Updates about Northwest Florida Beaches International Airport (NWFBIA)

[BeachSiO2]

I choose not to fly into PC due to the airport location and traffic. Flying into PC you have to drive through the Thomas Drive/PCB area and typically have a longer, more frustrating, post-arrival drive time. It is my understanding that those two issues will likely be reduced when the airport is built and thus I will likely choose not to go to VPS anymore and take on Niceville/Destin (if ticket prices are relatively close). I wonder how many people will switch like me.

 

[scooterbug44]

I find it rather telling that I have lived here for years and this was the first time I (or anyone in my family) flew into PC - cost/schedule was never better than VPS or Pensacola and the only reason I did it this time was because I hitched a ride outbound on a friend's plane (and you can't do that from VPS).

IF (and they're big ifs) the new airport has a better prices/schedules I could see flying out of PC, but realistically believe the Scootermobile will be heading west for air travel for many years to come.

 

[BeachSiO2]

I find it rather telling that I have lived here for years and this was the first time I (or anyone in my family) flew into PC - cost/schedule was never better than VPS or Pensacola and the only reason I did it this time was because I hitched a ride outbound on a friend's plane (and you can't do that from VPS).

IF (and they're big ifs) the new airport has a better prices/schedules I could see flying out of PC, but realistically believe the Scootermobile will be heading west for air travel for many years to come.

I agree, it always comes down to cost, but I do know of one time this year when it was cheaper to go to PC and the schedules were roughly the same. I wonder if things will change on pricing. Maybe SinginChicken will let us know since I have flown numerous legs on his airline this year and it will continue to be my likely choice in the future.

 

[rheffron]

Not complaining, but I am surprised that the new terminal is not that much larger than the current one.

 

[Kurt]

Restoring Its Trade Status

When it comes to Panama City’s new airport, Jerry Ray speaks with the passion and conviction of an evangelist. Much like a preacher with a Bible, he’s armed with his own historical perspective.

For instance, the beachside Florida Panhandle hotspot, long popular with spring breakers and summer vacationers, was known as a major port in the early 20th century. Originally called Harrison, it was renamed to connect with the still-new Panama Canal and was convenient to ships from both the Gulf of Mexico and the Pacific Ocean.

“They knew all this in 1914 and we have forgotten,” says Ray, senior vice president of strategic alliances with the Jacksonville-based St. Joe Co. He notes that Panama City’s premier port status lasted from 1915 until the 1929 market crash that led to the Great Depression.

Now the city has an opportunity to restore its trade status by way of a new international airport being developed as part of St. Joe’s 75,000-acre West Bay project, which Ray believes will be a national focal point for development over the next 50 to 100 years. The $500-million project is scheduled to finish its first phase in May 2010, with the airport component being built on a 4,000-acre site donated by St. Joe to the Panama City-Bay County Airport Authority.

Already having faced criticism for developing an airport that will be one of Florida’s largest in a metropolitan area with only 164,000 residents, Ray counters that it will reach beyond Bay County to an area known as the “deep Southeast,” encompassing parts of neighboring Alabama and Georgia in addition to the Panhandle within two-and-a-half hours driving time. The first 8,400 feet of the airport’s 10,000-foot runway is already finished and is currently being used by helicopters, though it is ready to accept planes, he says.

“This is planning for the future, rather than remediating the past,” Ray tells Real Estate Florida. He adds that the new airport will be tied to the city’s old seaport in a multimodal grid, sending cargo containers by truck and rail throughout the US.

The airport’s proximity to Tyndall and Eglin Air Force Bases also bolsters the argument that Panama City is the correct location, Ray says. “There’s really only one place it can go,” he says, “and that’s right where it is.”

Ray also promotes the new Panama City International Airport as the nation’s “greenest,” not only in terms of seeking LEED construction certification from the US Green Building Council but creating a conservation buffer around approaches that will make plane noise a non-issue for nearby businesses and residents. The 41,000-acre preservation area will ultimately protect 44 miles of undeveloped shoreline and another 33 miles of creeks and tributaries.

“We have to make economic growth and environmental protection work in concert,” Ray says. He adds that St. Joe consulted with various environmental groups over the past 11 years leading to the airport’s current development.

St. Joe is working with the Haskell Co. and TranSystems Corp. on master planning its land adjacent to the airport, with the first 1,000 acres including a mix of industrial, office and retail. The group’s initial marketing focus will be aerospace, logistics and defense-oriented technology companies.

