PANAMA CITY Fla. (WMBB) — After years of planning, the City of Panama City announces a proposal for a waterfront hotel and restaurant at the Panama City marina.
The project would be fully funded by the St. Joe Company and will not cost the public any taxpayer dollars.
As of now, Panama City is the largest coastal city in Florida that does not have a waterfront hotel.
Mayor Greg Brudnicki believes this investment will help to make downtown more vibrant.
“There must be a reason that everyone has one in every city so they must be successful,” said Brudnicki.
At Tuesdays commission meeting representatives from the St. Joe Company introduced the plans which do not just include a hotel, but also an indoor/outdoor restaurant, an event space and other outdoor activities.
“Finally,” said Brudnicki. “We’ve had so many things you know about the weather and the covid and all these different things have forted our efforts to move forward.”
Brudnicki says this project has been in the works for a long time, but they did not want to go through with it until they found a partner they could trust with a true vision like the St. Joe Company.
The journey began in 2018 when the St. Joe Company sent their original letter of interest, but unexpected obstacles pushed them back.
This project will not use any public dollars and will be instead 100 percent funded by the St. Joe Company. The city will also receive a percentage of revenue from the operations.
A public hearing will be held in two weeks at the panama city commission meeting to officially approve the lease and move forward with the project.
If all goes as planned construction for the project will start early next year.