Holy Smokes, they seem to be flying over there. Everytime I drive by it seems like they’ve made huge milestones in the development. They are set to complete the project by April, so they are on the last few months until completion. In the same plaza will be a much needed Office Depot and much desired Dunkin Donuts.
Hopefully they’ll come in with $4/dozen prices like they have in Texas and help drive down the competition. $7.50 a dozen is crazy talk!
This past week the newest addition to the intersection of Back Beach and Beckrich Roads was complete. Part of the beautification and roadway marker efforts are to install these consistent corner decoration assemblies at major intersections on Back Beach Road.
The intersection of Beckrich and Back Beach Road is home to Home Depot, Chick Fil-A, and a million new banks and the future home of Publix, Office Depot and Dunkin Donuts, yay!
Cadi-corner to this an exact replica had been installed since the development of the business park adjoining to the Sprint/Nextel call center. The facade is beautiful and pleasing to look at.
I was so excited to see standing room only at the Kick off meeting to introduce the proposed new road to our longed for Airport. Hugh Williams exclaimed that a bigger room would be needed for the next meeting because of the over the top public responce which they welcomed. The meeting appeared to be a great success and although there was not a question and answer time the audience was encouraged to meet one on one with the project leaders stationed around the room.
So how does it impact us? The Florida Department of Transportation (FDOT) is proposing a new 4 lane roadway, approximately 24 miles in length. Exactly where the road will be is still in the planning stages but the suggested route for section 1 is from US 98 in Walton County east of Peach Creek to state road 79 in Bay County around county road 388. For section 2 the plans are for it to run along 388 from HWY 79 to HWY 77. Some of the considerations for the road will include controlled and limited access alternatives.
H.W. Lochner, Inc. and PBS & J have teamed together to conduct studies for the West Bay Parkway and its impact on the community and its citizens. Rosemary Woods -Deputy project manager urged the audience to e-mail or call them at their numbers provided below. She stated that a vital part of their study would be getting information from the public.
In essence the goal is to have as little an impact on the enviornment and its citizens with the most advantages for our future development. Some of the positives are: A new route to our new Airport, to provide a better quality direct route to the eastern side of Bay County, and to establish an alternative hurricane evacuation Route. One of the problems with Bay County has always been how do you get here. The new Airport is the first step in solving that problem and a new road to the Airport is another facet of making Bay County an easy access vacation spot.
This was the first of many meetings. I had an opportunity to meet some of the Project Leaders and they were eager to hear our ideas and welcomed feedback and questions. I hope you will join me and learn about this project and be a part of the great change for our community that we love.
The official web site is WestBayParkway.com
Contact information:
Hugh Williams,PE
Project Manager
850-656-9027
hwilliams@hwlochner.com
Rosemary Woods
Deputy Project Manager
850-575-1800
rewoods@pbsj.com
J. Brandon Bruner
Project Development Engineer
850-638-0250
joseph.bruner@dot.state.fl.us
No talk, all pictures:
This is looking from the south towards the north. The segment off to the right will be the cross-wind runway. To the far left of the property, you can see a portion of the road that leads up from highway 388. The main runway, obviously, is right down the middle.
In this photo, you can see the terminal and main parking area. the upside down U shape is where the terminal will be, I’m not sure that I can tell the overall footprint shape in this picture.
This is looking west from the east, the terminal is on the far side with an exterior service road shown leading to the bottom of the picture.
This picture more highlights the cross-wind runway.
A proposed road from State Highway 77 in Bay County to Highway 98 in Walton County is up for discussion. Initially, the two lane Highway 388 that runs by the new airport will be widened to 4 lanes between Highway 79 and Highway 77.
The new addition to the roadway will extend from Highway 79 west to Highway 98 in Walton County just east of Peach Creek. I’m unsure at this point how they will get over the water – maybe use the Highway 79 bridge as the connector?
Through a series of public meetings, planners will devise strategic development plans and engineering ideas to bring together both new sections of the proposed roadway. Early estimates for the planning portion of the widening Highway 388 ring in at around 36 months.
Thursday, January 22 a public workshop will be held at the Panama City Beach City Hall at the intersection of Back Beach Road and Highway 79 from 5:30 to 7 pm.
I know what you are thinking – what’s this rubbish. Why is jason posting pictures of plantlife, is he going all botanical and what-not? This my friend is a picture of the new shrubbery planted in the median of Beckrich Road. That’s right, they have plantlife in the median. Panama City Beach is moving on up in this world.
