The Next Great Growth
Region of Florida
March 27, 2010
A Presentation of the Potential Growth
in Central Northwest Florida by:
5 Miracle Strip Loop, Suite 14
Panama City Beach Florida 32407
The Region
New International
Airport
This presentation centers on the Central Counties of
Northwest Florida: Bay, Walton, Washington,
Holmes, Jackson Calhoun, and Gulf
DISCLAIMER
This presentation presents information about the
infrastructure and other macro economic
improvements in the region that is factual.
It also presents “forward looking statements” within
the meaning of the Private Securities Litigation
Reform Act of 1995, including statements about our
beliefs, projections, and estimations. Forward-looking
statements involve risk and uncertainty, and there
can be no assurance that the results described in
such statements will be realized.
Why Here? Why Now?
Unprecedented public expenditure on transportation
infrastructure
Preponderance of scenic waterfronts and underutilized
natural places
First new international airport built under the rules of
Homeland Security with potential of a 12,500 feet or
longer runway and its international implications
Strong economic incentives and business environment
Opportunity to put-into-practice 50 years of lessons
learned & best management practices from all over
Florida to do it better
Regional Strengths and Opportunities
71,000+ acre West Bay Sector Area Plan (Florida’s largest
single master-planned development) including America’s first
“green” international airport
New transportation corridor including the West Bay Parkway
and the Gulf Coast Parkway, the expansions of existing
corridors including State Highways 79 & 77, and the potential
of a new Interstate-style corridor into Alabama tying the region
to neighboring states & allowing goods to reach more than 60
% of the U.S. and parts of Canada within a single day
A deep-water port (the Port of Panama City), which is
designated a foreign trade zone, offering companies the
potential for substantial transportation savings, as well as
necessary rail corridors. The Region is poised to become a
strong multimodal market.
Regional Strengths and Opportunities Cont’d.
Highly-skilled workforce with many transferable skills
from the region's multiple military installations and
including community colleges and a major university.
Right-to-work guaranteed by the Florida Constitution;
very low unionization rate of 6.8%, one of the lowest in
the US (Bureau of Labor Statistics, 2002)
Utility rates among the
lowest in the Southeast
Soon-to-be the corporate home
of the St. Joe Company
Regional Strengths and Opportunities Cont’d.
The State of Florida considers
warehousing and distribution to be a
Qualified Target Industry
Aggressive incentives: no inventory tax, no
franchise tax, no state level property tax
and an enterprise zone for an additional
package of incentives
Shovel-ready and entitled sites with
proximity to rail and interstate frontage
West Bay Sector
Area Plan (SAP)
This 71,000+ acre master-planned greenfield development of the St.
Joe Company is the largest ever in Florida
The cornerstone for the project is the new state-of-the-art and first
ever “Green” such facility: Northwest Florida Beaches International
Airport with potential runway lengths of up to 12,000 feet (ideal for the
possible relocation of FedEx, UPS, DHL, USPS, etc. international operations
centers)
4.4M square feet of commercial, professional offices and services,
and industrial uses, as well as up to 27,000 residential units.
Preserving half of the SAP lands in perpetuity, while providing higher
quality wetlands as well as marinas and other recreational amenities
West Bay
Sector
Area Plan
Map
International
Airport
PUBLIC ANNOUNCEMENTS
(THUS FAR)
In September 2009 the St. Joe Company
announced the hiring of Kevin Johnson to head
the economic development of the West Bay
Project. Mr. Johnson has stated that the
“number one target is the aerospace industry.”
In October 2009 an Aerospace Alliance was
formed that includes this area
In December 2009 Southwest Airlines
announced that they will serve the new Airport
with eight daily non-stop flights
PUBLIC ANNOUNCEMENTS
(THUS FAR)
In February of 2010 Delta Airlines
announced that they will offer larger jets
and two additional daily flights at the new
Airport.
In March 0f 2010 St. Joe announced that
they will relocate their corporate
headquarters to the West Bay Project.
GROWTH PROJECTIONS:
Projected, but not announced publicly, developments to occur as part
of the West Bay SAP include major distribution facilities for FedEx
and UPS. These firms plan to develop processing centers for their
distribution network expansion as part of a “Global Portal”
connection to Singapore and other major airport distribution centers.
