As promised, the economic future of Crestview gets brighter and brighter. All I can say, and continue to say, you haven’t seen anything yet, as many more initiatives to bring more prosperity to Crestview and the surrounding area are in the works. With this said, one of the biggest challenges will be, where are these people going to shop? Hopefully, lending world will cooperate to assist our local developers in the local area to meet this targeted growth in the Crestview area.
Firms eyeing Crestview could bring hundreds of jobs
Growth potential is ‘phenomenal’ in the area, EDC representative says
By BRIAN HUGHES
682-6524 @cnbBrian brianh@crestviewbulletin.com
CRESTVIEW — Four companies could bring more than 300 jobs to town, according to Kay Rasmussen, vice president of community and economic development for the Okaloosa County Economic Development Council. Rasmussen made the announcement at a recent Crestview City Council meeting. Of the 25 projects the EDC is pursuing, half are in the Crestview area, said Rasmussen, who noted that “four are strong candidates.” Because of confidentiality laws, she could not identify the firms, although it is known that “Project Pill” is an ongoing effort to lure Alabama-based Southern Pharmaceutical to open a plant in Crestview. “Project Pill is in the final stage of negotiations,” Rasmussen said. “Project Pill has restructured what they are looking for. It would result in an increased capital investment as well as an increased number of jobs. The EDC is working with them on their needs. We’re very confident this is going to happen and we’re working with them to meet their new needs.” Project Clark, an effort to lure a business to open in Crestview’s city limits, and Project Indian, another effort to locate a firm just outside the city, are new undertakings. Their combined projects “will contribute over 300 new jobs,” Rasmussen said. “Project Qwest II, this is a very promising project,” she also reported. “It would locate a corporate headquarters here along with a 100,000-square-foot refurbishing center and would create approximately 75 to 100 new jobs.” Rasmussen said the expansion of Qwest Air Parts, one of Bob Sikes Airport’s newest tenants, possibly might be accomplished with BP funds from the Restore Act, which allocates money to create new jobs in areas affected by the 2010 oil spill. “The trend that everyone is seeing is the growth potential that is actually taking place in and around the city,” Rasmussen said after the presentation. “It is phenomenal.”
Wednesday, April 18, 2012
Sunday, April 15, 2012
MORE FOLKS IN THE COUNTRY HAVE FOUND THE PANHANDLE OF FLORIDA A PLACE TO VACATION - TOURISM RECORDS CONTINUE TO BE BROKEN
As Mark Bellinger of the Tourist Development Council has noted, The Emerald Coast should have a record breaking year. Our sister company, Southern Resorts, one of the top vacation rental companies in our area, has reported reservations for deep into the year and have been made. As seen by the large amount of traffic in the Fall and Winter, it is quite obvious a large amount of Baby Boomers/Snow birds are making the Panhandle a place to call home during this time of year.
Strong spring tourism buoys hope for summer
By MATT ALGARIN and JORDAN SWANSON
The Destin Log
DESTIN — Spring breakers come for the sun, surf and sand. But they stay for the shopping and snacking. “We’ve spent a lot of money at the restaurants at HarborWalk,” said Marlee Ketelaar, 16, from Howell, Mich., who was lying out on the beach behind Jetty East recently with her family. Ditto for Ashley Petty from Louisville, Ky. “I would say, for our family, we’ve probably spent $150 a day going to breakfast, getting gas, buying food, shopping at Target — $150 to $200 a day,” said Petty, who was tanning on the beach behind The Islander with a large group of friends and family. It all adds up to a successful 2012 spring break. “The Emerald Coast 2012 spring break period’s average overall lodging occupancy percentage and total visiting guests number will come in ahead of goal,” Okaloosa County Tourist Development Director Mark Bellinger said. “Emerald Coast bed tax collections for the spring break period are estimated to be a 17 percent cumulative increase in 2012 compared to the same period in 2011.“ Bellinger said he expects similar numbers for the next few months. “TheTDCstill anticipates a record-breaking summer season for attendance, but predicts tourism-related discretionary spending will decrease,” he said. HarborWalk Village, Destin Commons and Silver Sands Factory Stores reported strong sales. “The spring season was an encouraging and enthusiastic launch of what we hope to be the best all-time season in Destin Harbor tourism/visitor history,” Hall said. Still, the beach was the place to be. Destin Beach Safety Chief Joe D’Agostino said that before April 6 the beaches saw almost 300,000 visitors in the first 30 days his lifeguards were on duty. “It was certainly a record-breaking pace,” he said. If those numbers hold for the eight months lifeguards patrol the beaches, it would be a record 2.4 million people. The spring saw one drowning near the jetties, an area not patrolled by the beach safety team. Michele Nicholson with the Okaloosa County Sheriff’s Office said spring break went pretty smoothly. She said one significant difference this year was that many students rented houses in the Crystal Beach area and had large parties in which they could walk from house to house. “There were several weeks, especially at the beginning of the season, that were exceptionally busy on the beaches due to great weather and many of the SEC schools having simultaneous breaks, but no major crime-related issues,” she said.