Started in September 2007, the Beckrich Road portion of the CRA is coming closer to completion each day. On schedule to be done by May, landscaping is being installed and final measures are taking place on the original, yet newly rehashed side of the road.
The final product will be four lanes of landscaped, medianed, sidewalked, street lamped roadway extending from Back Beach Road to Front Beach Road going through the intersection of Middle Beach Road or Hutchison Boulevard. All existing underground utilities were replaced and all electrical utilities were moved underground.
The east side of the stretch of Beckrich south of Middle Beach Road is dirt right now with preparations being made for paving.
This is what we can expect all of the main travel coridors of Panama City Beach to look like. All along Front Beach Road, the power and phone lines will be moved underground, the street will be widened and sidewalks and landscaping will be installed along the sides.
Construction at the new Panama City-Bay County International Airport continues to run smoothly and is currently about 3 and a half months ahead of schedule. A summary of the contracts underway follows.
- 115 pieces of heavy equipment in operation at any one time with approximately 160 personnel on site.
- 46% of time utilized (360 of 780 days).
- 37% of the 15” concrete paving lanes have been placed on 8,500 linear feet of Runway 16-34.
- On Taxiway D, all lime rock base and the majority of the first 2” lift of P-401 base have been placed.
- 12,902 tons of asphalt base course is in place along the Main Access Road (MRA) and loop road. Curb and lime rock base installation within terminal parking lots now 100% complete. Asphalt base course is in place over 75% of main parking lot.
- 34,888 tons of asphalt base and 20,000 cubic yards of structural concrete have been placed on 8,400 linear feet of Runway 16-34.
- 6,780 tons of asphalt base has been placed on Taxiway D, and the main apron.
- Stormwater drainage pipe installation is now 99% complete.
- Storm sewer installation within the General Aviation Area is now underway.
- Over 5.4 million cubic yards of earth has been moved (98% of total).
- Mass grading within Pond C now 90% complete.
- Gulf Power has completed installation of temporary overhead power to the Terminal Building location and site office trailers.
- Installation of reinforcing steel continues along Area’s A and B of the Terminal Building.
- New design of the Air Traffic Control Tower auger cast piles was required due to the original design not meeting the required load test. The original design required 72 piles drilled to a depth of 52 feet. The new design, based on the actual field load tests will require 44 piles drilled to a depth of 70.33 feet and 28 piles drilled to a depth of 80.33 feet.
- Rough-in of electrical and plumbing for the Air Cargo Facility is completed.
- Installation of mat reinforcing steel and dowels for the Air Cargo Facility is completed.
- Installation of the drainage structures for the Airport Maintenance Facility continues.
2008 has been a monumental year for us at pcbdaily. We’ve seen super awesome growth, expanded our content base tremendously and have reached out to more people than we had ever expected.
Looking back, the top stories covered good times and bad, with some of the bad times being good for others and some of the good times being bad for some.
4 of the top 10 articles talked about new additions to our area, namely Pier Park and the new Panama City Bay County International Airport (I know, we need a new name, and that will be addressed in 2009).
Walking around the mall, it is sometimes hard to imagine that this time last year, Pier Park’s roads were not even paved yet. Colorful buildings had been erect for some time, but the mall as a whole was still just under 2 months from opening. Looking back, it amazes me how quick somethings get done.
The new airport has hit milestones aplenty during 2008. Just a little over a year ago, the airport groundbreaking ceremony took place. When 2008 rolled in, the airport was caught in a legal battle with the NRDC and the Fiends of PFN.
In what was expected to draw out for months, the case was totally thrown out on January 25th, clearing the Airport Authority for construction immediately. The case was in many instances described as frivolous, and was not taken seriously by the judge. Opponents touted the failure of an affirmative vote in a non-binding referendum vote, but were never able to validate the fairness of the actual vote in regards to it being represented to all those affected.
For the new airport, 2008 brought the site from a stumpy, patchy 4,000 acre site to a cleared, grubbed site that is almost completely brought to grade with terminal parking installed, foundation work for the terminal complete, an asphalt-paved runway with some concrete and funding for a full 10,000 foot runway.
As the economy has plunged during 2008, so have real estate prices. Now, this has been a topic of hot debate on pcbdaily. I’ve oft been blasted by the Realtor community for spreading “bad news” and not “helping” the market by taking part in the media frenzy of negativity. However, the reality is, those that are complaining should be putting that energy into finding buyers because now is a great time to buy real estate.
