High rise condos coming to SoWal

[bsmart]

I saw some renderings of a Flatiron building on the DPZ webpage, that will be built at Alys Beach for office and retail units. As it looks, it may be pushing the limits of the height restriction.

~Brian.

 

[Smiling JOe]

I saw some renderings of a Flatiron building on the DPZ webpage, that will be built at Alys Beach for office and retail units. As it looks, it may be pushing the limits of the height restriction.

~Brian.

I think it is Alys Beach who has already received permission from the County to exceed the 50ft height limit for the Clock Tower, which the County says is a public benefit. The Clock Tower will be connected to a building, perhaps the one to which you refer.

 

[Moondance]

I think it is Alys Beach who has already received permission from the County to exceed the 50ft height limit for the Clock Tower, which the County says is a public benefit. The Clock Tower will be connected to a building, perhaps the one to which you refer.

Is the "public benefit" being able to more conveniently keep track of time (which, obviously, I can't do), or a cell tower site, perhaps?? ;-)

 

[phdphay]

I think it is Alys Beach who has already received permission from the County to exceed the 50ft height limit for the Clock Tower, which the County says is a public benefit. The Clock Tower will be connected to a building, perhaps the one to which you refer.

NO WAY! How do we fight *that*?

 

[Smiling JOe]

NO WAY! How do we fight *that*?

I don't think you can. It was a done deal sometime around the beginning of the year. I forgot the actual height, which varies depending on the basis used to measure, but I think it will be around 50'+/-. There were only a handful of us opposed to it at the County Meeting in which it was addressed.

 

[Camp Creek Kid]

I think it is Alys Beach who has already received permission from the County to exceed the 50ft height limit for the Clock Tower, which the County says is a public benefit. The Clock Tower will be connected to a building, perhaps the one to which you refer.

No, it was the "Inn at Rosemary Beach" that received the variance. Construction for that building is well underway and the tower is in place. It looks to be a very nice building and the height is not intrusive at all.

 

[Smiling JOe]

Thank you for the correction, CCK. Keeping up with all of these projects can be confusing sometimes.

 

[Santiago]

You are dead on about height limits having a positive effect on property values as well as quality of life. I have lived in SoWal since 96 and in my former profession talked to large numbers of people investing in the area. Almost all were of the opinion that the height limit was critical to them. If we sense that this relaxing of the height limit is something that could actually gain any momentum, we should begin the process of incorporation immediately. That is the only way that we can control our destiny. My .02 worth.

By the way, I make my living from real estate development.

 

[JasonKoertge]

I've heard that the new county commissioners are pro-development, and they will abolish the 50-foot height limit in SoWal. Supposedly there are over 2 dozen projects already drawn up that are waiting to be approved once the code is changed.

Anyone think this will happen or if it's a good idea?

In the spirit of old post resurrection, I thought this was an interesting conversation.

Having closely documented the real estate evolution in Panama City Beach, I don't think the large supply of high-rise condominium developments did anything great for Panama City Beach.

In some cases, it was done tastefully, but I feel, generally, across the board that they were allowed to be developed and not a lot of thought was put into the big picture of how it would look in the end or 20 years from now.

I have friends on the planning board there and friends that are property owners and were developers, so I say this with risk of offending.

However, I think that had we had a more stringent height limitations and better rules and regulations as to the types of developments and how they can be executed, we'd have a more tasteful product today.

With that said, Panama City Beach has come a long way and it's certainly a very popular destination.

BUT, I firmly believe the lower height limitations were absolutely critical in creating the more tasteful developments along 30A that led to a variety of higher-end product, better thought-out developments and ultimately higher property values and rent rates.