Strong spring tourism buoys hope for summer
By MATT ALGARIN and JORDAN SWANSON
The Destin Log
DESTIN — Spring breakers come for the sun, surf and sand. But they stay for the shopping and snacking. “We’ve spent a lot of money at the restaurants at HarborWalk,” said Marlee Ketelaar, 16, from Howell, Mich., who was lying out on the beach behind Jetty East recently with her family. Ditto for Ashley Petty from Louisville, Ky. “I would say, for our family, we’ve probably spent $150 a day going to breakfast, getting gas, buying food, shopping at Target — $150 to $200 a day,” said Petty, who was tanning on the beach behind The Islander with a large group of friends and family. It all adds up to a successful 2012 spring break. “The Emerald Coast 2012 spring break period’s average overall lodging occupancy percentage and total visiting guests number will come in ahead of goal,” Okaloosa County Tourist Development Director Mark Bellinger said. “Emerald Coast bed tax collections for the spring break period are estimated to be a 17 percent cumulative increase in 2012 compared to the same period in 2011.“ Bellinger said he expects similar numbers for the next few months. “TheTDCstill anticipates a record-breaking summer season for attendance, but predicts tourism-related discretionary spending will decrease,” he said. HarborWalk Village, Destin Commons and Silver Sands Factory Stores reported strong sales. “The spring season was an encouraging and enthusiastic launch of what we hope to be the best all-time season in Destin Harbor tourism/visitor history,” Hall said. Still, the beach was the place to be. Destin Beach Safety Chief Joe D’Agostino said that before April 6 the beaches saw almost 300,000 visitors in the first 30 days his lifeguards were on duty. “It was certainly a record-breaking pace,” he said. If those numbers hold for the eight months lifeguards patrol the beaches, it would be a record 2.4 million people. The spring saw one drowning near the jetties, an area not patrolled by the beach safety team. Michele Nicholson with the Okaloosa County Sheriff’s Office said spring break went pretty smoothly. She said one significant difference this year was that many students rented houses in the Crystal Beach area and had large parties in which they could walk from house to house. “There were several weeks, especially at the beginning of the season, that were exceptionally busy on the beaches due to great weather and many of the SEC schools having simultaneous breaks, but no major crime-related issues,” she said.
Thursday, April 5, 2012
TOURIST FLOCK TO THE PANHANDLE OF FLORIDA IN RECORD NUMBERS IN FEBRUARY 2012
Another record breaking month for tourism in the Panhandle of Florida. With the help of BP with their marketing dollars, many more areas of the country have found the Panhandle of Florida to be a place to visit and get away from it all. In a meeting with Southern Resorts, one of the area’s Vacation Rental Company; they noted they are expected to have a banner year.
Okaloosa bed tax collections set February record
Walton, Santa Rosa revenues also rise
By DUSTY RICKETTS
315-4448 @DustyRnwfdn dricketts@nwfdailynews.com
Having a county break a record for the amount of bed taxes collected in a given month now happens so frequently it’s beginning to be the norm rather than the exception. The trend continued in February when Okaloosa County collected $437,614 in bed taxes, a 19.7 percent increase from last year and the best February on record. While not record-breaking, Walton and Santa Rosa counties also posted gains over last year. “Everybody is doing really, really well,” said Kate Wilkes, executive director of the Santa Rosa County Tourist Development Council. “The predictions for spring break have been great and summer reservations are up. Everybody is thrilled. You can just tell by the cars around. It’s amazing.” Bed taxes are collected on short-term rentals in Okaloosa, Walton and Santa Rosa counties. The revenues are used primarily to promote the area to potential tourists. Martin Owen, regional marketing director for ResortQuest, said a strong snowbird presence contributed to the good winter season this year. ResortQuest operates more than 3,000 vacation rentals in Northwest Florida and southern Alabama. “We were certainly up on the previous year (in February),” Owen said. “It’s been a good snowbird season for us. We’ve had more of them from wider destinations and they stayed longer, which is nice.” In Walton County, $444,324 in bed taxes was collected in February, an increase of 23 percent from February 2011 and only about $55,000 shy of its top February in 2007. “It was very exciting for us to see the numbers the way they came in,” said Dawn Moliterno, executive director of Walton’s Tourist Development Council. “We’re very fortunate to have good bed tax collectors that partnered with us, and as a result the marketing was very strategic.” Santa Rosa’s bed tax collections were up 5.7 percent, from $44,322 collected in February 2011 to $46,834 this past February. Tourism professionals in all three counties expect the strong winter and spring season to carry over into summer. “Overall, advance lodging reservations on the Emerald Coast are still looking strong for this summer season,” Mark Bellinger, executive director of the Okaloosa County’s Tourist Development Council, wrote in an email. Owen said ResortQuest is working with Visit Florida and local tourist development councils to promote the region in the Washington/Baltimore area to take advantage of US Airways’ new direct flights between Northwest Florida Regional Airport and Ronald Reagan Washington National Airport. The company also hopes to beef up summer traffic by promoting outside the normal drive-to destinations, including some international locations. “At the moment, things are shaping up very well,” Owen said. “It looks good for us. We’re having a very good spring break and we’re seeing good signs for the summer. We’re not relying purely on the traditional markets. We’re trying to expand our market and go into new markets, and hopefully that’s having an effect on ResortQuest
Okaloosa bed tax collections set February record
Walton, Santa Rosa revenues also rise
By DUSTY RICKETTS
315-4448 @DustyRnwfdn dricketts@nwfdailynews.com
