Escambia County Entering New Negotiations For Entirety Of The OLF-8 Property

October 6, 2024

There’s a new top contender to purchase the county-owned OLF-8 property on Nine Mile Road.

The most recent group to express interest in buying the property is partnership between Jim Wilson & Associates (JWA), a Montgomery, Alabama, based commercial real estate developer, Chad Henderson, CEO and founder of Pensacola-based Catalyst Healthcare Real Estate, and former Pensacola mayor Ashton Hayward, now a real estate developer.

The group has not offered a specific dollar figure yet, but the Escambia County Commission will move forward with negotiations to establish a number and negotiate a purchase contract. They plan a mixed use development with retail and entertainment, office, hotels, medical and light industry.

Collectively, the proposers stated that they believe the interests of the county and public “re best served by having one developer responsible for the planning and overall control of the development.” They said that process allows of the use of a master plan with assured compliance.

The group want to purchase all 330 acres, perhaps folding two existing proposals for smaller parcels on the northern fringes of the property into their plan.

“I realized the great importance and the magnitude of the stewardship that it would take to do this the right way and so myself and my partner, JW Associates, are super excited about exploring developing this property the right way in the best interest of all involved,” Henderson told the commission.

“The OLF-8 project offers a generational opportunity to apply a multitude of lessons, experiences, and resources with great stewardship while creating a significant amount of positive impact on the greater region, Henderson said in an email to the county.

“I think it’s reasonable to see these folks as a potential partner that can put the northern half in place that I know is very important to all of us,” Escambia County Commission Chairman Steven Barry said. Commissioners have discussed the northern half of the property being used for job creation. “Ideally…to allow Wes (Moreno, county administrator) and Alison (Rogers, county attorney) the opportunity to try to negotiate a purchase contract that may come back to the board in the future.

“All of our districts..contributed to the purchase of this property,” District 3 Commissioner Lumon May said. All citizens; I see this as a universal project for that citizens that all should get an ROI (return on investment) on their investments. For more constituents that I serve, there has to be a mutual benefit.”

May added, “we can talk about affordability and all those things, but if we don’t create a job that allows someone to live on that land, then what have we done?”

“I’m excited for the future of that projet now that it looks like we’ve got some interest and a group that I feel can really take it down and do it the right way,” District 1 Commissioner Jeff Bergosh said. “I look forward to watching that develop…It’s going to be a great project, and it’s going to be great for Beulah.”

District 2 Commissioner Mike Kohler said that liked the idea of selling the whole property and not a portion.

“I think the board is moving in the right direction now,” Kohler added.

The county has not moved forward with other offers for the property, mostly due to contract term sticking points.

In May, Beulah TownCenter, LLC (BTC) and developer Fred Hemmer  increased their purchase offer to $25 million for 290 acres, but did not make an offer for the entire acreage.

“I think that we should at least give Fred (Hemmer) an opportunity to compete,” Kohler said.

“They are welcomed to make a further offer,” Barry responded. “If Fred and Beulah Town Center want to have some more communications with the board, they are welcome to send them our way.”

Locally, Catalyst Healthcare Real Estate was the developer for the East Garden District in downtown Pensacola, the planned mixed use development Ransley Station on Pine Forest Road at I-10, and the the medical office building on the new Baptist Hospital Campus on Brent Lane.  In the area, JWA developed the 330 acre planned community known as Eastchase and other developments in Montgomery, and a mall in Biloxi.

In January 2019, Escambia County acquired OLF-8 in a land swap with the U.S. Navy for property Escambia County purchased in Santa Rosa County for over $17 million.

Pictured top: The OLF-8 property frontage on Nine Mile Road. NorthEsambia.com photo, click to enlarge.

Comments





Have a comment on this story?

We welcome your comments on this story, but there are some rules to follow::

(1) Be Nice. No comments that slander another, no racism, no sexism, no personal attacks.

(2) No Harrassing Comments. If someone says something bad about you, don't respond. That's childish.

(3) No Libel. That's saying something is not true about someone. Don't do it.

(4) Keep it clean. Nothing vulgar, obscene or sexually related. No profanity or obvious substitutions. Period.

(5) NorthEscambia.com reserves the right to remove any comments that violate our rules or we think to be inappropriate. We are not responsible for what is posted. Comments may not appear right away until they are approved by a moderator.

(6) Limit your comments to the subject in this story only, and limit comments to 300 words or less. Do not post copyrighted material. Comments will not be added to stories that are over 30 days old.

(7) No posts may advertise a commercial business, political candidate or political group, or link to another commercial web site or political site of any kind.

Written by William Reynolds · Filed Under TOP STORIES 

  NEfb