Airport To Sell For $99 Million

PANAMA CITY - The existing Panama City-Bay County International Airport property will be sold for $99 million to Pittsburgh-based PCA Development LLC, the Airport Authority announced.

The authority unanimously approved the purchase of the 715-acre Panama City site to the developer after months of negotiating.

Under the deal, the Airport Authority receives only a line of credit until the airport is relocated to West Bay and the old airport is decommissioned and transferred to PCA. Once it gets the title, PCA will pay $61 million.

The company also will pay the authority a percentage of profits from sales of parcels within the development for 90 years.

Airport officials said that over the next 30 years, they could expect to receive $38 million from PCA in these fees.

Airport officials and PCA now have about 45 days to negotiate the final contract.

The contract could fall through if the Airport Authority does not complete the new airport in 54 months, vice chairman Bill Cramer said. Cramer said he and other airport officials are confident the new airport will be completed by then. Even if it’s not, the contract could be extended, he said.

The Airport Authority plans to relocate the Panama City-Bay County International Airport to a 4,000-acre, St. Joe Co.-donated site at West Bay. The $331 million relocation project is to be funded in thirds by state grants, federal grants and the sale of the current airport property, coupled with bonds floated by the authority.

While its development plan needs approval by various government entities, PCA proposes a mix of residential and commercial buildings, as well as an entertainment district, open spaces and an “environmentally sensitive” marina.

In its proposal to the Airport Authority, PCA promised to have houses for several budgets, including single-family housing, affordable and market-rate multi-family housing, and assisted-living facilities. There will be a site for a school and emergency services as well as an “upscale hotel and conference center.”

H. Vaughan Blaxter, the spokesman for PCA, said the company would build a project that would make the community proud.

Although Airport Authority member Gerry Clemons joined the unanimous vote, he said he had reservations about the sale. Clemons said he was fond of a $60 million bid from Utah-based Community Airport Redevelopment LLC, or CAR. However, CAR took its bid off the table earlier this month.

“In the practical sense, we only had one bid we were dealing with,” Clemons said.

The Airport Authority also agreed to work out a fall-back contract with CAR so it will be prepared to sell to CAR if the deal with PCA falls through.

Larry Pinnock, a vice president with Leucadia Financial Corp., a group he described as CAR’s management company, said airport officials ignored their own time lines.

“The struggle we continue to have is that dates slide,” Pinnock told the Airport Authority.

After the meeting, Pinnock described the contract negotiations as ambiguous and said it was difficult to get answers to important questions about the airport site. He likened it to buying a car when the dealer won’t tell you about the warranty.

“The importance of the contract was ignored,” Pinnock said. “There was no agreement in place to know who was responsible for what.”

Cramer said during the meeting that the Airport Authority had made “target dates” to give both sides a time line.

“We’re not going to throw out the process because a date has passed,” Cramer said.

Panama City Mayor Scott Clemons said he has seen the construction proposals from both CAR and PCA. He described both as attractive and well planned.

However, the city also must weigh what it can provide in infrastructure and density needs before rezoning the area, Clemons said, adding that whatever is built on the site should be consistent with the current character of Panama City.