are considered the core of the housing market and the overall numbers include the hard hit multi-family sector.

Mortgage rates remain very attractive after last week’s meeting of the Federal Reserve’s Open Market Committee reassured investors that interest rates would remain low for the foreseeable future as inflationary pressures are anticipated to remain weak for some time. Stocks have also helped out rates as consumer spending and consumer sentiment figures released last week have cast more doubt about a speedy recovery for the economy.

The thirty-year conforming fixed rate is sitting right at 5.25% for single-family purchases and the fifteen-year is at 4.625%. Government rates have been just a tad higher at 5.50% and 5.00% respectively. As long doubts linger over the economy, we will continue to have the uncertainty factor that tends to maintain demand in the bond market and keep rates low. Without any inflationary pressures in the short-run, I don’t see any significant rise in rates over the coming weeks and we may even see some further easing.

Construction Contract Awarded for New Grand Lagoon Bridge

These are exciting times, exciting times indeed. I can remember just a few short years ago attending a meeting about the Grand Lagoon Bridge reconstruction and seeing the cool plans, dreaming of a time when larger boats and more traffic could traverse the area, knowing it was all just hopeful aspirations. The plans had been in the works for years, but funding for the project was a pipe-dream, until just recently.

As quoted from our previous post on the new Grand Lagoon Bridge:

“Currently, Bay County has $19,462,409 to fund this project with $5,629,822 from local stimulus funds, $9,299,990 from state stimulus funds and $4,532,597 from grants that Bay County has been working on for years. Based on the cost estimate, Bay County has all the money necessary to fund the entire project.”

As of today, the Bay County Commissioners have awarded the construction contract of the Grand Lagoon Bridge Replacement and Roadway Widening to C. W. Roberts Contracting, Inc for $14,833,745.75. In addition, the Bay County Commissioners awarded the Construction Engineering and Inspection (CEI) contract for the Grand Lagoon Bridge Replacement and Roadway Widening Project to Metric Engineering, Inc. for $1,389,992.00.

Construction has been planned to start soon after Labor Day, beginning with the construction of a temporary bridge and the demolition of the existing structure. You can bet I’ll be there.

Frank Brown Smoking Ban a Message to Thunder Beach?

This September the Thunder Beach Rally will again vibrate the streets of Panama City Beach to mixed emotions. While many love the three-day event and tour from venue to venue on bikes others loathe the event and consider it, at the least, an unnecessary scourge on Panama City Beach’s reputation. No board on Panama City Beach has had an opinion on the matter allowing the event to proceed. But recent considerations on a potential ban could be speaking, albeit very quietly, its position.

Take yourself back a few months to the Spring Bike Rally on Panama City Beach. There were a number of venues stretching from Ms. Newby’s to Pier Park. But it was Frank Brown Park who saw the majority of bikers. If you were to visit the venue hours after the event was over, you probably would not have known anything of consequence had happened. There were a few bits of trash here and there and the occasional bandana; nothing particularly startling. But, if you were to take a closer look, there was residue that could not be missed. Everywhere, throughout the entire field at Frank Brown Park, there were thousands and thousands of cigarette butts.

To that point, Panama City Beach City Council is considering banning smoking from the park entirely. Now, it goes without saying that not every biker smokes and certainly others such as parents of softball and soccer players will be affected by the ban. Still, part of the draw for using Frank Brown Park as a venue for the leather-clad event is its open-air “field” mentality. Such restrictions would severely change that identity. The council plans to discuss the ban further early next month, just in time for the Fall Bike Rally.

5 Reasons to be Excited About the Fall Season

Along with many beach residents, I have spent the whole of summer’s slow decline anxiously anticipating the Fall Season. I love the cool weather, the colors and the ripples of pumpkin spice in the air. In my opinion, fall is Panama City Beach’s very best season, transforming our town from a hot, tourist-filled circus to a quiet and festive jewel of home for anyone who lives in this great city. There are a number of reasons to be excited about the season from something as simple as less traffic in the streets to traditions as beloved as Halloween and Thanksgiving. But, in Panama City Beach there are even more reasons to get excited about the season to come; here are 5 of them

Fall Art Show September 18 – 20 – Pier Park

If you like art and enjoy seeing totally unique creations, the Fall Art Show will be an exciting place for you this fall. Throughout Pier Park you’ll see artwork on display and being created various artists. While you’re there enjoy Pier Park’s great restaurants and shopping.

