Downtown Waterfront Hotel Announced for Panama City, Florida
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The St. Joe Company (NYSE: JOE) and the City of Panama City, Florida execute a long-term land lease to bring a new hotel and restaurant to Panama City’s downtown waterfront district. Under the terms of the lease St. Joe will lease a City-owned parcel to develop, construct and operate a waterfront hotel and standalone restaurant on a portion of the Panama City Marina property fronting beautiful St. Andrews Bay, which has a deep water channel to the Gulf of Mexico.
This agreement comes after nearly two years of planning, discussions and public meetings between St. Joe, the City and local residents. St. Joe initially expressed interest in the project in September of 2018 in a letter to the City and reaffirmed that interest in November of that year after Hurricane Michael, a Category 5 storm, caused significant damage to the City’s downtown district. In the time since, St. Joe has held four public events to gather feedback and share conceptual plans with local residents. “We believe that a vibrant downtown with a mix of residents, shoppers, businesses and visitors benefits the community as a whole,” said Jorge Gonzalez, President and CEO for St. Joe. “We are making this investment in downtown Panama City with the anticipation that it can be a catalyst for other investments that over time, will make downtown Panama City a vibrant destination to live, work and visit."
The hotel and restaurant represent the first step towards implementing the award-winning Strategic Vision for Historic Downtown created by renowned design firm Dover Kohl & Partners. The vision was adopted in 2019 following a community-led effort that included workshops, focus groups, town hall meetings and design charrettes. The vision documents can be seen at www.rebuildpc.org.
The leased property and most of the downtown Panama City area are in a Qualified Opportunity Zone (QOZ), federal capital gains tax incentive program that was created in 2017 to encourage private investment in order to spur economic development and job creation. St. Joe created a QOZ fund for the downtown Panama City area.
