Here is the news from Friday, August 9
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After more than a decade, Pensacola Community Maritime Park officially has a new tenant.
Inspired Communities of Florida’s lease for a proposed 240- to 280-unit apartment building and 125-room Hard Rock Reverb hotel in Maritime Park was approved by the Pensacola City Council Thursday night after a two-hour debate.
The Pensacola City Council voted 7-0 in favor of the 100-year lease after the council added an amendment requiring that at least 70% of the building’s street level be “activated” by some type of retail or office use, including “pop-up” retail stores that could be removed during severe weather.
Inspired Communities of Florida is working with EJ Smith Enterprises, the real estate development company owned by Emmitt Smith, to build the apartments and hotel. Smith was present at the council meeting for Thursday’s vote.
The developers will also use the Florida Live Local Act to convert 40% of the apartments into workforce housing with rents affordable to people earning between 80% and 120% of the Pensacola area median income.
According to the latest income data from the Florida Housing Finance Corporation, apartments with rents between $1,366 and $2,079 per month for a single-income household would be between 80 and 120 percent of AMI.
The developer is also commissioning Gensler, the world’s largest architectural firm, to design the building and Kravitz Design, a global concept design firm led by music and style icon Lenny Kravitz, to design the hotel’s interior.
The hotel will feature a full-service restaurant, a rooftop bar with views of Blue Wahoos Stadium and Pensacola Bay, a lobby bar and lounge, a quick service restaurant and a fitness center.
Pensacola Mayor DC Reeves said the lease is a critical step toward realizing the potential of the Community Maritime Park, which he first read about when he was a 22-year-old sports journalist intern in Dallas, Texas.
“We’re at a point where we can finally do what we promised,” Reeves said.
Previously: Twelve-story apartment and hotel complex planned for Community Maritime Park
Inspired Communities has held a lease option on the property since 2022 and has been negotiating with the city for two years.
Reeves had Amy Lovoy, Pensacola’s finance director, provide an analysis of the proposed lease compared to the 2022 option agreement approved by the City Council. She concluded that under the option agreement, the city would have generated only $500,000 in revenue through 2044, while under the proposed lease negotiated by Reeves’ administration, the city will generate $19 million in revenue through 2044.
According to the lease, the rent in 2024 is $30,250. In 2025, it increases to $184,250. Then by 2031, the rent is $275,000. After 2031, the rent increases by 5% every five years.
In addition, Inspired Communities will pay “common area fees” of $30,850 starting in 2026, and these fees will increase by 5% each year starting in 2031.
The lease also requires Inspired Communities to spend at least $55 million on design and construction, but developers expect the project cost to be closer to $150 million once completed.
The lease agreement requires developers to comply with the “contract with the municipality,” which requires that at least 70% of the contractors involved in the project must be local contractors.
The two developments would occupy what is known as “Lot 5,” located directly across Cedar Street from the main entrance to Blue Wahoos Stadium. Both buildings would be built on parking deck “podiums” of at least three stories and connected by a third-floor walkway that would also house retail or restaurant opportunities.
The parking deck would have recesses that would allow for pop-up markets or other uses, such as game days at Blue Wahoos Stadium.
Although the lease was approved unanimously, it did not appear at the beginning of the discussion that a unanimous vote was imminent.
Two council members, Jennifer Brahier and Allison Patton, wanted more certainty about the building’s design, with Brahier even going so far as to suggest that the design be resubmitted to the City Council at a later date.
Deputy Administrator David Forte said that even if the developer invokes the Live Local Act, which exempts it from height restrictions on that property, the project would still have to go before the Pensacola Planning Board for aesthetic review.
Reeves hired Marina Khoury, a partner at planning firm DPZ and one of the authors of the West Main Master Plan, to review the proposal for compliance with the plan intended to govern the development of the Maritime Park.
Khoury said in a letter she believes Inspire Communities’ plan meets the “intent and spirit” of the West Main Master Plan, with the exception of the ground floor. Khoury said she believes if the council requires 70% of activation with the pop-up concept that Inspired Communities has already proposed, the problem will be solved.
Council member Jared Moore prepared an amendment after reading the letter and introduced it Thursday afternoon. Representatives from Inspired Communities said they agreed with the amendment and the council voted to adopt it.
City Councilwoman Allison Patton emphasized that the city has great confidence in her to develop the property properly.
“This project is huge for our community,” Patton said. “We won’t do this again. It will really set the standard for Maritime Park.”
Under the lease, the developer has 12 months to obtain building permits from the city, and construction must begin within 45 days of receiving permits.