Thunder Beach Fall Rally – September 24 – 27

Thunder Beach Motorcycle Rally is held twice yearly on Panama City Beach and the fall event may very well be the best of its kind during the season. Bikers, vendors and exhibitors from around the country descend on Panama City Beach, Florida for Panama City Beach Bike Week and locals get to ride into all the fun. They share stories, see great bands and live entertainment, find the hottest custom motorcycles and motorcycle accessories available, and to experience a scenic ride on The World’s Most Beautiful Beaches!

Taste of the Beach – November 6 – Pier Park

Wine enthusiasts and aficionados, gourmets and gourmands, philanthropists and successful friends will combine talents and passions to create an unparalleled 4 day gala at the “Taste of THE Beach-Wine.Dine.Donate”. This 4-day extravaganza will be held in the Northwest Florida Gulf Coast, also referred to as THE Beach

This fabulous venue will hit Panama City Beach with an international wine tasting experience with over 300 wines to taste and food samplings from various Pier Park restaurants.

Oktoberfest – October 2 – 4 – Downtown Panama City

The Annual Oktoberfest transforms quaint downtown Panama City into a bustling German-style village. From accordion players to carnival rides and sausage eating contests, this Uber-Strassen-Fest has it all. Large food tents are concentrated near the bandstand.

Food enthusiasts will be serenaded by local musicians of a variety of styles, so practice your polka. Oktoberfest offers plenty to keep the little ones busy, while the adults savor a huge selection of beer. Carnival rides, face-painting, clowns and other family activities are part of the fun. More than 25,000 people are expected to attend the event, from the ceremonial tapping of the kegs to the Oom-Pah-Pah band concerts.

Seafood Wine and Music Festival – October 9 -11 – Frank Brown Park

If this event doesn’t get you excited about the season, nothing will. Panama City Beach’s signature Festival will be held during Columbus Day weekend and could be the most fun you will have all year.

Enjoy fantastic entertainment including performances by country singer and Dancing with the Stars’ Julianne Hough, the legendary Styx, plus John Anderson and Grand Funk Railroad. Sample delicious culinary treats and fine wines from around the world, and take part in fun activities for the whole family.

Honorable Mentions: EVP Pro Tour Labor Day Festival – September 5 – 6, Jazz by the Bay – October 16 -17, Holly Fair – November 12 – 15, Iron Man Triathlon – November 7, Emerald Coast Cruzin Car Show – November 9 – 14

Is Pier Park Killing Thomas Drive?

The answer to the aforementioned question is no, Pier Park is not killing Thomas drive, at least not in a definitive way like maybe how Rock-n-Roll killed Disco. But if you take a drive down Thomas drive and absorb the lack of traffic and innumerable “for lease” signs dressing business windows, you’ll know instantly that, although Pier Park isn’t killing the area, its influence is eye-opening.

It should be noted that the overall effect is difficult to quantify because Thomas Drive is a street, not a destination like Pier Park, so the draw is somewhat unrelated. Thomas Drive also has two identities sundered just past Grand Lagoon Bridge at the perpendicular intersection where Thomas goes East/West. At that point, a business driven, Navy Base inspired four-lane highway transforms into a quiet, scenic gulf front strip; two completely different socioeconomic streets. Pier Park’s continuing popularity has affected them differently.

Since Pier Park’s unveiling, North Thomas Drive, running from bridge to bridge, has seen a surge in development. Restaurants like Hooter’s, Sake House II and, locally acclaimed, Donut Island have been opened and flourished off Navy Base business. After speaking briefly with Debbie Johnson, one of the Donut Island’s owners, she said with confidence, “We’re doing great and growing.” Further down, staple restaurants like Captain Anderson’s and Treasure Ship have done well and so has the general area, evidenced by the opening of a small business like Sweet Racks and the groundbreaking of a franchise like Jasmine Thai restaurant. North Thomas has seen developments all over the place since Pier Park opened.

