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Development
Tall Order
Developer Julian macQueen only recently saw workers pass the midpoint as they poured concrete floor by floor for Pensacola Beach's soon-to-be-tallest hotel, his 17-story The Towers. But he's already thinking ahead and has even posted renderings of what's coming next -- three more condo/hotels with 700 units in a $250-million plan.
The process will help remedy a 450-room shortfall of hotel space left by Hurricane Ivan -- and round out the cottagesto- condos makeover of Santa Rosa Island's commercial core.
MacQueen, CEO of Gulf Breeze-based Innisfree Hotels and the beach's largest hotel operator, has been a catalyst for change in the area since 1998. He bought an 11-acre site, razed 52 cinderblock cottages and opened his Hilton Garden Inn in 2003. Since then, he's purchased 10 additional acres and two more hotels. One is being replaced by the 94-unit, $47-million The Towers condo/hotel under construction. Also part of the $250-million blueprint: An 18-story Gulf-front tower, two 15-story structures, expansion of his Hampton Inn, a parking garage, marina, boardwalk and boutique eateries.
Pensacola Beach's setting provides a competitive advantage over other nearby beachfronts, says MacQueen: The area is flanked by 3,300 acres of Gulf Islands National Seashore to the east and west, and development regulations are weighted toward preservation.
"The natural setting of Florida is still intact," a result of Escambia County decisions for its portion of the island dating from the 1950s, MacQueen says.
Only 77 acres of the core area are designated for hotel development, contrasted with 600 for preservation and recreation, he notes.
MacQueen acknowledges that the softening real estate market could alter his projected four-year construction timetable. "We'll execute based on market demand,'' he says. "If you don't have sales, it's only a plan, not a project."
