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St. Joe hotel project on Panama City Marina moving forward

PANAMA CITY — By early 2020 work could start on a hotel at Panama City Marina under a non-binding memorandum of understanding (MOU) the Panama City Commission will consider at their Tuesday meeting.

In September, the St. Joe Company expressed their desire to build and operate a hotel with a restaurant as the first step in revitalizing the downtown area. The commissioners — who have been looking for a developer to take on the Panama City Marina for years — encouraged the efforts.

Five month and one devastating hurricane later, the commission is now looking to put an agreement and timeline for the project in writing.

The project being considered is a hotel that would not exceed five stories high, would include a restaurant and have approximately 100 rooms, according to city documents.

The St. Joe Company has said they will construct their hotel at their own expense. The city is looking to offer a long-term ground lease, with a rate based on the performance of the hotel the MOU reads, and would agree to annually allocate funds to spend marketing the entirety of downtown. St. Joe would collaborate on the marketing plan.

The agreement would also offer St. Joe “first right of consideration to (St. Joe) before offering other development and/or management opportunities at the Downtown Panama City Marina,” the document says.

The MOU is not a finalized document and can be changed at any time if both the city and St. Joe agree to it.

It sets the stage for a 10-month period of public comment, while the city works to negotiate a long-term lease. At the six month mark, St. Joe will prepare a preliminary conceptual design, to be presented to the city at the seven month mark.

By month 10, St, Joe would finalize the conceptual design under this agreement.

The timeline in the MOU, says the city and St. Joe would then spend the next three to six months negotiating the final lease. St. Joe will then apply for necessary permits on the execution of the lease and completion of plans.

Once the i’s are dotted and t’s are crossed, St. Joe would begin construction. The goal, according to a letter by City Attorney Nevin Zimmerman, would be to get to that point by early 2020.

The city commission meeting is Tuesday morning at 8 a.m. at the Bay County Government Center.

Lanier Motes