The other Thomas Drive has seen exactly the opposite; no new developments and lots, LOTS, of businesses closing down. The question remains, is Pier Park the culprit?

Kat Meeks, owner of Liza’s Kitchen, one of the businesses on that picturesque strip of Thomas Drive that has been able to thrive, quite well in fact, despite Pier Park’s success, had an interesting take on the matter. “I don’t think Pier Park is killing Thomas Drive as much as it’s just changing it. Yes, more people are staying on the west end, but that’s okay. Thomas Drive, I think, is just becoming the local’s end of the beach.”

Her take was that Pier Park’s greatest effect on Thomas Drive is accelerating its natural evolution, one that will weed out businesses that don’t fit the mold. “Panama City Beach has its own subculture, y’know?” She said. “While locals go to Pier Park as the one-stop-shop, here on Thomas Drive you have condo owners, families and locals that support businesses. Locals need some place to go too and Thomas Drive is becoming that place. It’s the local’s place and is locally driven.”

And a local haven may very well be Thomas Drive’s inevitable progressive destination. When locals, repeat tourists, eco-tourists and snowbirds want to get away from the generic areas, there is but one place for them to land and that’s Thomas Drive. One possible key to making this work is for businesses to embrace that role; to fashion themselves to cater to the locals, some tourists and flourish during the off-season. The question is how to do that.

“We’ve been able to do more creative things and think outside the box.” Kat Meeks answered when asked how other businesses can compete. “You can’t just wait for people to come to your door. We have a lot of locals in this area that are looking for some place to go. We do everything we can to make sure they know we’re here.”

Strangely, what may affect Thomas Drive more than Pier Park could be the Grand Lagoon Bridge construction. “I’m nervous about it.” Kat said. “It has two sides. Once it’d done its going to be great, but the construction phase will be tough.”

It remains to be seen how quickly Thomas Drive will get over the Pier Park effect. One thing is for sure, it will be up to the locals and businesses to reaquaint themselves if Thomas Drive is ever to return to it’s beloved status.

Demolition by Sunbird Condos in Panama City Beach – teaser

[updated 11:51am 8/18/09]

On Friday I received several emails from people in and around the Sunbird Condo area in East Panama City Beach. With the backdrop of Condo Canyon (Shores of Panama and Laketown Wharf) demolition crews had been working for days to clear just over 1.5 acres right on the sunny Gulf of Mexico. “This place had been in total disrepair for a while now,” said one local property owner that often visits her townhome right down the street.

There are 6 lots on the water totaling around 240 beach footage with 12 lots lined up directly behind the beach-front lots along the same plat lines, 18 lots total. The labeled property usage per the Bay County Property Appraiser’s office is Hotels/Motels, and the record shows the entire piece of land was purchased in April 2004 for $7.5 million. It would appear that the land was foreclosed upon as there is a deed recorded with the Bay County Clerk of the Courts in late 2008.

My first assumption was that this was a Faircloth property that was sold at auction last year in which the new buyer was clearing out the land to build or sell, but the Florida Division of Corporations name search revealed that the old owners were out of Destin and the new owners are actually a bank. New South Federal Savings Bank out of Birmingham, Alabama too possession in October of last year I assume because the previous owners weren’t paying their fat mortgage any more.

Many have asked whether a condo was going in there, but I would assume that the bank is just clearing the land preparing for sale. From the looks of the properties that had not been torn down yet, I would assume that these were not inhabitable homes and that the city was requiring the demolition in an effort to keep our area clean and reduce incident rates from homeless people. Typically banks are not in the development business, so I would assume that they are preparing to sell.

I have a call into New South’s acquisition lawyer with no return call yet and a call into the local PCB planning department. I’ll keep you all updated.

Updated!