Having a county break a record for the amount of bed taxes collected in a given month now happens so frequently it’s beginning to be the norm rather than the exception. The trend continued in February when Okaloosa County collected $437,614 in bed taxes, a 19.7 percent increase from last year and the best February on record. While not record-breaking, Walton and Santa Rosa counties also posted gains over last year. “Everybody is doing really, really well,” said Kate Wilkes, executive director of the Santa Rosa County Tourist Development Council. “The predictions for spring break have been great and summer reservations are up. Everybody is thrilled. You can just tell by the cars around. It’s amazing.” Bed taxes are collected on short-term rentals in Okaloosa, Walton and Santa Rosa counties. The revenues are used primarily to promote the area to potential tourists. Martin Owen, regional marketing director for ResortQuest, said a strong snowbird presence contributed to the good winter season this year. ResortQuest operates more than 3,000 vacation rentals in Northwest Florida and southern Alabama. “We were certainly up on the previous year (in February),” Owen said. “It’s been a good snowbird season for us. We’ve had more of them from wider destinations and they stayed longer, which is nice.” In Walton County, $444,324 in bed taxes was collected in February, an increase of 23 percent from February 2011 and only about $55,000 shy of its top February in 2007. “It was very exciting for us to see the numbers the way they came in,” said Dawn Moliterno, executive director of Walton’s Tourist Development Council. “We’re very fortunate to have good bed tax collectors that partnered with us, and as a result the marketing was very strategic.” Santa Rosa’s bed tax collections were up 5.7 percent, from $44,322 collected in February 2011 to $46,834 this past February. Tourism professionals in all three counties expect the strong winter and spring season to carry over into summer. “Overall, advance lodging reservations on the Emerald Coast are still looking strong for this summer season,” Mark Bellinger, executive director of the Okaloosa County’s Tourist Development Council, wrote in an email. Owen said ResortQuest is working with Visit Florida and local tourist development councils to promote the region in the Washington/Baltimore area to take advantage of US Airways’ new direct flights between Northwest Florida Regional Airport and Ronald Reagan Washington National Airport. The company also hopes to beef up summer traffic by promoting outside the normal drive-to destinations, including some international locations. “At the moment, things are shaping up very well,” Owen said. “It looks good for us. We’re having a very good spring break and we’re seeing good signs for the summer. We’re not relying purely on the traditional markets. We’re trying to expand our market and go into new markets, and hopefully that’s having an effect on ResortQuest
Monday, April 2, 2012
NEW COLLEGE OF PHARMACY TO BEGIN CLASSES IN AUGUST 2012 IN CRESTVIEW
As noted before, the one of the newest College Campuses will be opening their doors in August of this year. What does this mean? It means another higher education institution has its eyes on Crestview with growth on their minds. This has also opened the doors for a new Pharmaceutical Manufacturing Company to look seriously at Crestview for their new plant.
Crestview FAMU campus opening in August
By BRIAN HUGHES brianh@crestviewbulletin.com
2012-03-30 13:44:15
The first class of students will enter the doors at Florida A&M University's Rural Diversity Healthcare Center in August. “We will have 30 students in the first class and we will be adding 30 students every year for a total of 120 students," said Dr. Margareth Lacrose-Pierre, the director of the new FAMU satellite campus opening in the historic downtown Alatex building. “After the first successful graduation we will be able to increase the class by 25 percent every year. That is our plan.” Lacrose-Pierre's remarks were made at the Monday meeting of the Crestview City Council. "The College of Pharmacy will be the pride of the city,” Lacrosse-Pierre said, addressing her remarks as much to the audience as to the council. Of the first class of students who have received their acceptance letters to the school, “the majority of them are coming from right here in Crestview,” she said. The college is working on developing affiliations with local and regional medical facilities, and has already penned agreements with the Veterans Administration, the hospital at Eglin Air Force Base, and Sacred Heart and Baptist Hospitals in Pensacola. Lacrose-Pierre promised the school will be an involved member of the Crestview community and will be represented at events such as health fairs, career fairs, and recruiting students from local high schools and middle schools. “We will be directly involved with city activities,” she said. “At your Triple B this weekend, we were right in the middle, eating and fellowshipping.” “Only God knows how high the sky is, but we will try to reach it,” Lacrose-Pierre said.
Crestview FAMU campus opening in August
By BRIAN HUGHES brianh@crestviewbulletin.com
2012-03-30 13:44:15
The first class of students will enter the doors at Florida A&M University's Rural Diversity Healthcare Center in August. “We will have 30 students in the first class and we will be adding 30 students every year for a total of 120 students," said Dr. Margareth Lacrose-Pierre, the director of the new FAMU satellite campus opening in the historic downtown Alatex building. “After the first successful graduation we will be able to increase the class by 25 percent every year. That is our plan.” Lacrose-Pierre's remarks were made at the Monday meeting of the Crestview City Council. "The College of Pharmacy will be the pride of the city,” Lacrosse-Pierre said, addressing her remarks as much to the audience as to the council. Of the first class of students who have received their acceptance letters to the school, “the majority of them are coming from right here in Crestview,” she said. The college is working on developing affiliations with local and regional medical facilities, and has already penned agreements with the Veterans Administration, the hospital at Eglin Air Force Base, and Sacred Heart and Baptist Hospitals in Pensacola. Lacrose-Pierre promised the school will be an involved member of the Crestview community and will be represented at events such as health fairs, career fairs, and recruiting students from local high schools and middle schools. “We will be directly involved with city activities,” she said. “At your Triple B this weekend, we were right in the middle, eating and fellowshipping.” “Only God knows how high the sky is, but we will try to reach it,” Lacrose-Pierre said.
