EMERALD BREEZE RESORT ON OKALOOSA ISLAND MOVING FORWARD

This unique Enhanced Use Leasing with the government has allowed for this 17-acre parcel on the Gulf of Mexico to be developed into a Resort for the public with special military discounts built in. This resort will bring a number of military personnel (Active and Retired)from around the country. There is presently only 3 similar projects for the military, which are located in Germany, Orlando, and Hawaii. Look out Fort Walton Beach, are you ready?

Developer, military negotiating hotel
By MONA MOORE
Northwest Florida Daily News 315-4443 | mmoore@nwfdailynews.com  

EGLIN AFB — The Emerald Breeze Resort might be years away from booking its first guest, but the base’s hotel project is closer to sealing a 50-year lease with developers. Representatives from Innisfree Development and contractor DCK Corp. have met with Eglin officials to negotiate the terms of the 50-year lease for a parcel of land on Okaloosa Island. “Which allows them to begin their design and permitting process and also to go out and start working on financing,” said Glenn Wagner, Eglin’s Enhanced Use Leasing program manager. The Air Force presented its Emerald Breeze Resort proposal in January 2009 as the best use for Test Site A-5 next to the Sheraton Four Points hotel. Wagner said construction of the proposed 17-acre military resort, which will also be open to the public, will begin once the lease agreement is signed. The agreement might be as long as a year away. The process was delayed by scheduling conflicts between Eglin and the developers. Also, the two parties have been treading carefully through the Enhanced Use Leasing, or EUL, process. “This is a new process, so we’re going fairly deliberately and carefully as we do it,” Wagner said. “Of course, the financing situation and the economy, right now, (are) not great. So it did not hurt anything that we were going a little slower.” The entire EUL process involves a concept opportunity study, a business case analysis, selecting the highest-ranked offer from a commercial business, negotiating and signing a lease and then construction. In addition to negotiating the cost of leasing the land, the base included generous military discounts in the proposed agreement. Since this EUL process is at the lease negotiation stage, Wagner did not have the final price tag of the lease agreement. “They’re (Innisfree and DCK) doing a lot of recalculations based on what they are going to get for financing, so it’s not really set yet,” he said. Under the EUL agreement, Innisfree will deposit lease payments into a third-party escrow account. Funds in the account will pay for maintenance projects on base and any expenses beyond the budget. “It’s called payment in kind,” Wagner said. Instead of paying Eglin cash, Innisfree will advertise for bids on the maintenance or construction projects and pay for them from the account. If previous projects are any indication, the system will provide more work to local companies. Though Emerald Breeze is Eglin’s first true EUL project, the base has made similar agreements with Okaloosa County and the Mid-Bay Bridge Authority. The Northwest Florida Regional Airport expansion is one example. Had the deal involved a regular lease agreement, the money would have gone directly to the Air Force. With the EUL process, the funds stay here and benefit Eglin and the local community. “Local people gain business from this,” Wagner said. “I would say, almost without exception, every time we request one of those two agencies to do some work on Eglin, that work is bid on and won by local firms right here.” So far, the resort’s plans have not changed. The first phase of the resort will still feature a beachfront pool, 150 rooms and two commercial spaces that will be available for lease. Future phases include at least 100 additional rooms. With 600 feet on the Gulf of Mexico, the resort will offer direct beach access. Alternative energy and other green features would be required “wherever feasible,” according to the Air Force’s plan. Once completed, Innisfree Hotels will manage the hotel. Innisfree owns the Holiday Inn Express and Hilton Garden Inn in Orange Beach, Ala., and the Hilton Pensacola Beach Gulf Front and Hampton Inn on Pensacola Beach.