The new Walmart going in next to Pier Park is heavy underway and great progress can be seen on daily basis.  If you remember the parcel where Walmart will be, you’ll probably remember it was largely vacant but bordered with tree cover.  The tree cover was heavy enough so that you couldn’t really see around the corner at the Powell Adams and Back Beach Road intersection.  Well, not so now!

I’ll be the first to admit, the construction of a new Walmart in Panama City Beach isn’t exactly a riveting sight to be seen.  It’s sort of like watching grass grow during the early phases since a lot of the work being done for the first half of the construction tenure is ground work.  But as things start moving, we’ll show you more pix – and we hope that as we follow the timeline, the progress will seem at least a little interesting.  😉

Aerial Google Map of what it was.

This was captured today and shows an image of what the property looked like before any construction was begun.  The parking lot in the upper left corner belongs to Target, the neighborhood on the right of the image is Summerwood with Palmetto Trace being right across the street (Back Beach Road) from there.

Taken from the NE, looking SW

This image was taken from the south side of Back Beach Road, looking towards the south (technically), but facing a little west.  The condo on the right in the image is Calypso with Aqua on the left.  You can see a little smidge of Target on the far right middle of the image.  This picture is likely looking over where an outparcel will be.

Looking at NW corner of the Walmart parcel

This image was taken to show how clearly you can now see around this corner.  Before there was heavy tree covering hear and it was difficult to see around the corner.  Now you can see straight across.  I’m not one for cutting down a bunch of trees, but it is nice to be able to see through this intersection much more clearly now.

Another view of the NW corner of the Walmart parcel

This view shows you how clear that corner is now.  When construction is complete, this particular intersection will be signalized and should be much safer than it now is.

View from the NW looking SE

In this image, we’re looking from the NW corner of the Walmart parcel next to Pier Park.  The image is facing the southeast.  The building you see in the very middle (next to the truck) is Legacy by the Sea, the you have Origin at Seahaven, Sunrise Beach then Emerald Beach Resort.  You can see the vastness of the property in this image and just how much land has been cleared.  We are likely looking over an outparcel in this shot.

The widened view down Powell Adams

 

As discussed, along with a new Walmart, Panama City Beach is getting an advanced treatment to Powell Adams Road that the CRA wouldn’t be able to perform for years.  We’ll have an update on the completion of the South Thomas Drive CRA in a couple days, which will give you an idea of how this stretch of road will look and feel.  For someone who just traveled the newly improved South Thomas Drive yesterday, we’ll be in for a real treat here.  This shot shows the preparation for making the widening provisions.

 Construction entrance to the project

Maybe this is the norm nowadays, but I thought this was particularly cool.  They have a “zone” where exiting vehicles are washed while resting on a bed of large rocks to help minimize the amount of soil that exits the property and is deposited on the roadways.

Looking NE from the SW

This shot looks form the southwest looking towards the northeast.  The water was actually from the legacy pond that has been formed over the years this property sat vacant.  I’m not sure whether this will be used as a retention pond or if it will be filled in.  This is the back part of the parcel.