Sunday, April 1, 2012
CONGRATULATIONS TO DAVID JEFFCOAT, PRESIDENT OF UNISHIPPERS OF NORTHWEST FLORIDA
Congratulations to David Jeffcoat. Your customer service and civic mindedness is truly appreciated and we are also glad to call you friend.
NICEVILLE
Jeffcoat honored by Unishippers Inc.
David Jeffcoat, president of Unishippers of Northwest Florida, recently was recognized for his accomplishments in his first year of business at Unishippers Inc.’s 25-year anniversary celebration in Salt Lake City. Since purchasing the local Unishippers franchise in January 2011, Jeffcoat has increased clientele to 270 active clients across the Emerald Coast region, expanded from one employee to three and increased sales by almost 30 percent. He also has joined several chambers of commerce and become a member of the board of directors for the Niceville chamber, sponsored several youth sports programs to give back to the community, and has become vice president of the Niceville BNI chapter. Unishippers of Northwest Florida helps local businesses save time and money on their shipping needs.
NICEVILLE
Jeffcoat honored by Unishippers Inc.
David Jeffcoat, president of Unishippers of Northwest Florida, recently was recognized for his accomplishments in his first year of business at Unishippers Inc.’s 25-year anniversary celebration in Salt Lake City. Since purchasing the local Unishippers franchise in January 2011, Jeffcoat has increased clientele to 270 active clients across the Emerald Coast region, expanded from one employee to three and increased sales by almost 30 percent. He also has joined several chambers of commerce and become a member of the board of directors for the Niceville chamber, sponsored several youth sports programs to give back to the community, and has become vice president of the Niceville BNI chapter. Unishippers of Northwest Florida helps local businesses save time and money on their shipping needs.
Thursday, March 29, 2012
DESTIN HARBOR WALK TO GROW WITH A HOTEL AND PARKING GARAGE IN THE PLANS
As you see on TV, the Ever Ready Battery Bunny keep going and going, so does Peter Bos, a local developer in the Destin area. With tremendous success in the local tourism and even more success in the future, the time in right to invest and growth our economy. Waiting could mean higher costs. Many thanks continue to go out to BP. In the worst of times came some of the best of times. The millions of dollars provided by BP in promoting our local area to the world is paying off in a big way. Last year, our tourism broke all kinds of records and so far, we are expected to break those records.
Growth eyed for HarborWalk
Hotel and parking garage are in the works for just east of Emerald Grande
By DUSTY RICKETTS
315-4448 @DustyRnwfdn dricketts@nwfdailynews.com
DESTIN — The two towers of the Emerald Grande have become a landmark, easily recognizable from as far away as Okaloosa Island and even Shalimar. Destin’s skyline could be changing againas Legendary Inc., the developer of Emerald Grande, is working on plans for the next phase of HarborWalk Village. Legendary CEO Peter Bos said the company is looking to build a new 100- to 150-room hotel and a second parking garage just east of the towers. Rumors have been swirling that new construction at HarborWalk Village was months or even weeks away from starting. While work on some smaller additions is under way now, Bos still is finalizing his timeline for the hotel and parking garage. “A lot of people just build single projects where they build a building and that’s all they put on the land, and that’s all there is,” Bos said. “For me, I spend a lot of time, and I’ll spend an extra year just working on details of planning, trying to figure out where everything goes. When it’s all done, it all needs to fit together and not just look like a bunch of buildings jammed on one site. “We think the timing is about right,” Bos said. “The rumor is a little ahead of reality, but not much.” The primary construction at HarborWalk Village — which includes the Emerald Grande, a parking garage, shops and restaurants — began in February 2005 and continued through June 2007. The initial master plan included a second set of towers that were almost identical to Emerald Grande. While the proposed hotel will not be identical, Bos said it will be architecturally compatible. The next construction phase also will include “several” buildings, he said. The hotel and other buildings will be constructed on what is now a parking lot and The Shed Barbeque and Blues Joint. Bos said The Shed likely will move closer to Destin Harbor. Because of downturns in the real estate and construction markets in the past five years, Bos said it will be much more affordable to build the HarborWalk expansion now than when the original development was built. That, along with the need for more rooms at HarborWalk Village, are among the reasons Bos is moving forward. “I think we have bottomed out in the real estate market, and the real estate market is coming back,” Bos said. “We’re working on all kinds of things. We’ve gotten a permit for development order, but we are working on all kinds of new things to get moving with.”
