Jul 07 2006
$500 Million Makeover

$500 million makeover
Developer behind the Hilton Garden Inn plans to revamp beach’s commercial core by Fredie Carmichael in the Pensacola News Journal.
A project is in the works on Pensacola Beach that would add nearly 700 new hotel-condominium units and reshape the look of development in the beach’s commercial core. Julian MacQueen announced the $500 million development project on Friday. It includes four phases to be built on 21 acres of land on both sides of Via de Luna. It also includes two hotels already built: the Hilton Garden Inn and the Hampton Inn. Another project, the Towers, which is under construction adjacent to the Hilton, is expected to be complete in spring 2007. It will add 94 suites and 15,000 square feet of meeting space. The new projects: ?The old Beachside Resort has been cleared to make way for a 500,000-square-foot development that will include a 17-story tower and 206 rooms. The old Windjammer condominium units will be included in this development. Also included: 25,000 square feet of meeting space and a 1,000-seat ballroom. ? Two 15-story towers on the Santa Rosa Sound side behind Wings. This project likely won’t begin until 2008 and also will include a 49-slip marina and boardwalk shops and boutique-style eateries. In the final phase of the project, the Hampton Inn will get about 120 new rooms, additional parking, a fresh look and, possibly, a new brand name, said MacQueen, CEO and founder of Innisfree Hotels Inc. Construction of the new buildings could be complete by 2010, he said. “This project will bring the entire beach up to a new level with new expectations,” MacQueen said. “We think this is the new core of Pensacola Beach. The revenues we’ll generate will change the way the (Santa Rosa) Island Authority is operated.” MacQueen’s development would change the look of the beach’s commercial core, once known for its small-scale motels, beachside bars and shops. Island Authority General Manager W.A. “Buck” Lee said he’s excited about the development. “We’d love to have it tomorrow,” Lee said. “Three years from now this place is going to look completely different, and it’s going to be nice.” The development will add to the beach’s stock of rooms. Before Hurricane Ivan struck on September 16, 2004, there were more than 1,200 rooms. Today, there are about 754. “I’ll take every one of them” said Sandy Johnston, executive director of Pensacola Beach Chamber of Commerce. “That gives us 700 more people staying on the beach,” she said. “On any given night, we might have two dozen rooms available” Thomas Blas, Santa Rosa Island Authority board chairman, said the development would help further establish Pensacola Beach as a resort destination. “Conceptually, it fits in with the idea that we want to get more hotel rooms in the core commercial area of the beach,” he said. “What Julian has done in the past has always been first class.” When MacQueen purchased the Beachside Resort property in 1994, it was, essentially, a biker bar, he said. The first time he walked inside, he found a handmade message painted on a 4-foot-by-8-foot piece of plywood behind the counter that said: “This hotel does not conform to state fire codes.” Still, MacQueen said he envisioned Pensacola Beach could one day become a resort destination. This project will help reach that goal, he said. “I wanted to prove that Pensacola Beach was as good as places like Destin and Gulf Shores,” MacQueen said. “Back then, it was almost a thing of ‘Build, and they will come.’ It was a risk. But once you’re a success, everybody wants to be a part of it.” The success of such places as the Hilton Garden Inn helped improve his credibility with potential financial backers, MacQueen said. “It’s helped me get the attention of national lenders who want to back us to be part of projects like this,” he said. Beach business owners also were happy to here the news. Lewis Irby, general manager at Crabs We Got Em, next to the Hampton Inn, said the proposed development would give them a nice boost in business. “That definitely would help us out a lot,” Irby said. “We’re still recovering from Ivan.”