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Business Alliance Calls For Escambia County To Deed Part of OLF-8 For Light Industrial Use
November 12, 2024
The Business Alliance of Escambia and Santa Rosa counties is calling for Escambia County to follow the master plan for the OLF-8 property on Nine Mile Road and deed a portion on of the property to another public entity for light industrial use.
The Business Alliance, a group of local business owners, wants the Escambia County Commission to deed light industrial acreages to the Pensacola-Escambia Development Commission (PEDC), which was established by the Florida Legislature in 1989 to actively seek new industry for the area, and expansion of existing industries.
Membership of the alliance approved the following positions:
- From the beginning, the OLF-8 land swap was intended to protect a valuable community asset by preserving and supporting the operations of Naval Air Station Whiting Field, specifically its activities related to OLF-8.
- Another benefit of the land swap, from its inception, was the potential for OLF-8 to serve as an asset for economic development and growth, particularly in terms of job creation.
- Escambia County has limited land resources zoned adequately to support ongoing efforts to attract new companies (and jobs) to the area, as well as retain growing industries that require expansion space.
- To remain competitive with neighboring regions, such as Alabama and Mississippi, it is imperative that Escambia County retain public ownership over its industrial-zoned real estate inventory and further develop it to a shovel ready condition.
- Transferring the “commerce park” portion of the DPZ Master Plan to the Pensacola-Escambia Development Commission (PEDC) will ensure public ownership and provide the local economic development organization with the inventory needed to achieve its objectives of recruiting and retaining businesses, thereby promoting job and economic growth for the citizens of Escambia County.
- Additionally, ownership of the “commerce park” by PEDC will lead to a more financially stable economic development effort, allowing the organization to retain tangible assets and generate future revenue from leasing various parcels throughout the park.
- While the Business Alliance supports the commissioners’ efforts to address the needs of residents near OLF-8 through the Master Development Plan—particularly the mixed-use aspects of the property—the Business Alliance believes that an independent appraiser’s current market valuation is necessary to adequately market and negotiate the sale of the mixed-use portion to private developers.
Members of the Business Alliance of Escambia and Santa Rosa Counties are:
- Achieve Escambia
- Another Broken Egg
- Ascension Sacred Heart
- Baptist Health Care
- Baskerville Donovan
- Cat Country/ADX Communications
- Clear Title
- Cox Communications
- Emmanuel Sheppard & Condon
- Escambia Co. Schools Foundation
- Florida Blue
- Florida Power & Light
- Florida West EDA
- Florida’s Great Northwest
- FSU Credit Union
- Gibson & Associates
- Gilmore
- Grace Hebert Curtis Architects
- Greater Pensacola Chamber of Commerce
- Greika Realty
- Gulf Breeze Chamber of Commerce
- Gulf Coast Kids House
- Gulf Coast Minority Chamber of Commerce
- Hancock Whitney
- HCA Florida West Hospital
- Institute for Human & Machine Cognition
- LandrumHR
- LIfeView Group
- MidSouth Bank
- Moorhead Law Group
- Nemours
- NW Florida Defense Coalition
- PenAir Credit Union
- Pensacola Beach Chamber of Commerce
- Pensacola Habitat for Humanity
- Pensacola State College
- Perdido Key Chamber of Commerce
- Saltmarsh, Cleveland, & Gund, CPA
- ServisFirst Bank
- The Lewis Bear Company
- University of West Florida
NorthEscambia.com photo, click to enlarge.
Comments
10 Responses to “Business Alliance Calls For Escambia County To Deed Part of OLF-8 For Light Industrial Use”
Divide it accordingly as outlined and hopefully everyone is happy. Business, public and environmental.
My vision is a giant park like NEW YORKs CENTRAL PARK
‘Can’t get OLF8 from Navy so they took LBC for Navy Federal and with their magic wand they got OLF8 for Industrial Ai craft Manufacturing Complex. It fizzled out.
In DIsney movie Jungle Book the Lion and Bear are fighting over the boy child. On a tree limb are 3 Buzzards jumping up and down yelling “What to do. What to do. What to do”. This the dilemma that BOCC is in. So much invested and no benefit.
JUST SELL IT, and be done with it. The county has wasted enough money on this boondoggle trying to sell it, keep it, split it, or what ever. That they will be breaking almost even when they do get rid of it.
Please let this stay natural…develop it into a park…
Do something like Bruce Beach…
Something all the citizens could enjoy and benefit from now until the end.
Anything manmade built there is going to fade like an old penny…and it will look like every other generic place in suburban America.
A continuation of the park developed at Navy Federal would be amazing…being able to walk across that vast field at sunset…have room to run/do things…
325 acres x 4HOUSES = 1400 x $400K(CHEAP HOUSES) = AWHOLE LOT OF TAX MONEY PER YEAR WITH AN INCREASE OF VALUE AT MINI 3% EACH YEAR…..
WHAT A RETURN ON YOUR MONEY!
YES
that’s a really pretty picture of the area. Too bad it just can’t stay undeveloped.
The ENTIRE parcel should be developed for jobs. Not houses.
They should do it. The purpose of the swap was for economic development.