This new business model could eliminate over a dozen collective
“international hubs” to realize significant reductions in cost. The new
generation of “jumbo jets” by Airbus and Boeing can accommodate
two and a half times more cargo, operate at 25% less fuel costs, and
can fly halfway around the globe on one fuel load. These new planes
need a certain length of runway to operate at maximum efficiency and
due to their delivery capacities will need volume processing
distribution capability (minimum of 12,000 feet in length). At the
unique convergence of the paradigm-shift technological evolution in
aircraft construction and more efficient engines, as well as being
within effective range of over half of the globe, the new Airport is
literally at the right place at the right time. The unparalleled amount
of greenfield land in adjacency to the new Airport offers growth for
regional and national corporate headquarters in less travel time to all
parts of the world.
GROWTH PROJECTIONS:
The long-awaited announcements from FedEx,
UPS and other major distribution firms to be part
of the Regional Employment Center will occur
soon after a larger announcement in terms of
area growth—the public declaration that NASA
will build a new facility within the Project. Three
separate sources involved directly with the
development and marketing of the West Bay
Project have confirmed that NASA will announce
soon (possibly by April 15, 2010). NASA will
obtain 14,000 acres abutting on the north side of
the Airport and, as part of their development; the
primary runway will be increased in length to
15,000 feet to accommodate the landing
requirements of the shuttle vehicles.
GROWTH PROJECTIONS CONTINUED:
This NASA facility comes as a result of the efforts of the newly
established Aerospace Alliance—a 4-state coalition (Florida,
Mississippi, Louisiana and Alabama) whose goal is to establish
the Gulf Coast region, from Tallahassee, Fla., through New
Orleans, La., as a world-class aviation, aerospace and defense
corridor. The Aerospace Alliance membership includes
business leaders, economic development professionals and
government officials from four states who will promote the
region’s tradition of excellence in the aerospace and aviation
industry. The Gulf Coast region is already home to some of the
world’s most advanced aerospace installations, a number of
key NASA facilities and numerous military installations critical
to the Department of Defense missions and training. The Gulf
Coast region is conveniently located to markets throughout the
United States and offers access to global markets via
numerous deep water ports and the new International Airport.
GROWTH PROJECTIONS CONTINUED:
Our sources for this “new growth” project the creation of
at least 100,000 new jobs over the next five years (2014).
The creation of such a large number of jobs will generate
the overall expansion of an estimated additional 22,500
jobs. This combined number of jobs will project to
increase the population of the Panama City/Panama City
Beach Market Area by an estimated 256,000 by 2014.
Additionally, this new growth projects to have a higher
percentage of scientific, engineering and high-technology
jobs and will increase the median household income for
the market by an estimated 16.5%.
Knight Family Trust Announcement
In December of 2008, representatives of the Knight
Family Trust officially held their “Scoping Meeting”–
a requirement of moving forward with a Sector Area
Plan. The land area for this proposed masterplanned development encompasses approximately
55,000 acres (see map on next slide). Although
their representatives did not confirm any specifics of
their future development, the proposed sector area
plan would be one of Florida’s largest such
developments. The name for the project is the
North Bay Sector Area Plan.
Knight Family Trust Land
48,250 +/- acres
Unprecedented Transportation
System Improvements Projects
Moving Forward
List of Major Roadway Improvements
Gulf Coast Parkway – A new four-lane road to open up the East
Bay County and Gulf County areas for development and provide
direct access to the new International Airport from the Mexico
Beach area, as well as improving hurricane evacuation capability
The four-laning of State Roads 79 and 77 (north-South routes)
that straddle the new International Airport, as well as a later
expansion of State Road 20 (an east-west route) which runs
across the northern boundary of the West Bay Sector Area Plan
and bisects the potential Knight Family Trust development
The various four-lane roads to be built by the Northwest Florida
Transportation Corridor Authority improving East-West traffic flow
and accessing the Airport, as well as the West Bay Parkway
The north-south interstate quality limited-access road from
Montgomery, AL to Panama City Beach (formerly planned as an
extension of the Interstate Highway System)
Transportation Infrastructure Improvements
The Gulf Coast Parkway
This 4-Lane divided highway
will initially stretch
from U.S. Hwy. 231 South to U.S. Hwy. 98 near
Mexico Beach
The corridor will eventually extend northward to
the new international airport
Designed to improve hurricane evacuation,
reduce traffic on existing Hwy. 98 thru Tyndall
A.F.B., open up vast land for development, &
connect Gulf County & the region further south
to the new airport
See Map on next page
Proposed Gulf Coast Parkway Map
The Proposed PRIVATE InterstateStyle North-South Corridor
This planned toll road route will be a limited
access interstate quality route from Montgomery
to Panama City Beach opening up the entire
country for vehicular access
The northern terminus will be connected to I-65
near the southern boundary of Montgomery and
the southern terminus will be U.S. Hwy. 98
(Back Beach Road) in Panama City Beach
This privately financed toll road is under the
direction of a group called Focus 2000 of the
Wiregrass, Inc.