Growth eyed for HarborWalk
Hotel and parking garage are in the works for just east of Emerald Grande
By DUSTY RICKETTS
315-4448 @DustyRnwfdn dricketts@nwfdailynews.com
DESTIN — The two towers of the Emerald Grande have become a landmark, easily recognizable from as far away as Okaloosa Island and even Shalimar. Destin’s skyline could be changing againas Legendary Inc., the developer of Emerald Grande, is working on plans for the next phase of HarborWalk Village. Legendary CEO Peter Bos said the company is looking to build a new 100- to 150-room hotel and a second parking garage just east of the towers. Rumors have been swirling that new construction at HarborWalk Village was months or even weeks away from starting. While work on some smaller additions is under way now, Bos still is finalizing his timeline for the hotel and parking garage. “A lot of people just build single projects where they build a building and that’s all they put on the land, and that’s all there is,” Bos said. “For me, I spend a lot of time, and I’ll spend an extra year just working on details of planning, trying to figure out where everything goes. When it’s all done, it all needs to fit together and not just look like a bunch of buildings jammed on one site. “We think the timing is about right,” Bos said. “The rumor is a little ahead of reality, but not much.” The primary construction at HarborWalk Village — which includes the Emerald Grande, a parking garage, shops and restaurants — began in February 2005 and continued through June 2007. The initial master plan included a second set of towers that were almost identical to Emerald Grande. While the proposed hotel will not be identical, Bos said it will be architecturally compatible. The next construction phase also will include “several” buildings, he said. The hotel and other buildings will be constructed on what is now a parking lot and The Shed Barbeque and Blues Joint. Bos said The Shed likely will move closer to Destin Harbor. Because of downturns in the real estate and construction markets in the past five years, Bos said it will be much more affordable to build the HarborWalk expansion now than when the original development was built. That, along with the need for more rooms at HarborWalk Village, are among the reasons Bos is moving forward. “I think we have bottomed out in the real estate market, and the real estate market is coming back,” Bos said. “We’re working on all kinds of things. We’ve gotten a permit for development order, but we are working on all kinds of new things to get moving with.”
Sunday, March 18, 2012
7th SPECIAL FORCES GROUP PREVIOUS HOME IN FORT BRAGG EXPEREINCE A MAJOR DEVELOPMENT BOOM
As Paul Harvey would say, “And the rest of the Story”. I have heard a number of folks explaining why a large number of 7th Special Forces Group has not move their families to Florida, yet. One of the biggest reasons was they were having trouble selling their homes in Fort Bragg. This is can’t be further from the truth (See below). The Fort Bragg area is experience a much larger boom than us, with some more folks back filling this area. As many will learn, the 7th Special Forces Group is expecting communities in the local area, not just a development with homes sites. This area is going to be a home for the 7th Special Forces group for many years to come. This is much different than the 3 or 4 your tour and out like the Air Force has experienced over the years. There are other reasons, which I can explain in detail, if you wish. Oh, did I remind you, I was a Military Housing Director for the Southeast United States.
Fort Bragg construction is expected to spur development boom> <
By Henry Cuningham and Andrew BarksdaleStaff writers
You might call it Fort Bragg's final frontier.
For the next decade, most of Fort Bragg's growth will be on a 600-acre bulge that juts into Fayetteville between Chicken Road on post and Cliffdale Road off post. The former ammunition dump is Fort Bragg's last large tract of undeveloped land not subject to environmental restrictions. Post officials are calling it Patriot Point, a reference to the Patriot missile-armed unit that is occupying part of the space. The military is pouring millions of dollars into building roads, utilities, offices, barracks and motor pools. Much of the development will be for growing special operations units, including the 3rd Special Forces group. The growth on Fort Bragg's south side comes despite a shrinking military budget, and the construction spending will provide jobs in a still-slow sector. That could become a bigger boom if, as expected, the growth on Fort Bragg is mirrored by civilian development just to the south in one of the largest empty tracts in Fayetteville. By the time the Patriot Point development is finished, it will have a military population of 7,000 to 12,000 - bigger than many Army posts across the country. The planned construction carries a price tag of $370 million. Just this month, the Army Corps of Engineers announced the award of $27.9 million in contracts for two projects on Patriot Point. Not that most people in Fayetteville know it. The development isn't secret, but it is all but invisible from nearby civilian areas. "Our development on Fort Bragg will go largely unnoticed by the general public because it's hidden in that ... corner of the post," Col. Steve Sicinski, Fort Bragg's garrison commander, recently told a civilian audience. "... Ironically, it's within a stone's throw of Cliffdale and Reilly roads, which is pretty busy and heavily developed commercially."
Significant growth
Despite its relative obscurity today, the development of Patriot Point could have a major effect on Fayetteville's growth in years to come. Today, most of the area along Cliffdale Road south of Patriot Point is an oasis of farmland tucked away amid urban corridors. To the east, North Reilly Road is lined with businesses. The road is congested during rush hour because it has an access gate to Fort Bragg. To the west is Rim Road, which is lined with apartment complexes, subdivisions and strip centers around Rim Road's intersection with Cliffdale Road. In late 2005, the state Transportation Department completed a nearly $16 million project to widen Cliffdale Road to two lanes in each direction west of Reilly Road. The section of Cliffdale running past Patriot Point is a divided, four-lane road with a grassy median and a 50-mph speed limit. The area became part of the city in 2005 in what was called the "big bang" annexation. The growth on Fort Bragg is coming during the same decade when the Outer Loop - Interstate 295 - will be advancing through the same part of western Cumberland County. State plans call for an interchange connecting the loop to Cliffdale, just south of Patriot Point. When that happens, Fort Bragg wants to put another access gate from Cliffdale Road directly into its new development. All that adds up to the potential for significant growth along Cliffdale. That could be a mixed blessing for the surrounding community. Residents in the Bone Creek subdivision, which is next to Patriot Point, are worried that all the planned changes will worsen congestion on Cliffdale Road. The subdivision has only one entrance at Cliffdale and no traffic light. "That's going to confuse an already chaotic situation," said Lionel Cartwright, coordinator of the Bone Creek community watch group. His wife, Gladys, agreed. "We can barely get out after waiting and waiting," she said. Other residents are more upbeat about the coming changes, especially a new Fort Bragg access gate on Cliffdale Road. Residents in western Fayetteville who work on Fort Bragg mostly use the North Reilly Road gate. Spc. Mario Gilmore, who lives off Hoke Loop Road, said it now takes him about 45 minutes to get to work. "It's pretty packed," the 24-year-old said. Samuel McIntyre, a 26-year-old laid-off Fort Bragg contractor, said new shopping centers would mean more jobs, and that's good in this economy. Still, with growth comes more traffic, McIntyre said. "It's going to kind of stink to get that all the way out here," he said.
