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City says marina talks with City Marina Partners are advancing; 50-slip downtown target remains
Summary
City Manager Jonathan Hayes said the city is finalizing financial analysis with a second advisory firm and expects to return a negotiated proposal with City Marina Partners (CMP) for commission consideration, focusing first on building slips and operations while the uplands remain subject to Saint Joe’s right of first refusal.
City Manager Jonathan Hayes told commissioners at a Panama City virtual workshop that negotiations with City Marina Partners are advancing and that the city hopes to return a negotiated agreement for the downtown marina in July.
Hayes said the commission previously voted to bring in a second financial advisory firm (PFM) to review the proposal. That second review recently finished and “the preliminary reports I'm getting is that, what the financial advisors are saying will work. CMP has agreed to that, and so we need to just kinda finalize that,” Hayes said.
Why it matters: commissioners said downtown slips and upland redevelopment could reshape downtown access by water, add merchant and ad valorem tax base, and support waterfront businesses. Commissioners emphasized urgency for an initial 50-slip build-out while broader upland development and permitting proceed.
Hayes described two practical constraints: the uplands area adjacent to the docks lacks utilities and finished surfaces and Saint Joe (the adjacent landowner) holds a contractual first right of refusal on upland property. “There’s no real, we didn’t sense that there was an appetite to really commit CMP to having any automatic access to the uplands. That falls to, first, right of refusal is to Saint Joe,” Hayes said.
Commissioners debated how much the city must secure uplands access to make the marina financially viable. Commissioner Hughes said independent analyses differ and warned that restricting upland development could slow the project. “It's disingenuous to say that the docks are good and profitable without the uplands,” Hughes said, adding that upland improvements are where much of the value to the city and developer will come.
Hayes said operating the slips alone appears financially viable in the contracted analysis and that the commission’s first near-term goal is to have 50 slips completed downtown. He added that the full build-out across both basins would reach roughly 200–220 slips and that earlier estimates for slip construction ranged from about $18 million to $25 million for the slips alone; broader site redevelopment estimates discussed by commissioners ran as high as roughly $35–40 million.
There is no commission motion or binding decision recorded in the workshop. Hayes said staff plan to meet next week with PFM and CMP and anticipates bringing a contract back to the commission for consideration in July. Commissioners discussed staging permitting and public input, and several members said they want a public process that establishes clear city parameters for upland uses before long-term deals are finalized.
Ending: Commissioners and staff agreed to accelerate permitting and to return drafts and analyses to the commission for public review; the commission’s immediate objective is to secure and operate an initial set of downtown slips while continuing planning and community input on upland redevelopment.
