June 2025 | Carlton Proctor
Over the past five years, Northwest Florida — from Tallahassee to Panama City and Pensacola — has seen an epic surge of home building.
Tens of thousands of single-family homes, apartments and condominiums have been built, with many more thousands in the pipeline and currently under construction.
Of all these dwellings, one stands out from the rest.
Located within a few hundred yards of where Navy Federal Credit Union’s $1-billion campus in Pensacola sits, the 52 World complex includes 206 apartments, townhomes and lofts. Unlike other developments, the grounds and common meeting areas are populated with original art and more than two dozen sculptures by nationally and internationally recognized artists.
The outdoor art museum is the brainchild of Atlanta developer Harold Dawson Jr., the son of the late and legendary Atlanta developer Harold A. Dawson Sr.
His goal, says Tamara Bowens, president and COO of the Dawson Company, is to foster an atmosphere of creativity and communal engagement. “The goal is to stimulate a conversation with yourself or with your neighbors,” says Bowens. “Art, of course, is in the eye of the beholder, so whether it’s sparking debate with your spouse or a friend or just using it as a time to reflect and meditate on your day, that’s the idea and commitment behind Mr. Dawson’s vision.”
Named after the 52-acre site it occupies, 52 World is the company’s first solo project in Pensacola, but the Dawson Company is no stranger to the community.
Harold Dawson Jr. quietly moved into the Pensacola area in 2010, not long after the 2008 market crash and ensuing recession. He ended up partnering with then Pensacola developer and community leader Quint Studer to build a multistory office building on property within the new Community Maritime Park. A few years later, Dawson again partnered with Studer to develop a YMCA and the 258-unit Southtowne apartment building in downtown Pensacola.
Currently, the Dawson Company’s Inspired Communities of Florida division is teaming up with NFL Hall of Famer and former Dallas Cowboy running back Emmitt Smith, a Pensacola native, to build a Hard Rock International Reverb Hotel within Community Maritime Park.
“The goal is to stimulate a conversation with yourself or with your neighbors,” — Tamara Bowens, president and COO of the Dawson Company
The Reverb hotel project, which Bowens says has “real momentum,” will feature some 125 rooms, a full-service restaurant and a rooftop bar overlooking Pensacola Bay and the Blue Wahoos AA professional baseball stadium.
The Dawson Company’s commitment to Pensacola’s artistic community goes well beyond its 52 acres.
Every third Thursday of each month, weather permitting, 52 World’s docents offer a free guided art tour of the grounds and freestanding pieces of art and sculptures.
“Over the past several months, we’ve been developing a partnership with the University of West Florida to train art students as docents so they can learn the craft and become a paid museum docent if that is a career opportunity they want to pursue,” says Bowens.