Undeveloped acres
One landowner will play a significant role in the future of the area. William T. "Bill" Sanders of Wrightsville Beach owns more than 500 undeveloped acres in the area. Most of his land is south of Patriot Point. His lawyer, Stephanie Autry of Raleigh, said the land has been in the Sanders family for about a century. In 2010, the Department of Transportation acquired about 100 acres of the family property for the planned Outer Loop. Sanders and state officials fought in court over the value of the condemned land. According to court records, they settled for $15.8 million. Autry said that in court, both sides relied on independent appraisals, planning consultants and zoning experts. All agreed that the best use for the Sanders property is heavy commercial with a mix of office and institutional use and apartments. Autry said Sanders likely will sell the land for that kind of development some day. "He can wait until he gets what he thinks is a fair price when he's ready to sell it," she said. Large swaths of land on the southern side of Cliffdale Road near Patriot Point have never been developed for a number of reasons. One is that for many years, the Transportation Department did not know the exact route of the Outer Loop, so officials set aside a 1,000-foot-wide corridor where development was off limits. Only recently has the state narrowed the highway's intended route. The land also has potential barriers to development, according to Cumberland County planners. Some contains wetlands and streams. A high-voltage transmission line runs partly through the farmland. The land is zoned for agricultural-residential use. It's the city's most rural designation, currently prohibiting the kind of development envisioned. Scott Shuford, the city's chief development services director, said any zoning changes to accommodate growth on Cliffdale Road would be up to the Fayetteville City Council. "There's a lot of factors that have to be taken into account and evaluated by staff, besides just what some appraisers think the appropriate value of the property is," Shuford said. One factor is the traffic capacity for Cliffdale Road, Shuford said. The city does not want to encourage more development than the newly widened road can handle, he said. On average, about 32,000 vehicles travel on the widened section of Cliffdale Road near Reilly Road, according to the Transportation Department. The figure is nearly 2 years old. In 2004, Cliffdale Road handled about 26,000 vehicles a day. Greg Burns, the division engineer for the Fayetteville office of the Transportation Department, said a widened Cliffdale Road was designed to comfortably handle about 37,000 vehicles a day. When that capacity is reached, he said, congestion will start to become a problem.
City planning
Fayetteville planners have not turned their focus to the Patriot Point area. Shuford said city officials are developing land-use and traffic studies for two older corridors elsewhere in the city: Bragg Boulevard and Ramsey Street. "When staff time opens up, that would probably be an area we'd like to look at at some future point," he said of Cliffdale Road. Shuford said the city's interest in how Cliffdale Road develops will ripen when Patriot Point and a proposed access gate become closer to reality. But, Shuford said, the planned Outer Loop interchange at Cliffdale Road will be a bigger driver for growth than Patriot Point. In fact, he said, the Outer Loop will "dramatically change how people get around" and, as a result, may lead to fewer cars on Cliffdale Road. Construction on the Outer Loop is under way between the All American Freeway eastward to Ramsey Street, where the highway stops. Under funding schedules through 2020, there is no money budgeted to extend the Outer Loop to Cliffdale Road. But Fort Bragg's plans for Patriot Point could accelerate that funding schedule, Burns said.
Supply point
Fort Bragg's plans at Patriot Point are possible because officials have moved the post's ammunition supply point to an area off Vass Road on the north side of the installation. The Patriot Point land has stuck out from Fort Bragg since it was acquired 57 years ago. The government obtained the property for use as Fort Bragg's ammunition supply point in 1955, said Glen Prillaman, a Fort Bragg master planner. The government spent $229,400 for 1,404 acres. The western part of the tract is wetlands, and only 600 acres can be used. When the land was purchased, all of the surrounding civilian area was rural. Lance Locklear, a master planner who has done most of the work on Patriot Point, recalls cows munching grass around the bunkers to save the cost of mowing. Last fall, Fort Bragg relocated its explosives to the new ammunition supply point - an area protected from the kind of civilian encroachment that has occurred on each side of the Patriot Point bulge. Moving the ammunition opened the area to handle explosive growth in military units over the past decade: Two special operations battalions have turned into brigades. The 108th Air Defense Artillery Brigade moved to Fort Bragg from Texas. And the 3rd Special Forces group has outgrown its current home on Fort Bragg. Since 9/11, Special Forces groups have gotten larger and developed new requirements for their headquarters facilities. The 7th Special Forces Group was able to get a campus to meet its needs when it moved from Fort Bragg to Florida last year as part of the base realignment process. N"We are going to be matching the same facility standards and sizes that were built at Eglin Air Force Base for the 7th Special Forces Group," Prillaman said. "That's the modern compound. That's what a current Special Forces needs as far as facilities in order to do their mission." The 3rd Group area will hold a central position when the Patriot Point construction is completed.