Plunging prices mean good deals for all buyers. I understand the hesitation and skepticism, but things will not always be this way, and in 10 years, us agents will be doing our homework on baypa.net thinking to ourselves that we should have bought as much as possible back in 2008 and 2009 when prices were so cheap. 3 of the top 10 articles of 2008 were specifically about condo auctions in Panama City Beach. The Palazzo condo auction story took the cake, trailed by the Ocean Reef Auction and the cancelled Marina Landing auction. The Seahaven auction actually made it in the top 15 and is only a few weeks old.
The other 3 articles of the top 10 articles of 2008 on pcbdaily have to do with problems at local condos and the condo market as a whole. Laketown Wharf has been a sore topic for many with the developer being a self-proclaimed Trump with a Drawl – Jerry Wallace.
A largely vacant, 750 condo, elephantine monolith, Laketown Wharf actually had great aspirations, with some possibility of success had it come unto creation mid 2004. With huge swimming pools, a Balagio-style fountain/light show, a 650-seat live performance theatre, 5 restaurants and 1,000’s of square feet of retail space, it was planned to be almost a small town.
With less than 70 closings, it has been largely regarded as a complete and utter failure, but Laketown Wharf yet has a bright future with Corus stepping in. 2009 should bring something good for that development, hopefully.
Anyway, enough – enjoy the articles and looking back on 2008!
10.) Marina Landing Auction – CANCELED
9.) New Airport is on Schedule – Construction Update
8.) 35 Condos Sold at Ocean Reef Auction
7.) Pier Park – Margaritaville Grand Opening in Panama City Beach (video)
6.) Construction Update – New Panama City Bay County International Airport
5.) 50 Palazzo Condos Sold at Auction on Panama City Beach
4.) Problems at Nautilus Cove Condominiums?
3). Panama City Beach Condo Market Analysis After The Palazzo Auction
Construction at the new Panama City-Bay County International Airport continues to run smoothly and is currently about 3 and a half months ahead of schedule.
The entire project is about 35% complete, with the heavy civil portion, which includes the main runway, approximately 66% complete.
In general, almost 250 workers are regularly onsite each work day. Offsite quarries, asphalt plants, concrete pipe plants, truck drivers and other ancillary activities will normally employ another 350 people in significant activity.
As the terminal construction and utility installation contracts begin to ramp up after New Years, these numbers will increase
The foundation for the terminal building is underway with concrete being placed in the footers. Foundations are also underway for the various support buildings and the air traffic control tower. Concrete is being produced by local plants (offsite).
Approximately 40,000 tons of asphalt has been placed on the project to date. Contractors are currently paving the main apron areas.
Sands and fine aggregates are obtained from local sources while harder aggregates come from mines in Alabama and Marianna, Florida. Asphalt is mixed by CW Roberts in their Freeport and Panama City plants.
Approximately 55% of the main runway’s 15? concrete paving lanes are now in place.
Aggregates for the concrete are being sourced from local sand quarries and hard rock mines near Perry, Florida. Concrete is being placed by a team of local contractors that includes operators, finishers, and detailers.
To date 5.4 million cubic yards of earth has been moved on the project site.
Approximately 33,000 linear feet of reinforced concrete pipe has been produced locally and installed by the area’s contractors.
Over 40,000 linear feet of high-density plastic underdrains have also been installed.
Other local contractors are involved with providing dewatering pumps, erosion control and grass seeding.
Work on the underground utilities portion of the project is expected to begin on January 5, 2009.
The Bay County TDC is planning a dune enhancement project for Panama City Beach. This project is in the design phase, and the Bay County TDC is seeking comment on the design from the community. The TDC anticipates construction of the project in fall 2009, and project funding will originate from local bed tax dollars (beach nourishment fund) and a state cost-sharing grant.
In general, the project will include planting vegetation only for areas that have significant dunes, sufficient beach width, and/or existing sand fencing. In areas that lack a significant dune but have sufficient beach width, the project will include planting vegetation and constructing sand fencing.
The idea is to protect our beach against natural erosion and help beautify the very thing that makes our area so awesome. We need to protect our sand dunes.
The draft plans for the dune vegetation and sand fencing project can be reviewed online by clicking here or a hard copy of the plans can be reviewed at the Bay County TDC at 17001 Panama City Beach Pkwy, Panama City Beach, FL 32413.
These plans are preliminary and designed for comment from the Panama City Beach Gulf side property owners and the Bay County TDC. In particular, please contact the Bay County TDC at 850-233-5070 if you are a Gulf side property owner, and you do NOT desire vegetation planted and/or sand fencing constructed as proposed.
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