I just received this from Mel Leonard with the panama city beach planning department:

“No one has submitted any development plans for those lots as of this time. However, New South Federal Savings Bank did answer the City’s advertisement to purchase gulf front property in an effort to create a public park. We also have a proposal from Peek’s Motel. A few weeks ago the City Council asked staff to run public notices to see if any gulf front property owners wanted to sell their property to the City for purposes of constructing a public park with showers and restrooms. So far, we have the two proposals one of which is for those properties on Beach Blvd. The deadline for proposals is Thursday, August 27, at 2pm. At some point thereafter, the Council will discuss whether to pursue any of those properties or abandoned the idea. Let me know if you need anything else.”

http://www.twitvid.com/player/ED848

http://www.twitvid.com/player/6A737

http://www.twitvid.com/player/0687D

http://www.twitvid.com/player/D6F97

3G Launched in Panama City Beach

About 20 minutes I received a voicemail from Cebo, “Dude, tell me if you see 3G on your iPhone, I just noticed it on mine.” Before I called him back, I quickly turned off Wi-Fi and low and behold there it was, like a huge un-meltable ice cream sunday on a hot sunny day. 3G, right here in Panama City Beach.

Every since I purchased this lovely magical device known by millions I had been craving 3G, even before having a taste of what it was like. Last month our family vacation yielded first-hand experience of what 3G was like as we traveled through larger metropolitan areas on our way to rural Illinois. Our time spent in St. Louis was accompanied by lightening fast surfing on our iPhones (yes, my wife has one too) making Facebook updates and Tweets breezily and fast. And, yes I said breezily.

In my haste to know just when we would receive this savior of a data connection, I did every search I could muster and was able to uncover a press release from AT&T that announced 3G would be expanded or added in 5 markets in Florida during 2009 and one of them was the Panama City area. As of last week, each of the areas that were to receive coverage or expanded coverage had seen so, so I knew Panama City would be next. But, no one at AT&T would confirm this for me. So, I waited.

Of course, I wanted the full story of what was happening to my iPhone. “Not good, actually, you’re area does not have 3G as of right now,” said Judith, an AT&T call center representative. I called to see how much AT&T knew about this ghost upgrade. “Actually, I have 3G, it says so on my phone right now,” his immediate response was a puzzled, “uh, you do?” I grinned, of course. My wife was making fun of me, because the discovery of this actually brought a tear to my eye. Not a big one, but a tear nonetheless.

The AT&T rep had no record of our area having 3G, but was able to confirm with a supervisor that this area was probably sharing a “partner” tower array. I have 3G on the west end, Cebo has it on the east end, good enough for me.

So, what does this mean for Too Creative, and more importantly Panama City Beach? This means that our mobile surfing pleasure is actually pleasurable with download speeds of up to 1.7 mbs and upload speeds of up to 700 kbs, per Judith, our friend at the AT&T call center. The Edge network yielded a measly, puney and very dissapointing 27 kbs up and down. However, I did a speed test just a second ago that brought a swift 2.3 mbs download and a very satisfying 228 kbs upload. Mobile video uploads, here we come. You can sure bet that you’ll see more TwitVid’s from us in the near future.

Around The Bend: Spanish Trail Playhouse Presents "School House Rock"

If you’re looking for something to do this weekend, head over to our neighboring county for the Spanish Trail Playhouse’s rendition of School House Rock.

The Emmy Award-winning Saturday morning educational cartoon series is one of the most fun, and energetic musicals ever to hit the stage! Tom, a school teacher nervous about his first day of teaching, tries to relax by watching TV. Suddenly, various characters representing facets of his personality emerge from the set. They proceed to show him how to win his students over with imagination and music, through beloved Schoolhouse Rock songs that cover a variety of subjects: math, science, history and grammar. Like the classic television series, this show is a hip, entertaining and educational treat that shows young people that learning can be as fun as you choose to make it.

Show dates for Schoolhouse Rock Live:

Thursday, Friday & Saturday August 13-15, 2009

Spanish Trail Playhouse

680 2nd Street

Chipley, Florida

For more information on the event please stop by www.visitwashingtoncountyfl.com