Construction work
On Thursday at Patriot Point, construction workers were welding, hammering and driving forklifts. Not far away, two battalion headquarters for the 108th Air Defense Artillery were in business: flags flying and the olive-drab Gatlin-gun-style air defense artillery weapons of the past on display. While soldiers were sweeping and mowing around the completed battalion headquarters, construction workers were at work on the unit's future brigade headquarters. Not far away, drivers were whizzing by on Cliffdale Road, most probably unaware that the decisions have already been made that will change the nearby landscape on and off Fort Bragg.
Military editor Henry Cuningham can be reached at cuninghamh@fayobserver.com or 486-3585.Staff writer Andrew Barksdale can be reached at barksdalea@fayobserver.com or 486-3565.
Fort Bragg construction is expected to spur development boom> <
By Henry Cuningham and Andrew BarksdaleStaff writers
You might call it Fort Bragg's final frontier.
For the next decade, most of Fort Bragg's growth will be on a 600-acre bulge that juts into Fayetteville between Chicken Road on post and Cliffdale Road off post. The former ammunition dump is Fort Bragg's last large tract of undeveloped land not subject to environmental restrictions. Post officials are calling it Patriot Point, a reference to the Patriot missile-armed unit that is occupying part of the space. The military is pouring millions of dollars into building roads, utilities, offices, barracks and motor pools. Much of the development will be for growing special operations units, including the 3rd Special Forces group. The growth on Fort Bragg's south side comes despite a shrinking military budget, and the construction spending will provide jobs in a still-slow sector. That could become a bigger boom if, as expected, the growth on Fort Bragg is mirrored by civilian development just to the south in one of the largest empty tracts in Fayetteville. By the time the Patriot Point development is finished, it will have a military population of 7,000 to 12,000 - bigger than many Army posts across the country. The planned construction carries a price tag of $370 million. Just this month, the Army Corps of Engineers announced the award of $27.9 million in contracts for two projects on Patriot Point. Not that most people in Fayetteville know it. The development isn't secret, but it is all but invisible from nearby civilian areas. "Our development on Fort Bragg will go largely unnoticed by the general public because it's hidden in that ... corner of the post," Col. Steve Sicinski, Fort Bragg's garrison commander, recently told a civilian audience. "... Ironically, it's within a stone's throw of Cliffdale and Reilly roads, which is pretty busy and heavily developed commercially."
Significant growth
Despite its relative obscurity today, the development of Patriot Point could have a major effect on Fayetteville's growth in years to come. Today, most of the area along Cliffdale Road south of Patriot Point is an oasis of farmland tucked away amid urban corridors. To the east, North Reilly Road is lined with businesses. The road is congested during rush hour because it has an access gate to Fort Bragg. To the west is Rim Road, which is lined with apartment complexes, subdivisions and strip centers around Rim Road's intersection with Cliffdale Road. In late 2005, the state Transportation Department completed a nearly $16 million project to widen Cliffdale Road to two lanes in each direction west of Reilly Road. The section of Cliffdale running past Patriot Point is a divided, four-lane road with a grassy median and a 50-mph speed limit. The area became part of the city in 2005 in what was called the "big bang" annexation. The growth on Fort Bragg is coming during the same decade when the Outer Loop - Interstate 295 - will be advancing through the same part of western Cumberland County. State plans call for an interchange connecting the loop to Cliffdale, just south of Patriot Point. When that happens, Fort Bragg wants to put another access gate from Cliffdale Road directly into its new development. All that adds up to the potential for significant growth along Cliffdale. That could be a mixed blessing for the surrounding community. Residents in the Bone Creek subdivision, which is next to Patriot Point, are worried that all the planned changes will worsen congestion on Cliffdale Road. The subdivision has only one entrance at Cliffdale and no traffic light. "That's going to confuse an already chaotic situation," said Lionel Cartwright, coordinator of the Bone Creek community watch group. His wife, Gladys, agreed. "We can barely get out after waiting and waiting," she said. Other residents are more upbeat about the coming changes, especially a new Fort Bragg access gate on Cliffdale Road. Residents in western Fayetteville who work on Fort Bragg mostly use the North Reilly Road gate. Spc. Mario Gilmore, who lives off Hoke Loop Road, said it now takes him about 45 minutes to get to work. "It's pretty packed," the 24-year-old said. Samuel McIntyre, a 26-year-old laid-off Fort Bragg contractor, said new shopping centers would mean more jobs, and that's good in this economy. Still, with growth comes more traffic, McIntyre said. "It's going to kind of stink to get that all the way out here," he said.