Original
Interstate I-65
Connector Routes
This extension to the
Interstate System
would have stretched
from Montgomery
Southward to U.S. Hwy
98 (Panama City Beach
Parkway)
Due to years of not
gaining any traction for
funding or agreement
to expand the Interstate
System, this project
has been replaced by
the new Private Toll
Road
Approximate Route of the New Private Toll Road
No definitive Route has been
presented yet—stay tuned
State DOT Road Improvements to 4-Lane Divided
Highways in
Bay County
Includes:
Gulf Coast Parkway
State Road 77
State Road 79
& potentially State Road 20
Improved Highways North Of Bay County
Denotes 4-Laned Routes
The Northwest Florida
Transportation
Corridor Authority
Created by the 2005 Florida Legislature. The
establishment of such authorities around the State have
previously been to address transportation hardships and
problems AFTER they have manifested in urban areas.
In the Great Northwest of Florida this Authority is created
PRIOR to the level of transportation problems—such a
novel idea of planning infrastructure before the need and
constructing it ahead of the problems.
The primary purpose of the authority is to improve
mobility on the US 98 corridor in Northwest Florida to
enhance traveler safety, identify and develop hurricane
evacuation routes, promote economic development
along the corridor, and implement transportation projects
to alleviate current or anticipated traffic congestion.
The Northwest Florida Transportation
Corridor Authority Continued
The Authority is authorized to construct any feeder
roads, reliever roads, connector roads, bypasses, or
appurtenant facilities that are intended to improve
mobility along the US 98 corridor.
The Authority is further authorized to plan, design,
finance, and construct transportation improvement
projects. The NFTCA may acquire and hold title to
property that will accommodate the development of
transportation facilities.
Additionally, the Authority may seek financial assistance
from local, State and the Federal government as well as
private entities. The NFTCA is also authorized to
implement toll facilities to aid in funding projects.
NFTCA Proposed Improvements in the
Central NW Florida Area
COASTAL BAY COUNTY
Bay County’s coastal beaches and bayfront land has escalated in value in
excess of 200% average from 2001 to 2005, but still has over 70% of its
land area lying vacant
Other Regional Improvements
Pier Park, a state-of-the-art shopping
complex of 1.1 million square feet is open
& growing in Panama City Beach
Other Regional Improvements
FSU is building their world-class Marine
Sciences Institute & larger campus in Lynn
Haven
Other Regional Improvements
Tyndall A.F. Base is growing due to mission
increase by the BRAC Commission
Other Regional Improvements
Old airport site to
be redeveloped
into a 750 acre
Town Center in
Panama City
as possibly the
Uptown of
Panama City
The history of this part of the Sunshine State is the story of starts and misses.
Our growth for fifty years after World War II was painfully slow (average of less
than 1.8% per year) in spite of being a land of remarkable natural beauty and
other assets.
The area is primed for unprecedented growth with the crescendo being the May
23, 2010 opening of the new international airport—positioning this region as a
facility-blessed global gateway
The influx of new & unprecedented capital and the associated skill sets of quality
developers, as well as the strategic advantage of the largest land owner in the
State having such a strong local presence, uniquely sets the stage.
The End
(or is it really only the Beginning?)
A PRESENTATION OF
A holistic land planning practice specializing in sustainable and creative design
and navigating the growth management entitlement maze of the State of Florida
Headquarters:
5 Miracle Strip Loop, Suite 14
Panama City Beach, FL 32407
(850) 249-LAND (5263)