Undeveloped acres
One landowner will play a significant role in the future of the area. William T. "Bill" Sanders of Wrightsville Beach owns more than 500 undeveloped acres in the area. Most of his land is south of Patriot Point. His lawyer, Stephanie Autry of Raleigh, said the land has been in the Sanders family for about a century. In 2010, the Department of Transportation acquired about 100 acres of the family property for the planned Outer Loop. Sanders and state officials fought in court over the value of the condemned land. According to court records, they settled for $15.8 million. Autry said that in court, both sides relied on independent appraisals, planning consultants and zoning experts. All agreed that the best use for the Sanders property is heavy commercial with a mix of office and institutional use and apartments. Autry said Sanders likely will sell the land for that kind of development some day. "He can wait until he gets what he thinks is a fair price when he's ready to sell it," she said. Large swaths of land on the southern side of Cliffdale Road near Patriot Point have never been developed for a number of reasons. One is that for many years, the Transportation Department did not know the exact route of the Outer Loop, so officials set aside a 1,000-foot-wide corridor where development was off limits. Only recently has the state narrowed the highway's intended route. The land also has potential barriers to development, according to Cumberland County planners. Some contains wetlands and streams. A high-voltage transmission line runs partly through the farmland. The land is zoned for agricultural-residential use. It's the city's most rural designation, currently prohibiting the kind of development envisioned. Scott Shuford, the city's chief development services director, said any zoning changes to accommodate growth on Cliffdale Road would be up to the Fayetteville City Council. "There's a lot of factors that have to be taken into account and evaluated by staff, besides just what some appraisers think the appropriate value of the property is," Shuford said. One factor is the traffic capacity for Cliffdale Road, Shuford said. The city does not want to encourage more development than the newly widened road can handle, he said. On average, about 32,000 vehicles travel on the widened section of Cliffdale Road near Reilly Road, according to the Transportation Department. The figure is nearly 2 years old. In 2004, Cliffdale Road handled about 26,000 vehicles a day. Greg Burns, the division engineer for the Fayetteville office of the Transportation Department, said a widened Cliffdale Road was designed to comfortably handle about 37,000 vehicles a day. When that capacity is reached, he said, congestion will start to become a problem.
City planning
Fayetteville planners have not turned their focus to the Patriot Point area. Shuford said city officials are developing land-use and traffic studies for two older corridors elsewhere in the city: Bragg Boulevard and Ramsey Street. "When staff time opens up, that would probably be an area we'd like to look at at some future point," he said of Cliffdale Road. Shuford said the city's interest in how Cliffdale Road develops will ripen when Patriot Point and a proposed access gate become closer to reality. But, Shuford said, the planned Outer Loop interchange at Cliffdale Road will be a bigger driver for growth than Patriot Point. In fact, he said, the Outer Loop will "dramatically change how people get around" and, as a result, may lead to fewer cars on Cliffdale Road. Construction on the Outer Loop is under way between the All American Freeway eastward to Ramsey Street, where the highway stops. Under funding schedules through 2020, there is no money budgeted to extend the Outer Loop to Cliffdale Road. But Fort Bragg's plans for Patriot Point could accelerate that funding schedule, Burns said.
Supply point
Fort Bragg's plans at Patriot Point are possible because officials have moved the post's ammunition supply point to an area off Vass Road on the north side of the installation. The Patriot Point land has stuck out from Fort Bragg since it was acquired 57 years ago. The government obtained the property for use as Fort Bragg's ammunition supply point in 1955, said Glen Prillaman, a Fort Bragg master planner. The government spent $229,400 for 1,404 acres. The western part of the tract is wetlands, and only 600 acres can be used. When the land was purchased, all of the surrounding civilian area was rural. Lance Locklear, a master planner who has done most of the work on Patriot Point, recalls cows munching grass around the bunkers to save the cost of mowing. Last fall, Fort Bragg relocated its explosives to the new ammunition supply point - an area protected from the kind of civilian encroachment that has occurred on each side of the Patriot Point bulge. Moving the ammunition opened the area to handle explosive growth in military units over the past decade: Two special operations battalions have turned into brigades. The 108th Air Defense Artillery Brigade moved to Fort Bragg from Texas. And the 3rd Special Forces group has outgrown its current home on Fort Bragg. Since 9/11, Special Forces groups have gotten larger and developed new requirements for their headquarters facilities. The 7th Special Forces Group was able to get a campus to meet its needs when it moved from Fort Bragg to Florida last year as part of the base realignment process. N"We are going to be matching the same facility standards and sizes that were built at Eglin Air Force Base for the 7th Special Forces Group," Prillaman said. "That's the modern compound. That's what a current Special Forces needs as far as facilities in order to do their mission." The 3rd Group area will hold a central position when the Patriot Point construction is completed.
Construction work
On Thursday at Patriot Point, construction workers were welding, hammering and driving forklifts. Not far away, two battalion headquarters for the 108th Air Defense Artillery were in business: flags flying and the olive-drab Gatlin-gun-style air defense artillery weapons of the past on display. While soldiers were sweeping and mowing around the completed battalion headquarters, construction workers were at work on the unit's future brigade headquarters. Not far away, drivers were whizzing by on Cliffdale Road, most probably unaware that the decisions have already been made that will change the nearby landscape on and off Fort Bragg.
Military editor Henry Cuningham can be reached at cuninghamh@fayobserver.com or 486-3585.Staff writer Andrew Barksdale can be reached at barksdalea@fayobserver.com or 486-3565.
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