“We are accelerating our preconstruction activity and stepping up marketing out reach to global users who need ready access to the new airport,” says Britt Green, St. Joe president and CEO. “It’s truly a unique opportunity to be part of one of Florida’s largest mixed-use planning developments.”

Ray says the initial phase of commercial development near the airport will entail 37 million square feet of industrial buildings with either direct or fence access to its tarmac. The mixed-use components of West Bay will be developed in 1,000-acre increments, with the market deciding what is built next, he says.

“Commercial real estate value occurs where there is connectedness,” he says. “If you are feeling constrained at an urban-encroached airport, this is the alternative.”

Steve Halverson, Haskell Co. president and CEO, says West Bay presents exciting prospects for commercial development. “There are very few greenfield opportunities with a strategic location and high-quality access to an airport, a deepwater port, road and rail connections,” he says.

Local real estate agents are positive about the prospects of additional commercial development to be derived from the new airport. “Expected increases in commercial and residential developments are expected to reshape the Panama City area’s economy by increasing the tourism trade, attracting more corporate headquarters and large distribution centers and providing new residential communities,” says Jennifer MacKay of Keller Williams Success Realty.

Ray points out that the biggest challenge for West Bay and the airport will be maintaining flexibility of development in decades to come. “This is a place that is going to have options for the future,” he says, “and that brings about value.”

 

[Kurt]

June 2009 pictures of the air traffic control tower and terminal building now under construction demonstrate further progress at the new airport site.
The facility continues to take shape in anticipation of an expected May 2010 opening.


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[Kurt]

Large issues unresolved over airport move | airport, issues, unresolved - Local News - WaltonSun.com

With only 10 months before the planned opening of a new airport near West Bay, a Tuesday meeting of the Airport Authority pointed to a surprising number of unresolved issues still plaguing the airport relocation project.

From the necessity of a crosswind runway to final FAA approval of a main runway extension to reaching a lease agreement with general aviation pilots, the final shape of the new airport still is unclear.

"It's a pretty complex process," airport Executive Director Randy Curtis said. "Though, I don't think there have been any big surprises."

Project relocation manager Jeff Dealy of KBR told authority members that airport construction was on schedule and 61 percent complete. But the airport still had not reached a lease deal with Bay Aircraft Owners Inc., a consortium of private pilots based at the current airport in Panama City, airport attorney Michael Duncan said.

He said negotiations with the pilots' association were still unresolved over how its lease would transfer to the new Panama City-Bay County International Airport, set to open in May 2010.

The group of about 26 Bay Aircraft pilots long has been wrangling with the Airport Authority over the terms of their 30-year lease agreement, which has about 14 years left to run.

Duncan requested the Airport Authority have a special meeting within two weeks to discuss the matter, along with lease problems with Precision Air Services, a company that offers inspections and repairs for most general aviation aircraft. He said mediation with Precision had reached "an impasse."

It also remains unclear whether authority members will build the 5,000-foot crosswind runway, a proposed asphalt strip separate from the main concrete runway that could increase flight safety, a factor crucial to drawing larger carriers.

James Finch of Phoenix Construction Co., which has built the main 8,400-foot runway, told authority members Tuesday he wanted to withdraw from his option to build the crosswind runway, allowing the board to re-bid the project.

The option by Phoenix to build the second runway at the same rate structure as the first has expired. Board members say given the uncertain economy, it remains unclear whether rebidding the project will cost the airport more or less money.

Curtis said Tuesday the reality of a $17 million secondary runway will depend on how other financial considerations "play out" as the airport moves forward.

The airport is also waiting final Federal Aviation Administration approval on extending the 8,400-foot main runway to 10,000 feet, which has long been a goal for the new airport.

Airport Executive Director Randy Curtis said approval is being held until the airport and the Florida Department of Environmental Protection could agree on a final consent order spelling out corrective measures for storm-water discharge violations.

The DEP launched an investigation of the airport's construction after heavy rains in April, claiming noncompliance with construction permits.

On Tuesday, Roy Willett of KBR told board members that DEP was being given weekly progress reports and that825acresofthe1,400-acre construction site was in a state of "final stabilization." Authority Chairman Joe Tannehill requested that all board members receive daily e-mails on the progress.

 

[Kurt]

DEP sets deadline for airport - The News Herald

The Florida Department of Environmental Protection has set a July 15 deadline for the Airport Authority to agree to corrective measures for stormwater discharge at the new airport construction site, officials said.

Dick Fancher, director of the DEP's Northwest District, said the airport already has taken some curative action since heavy April rains stressed an inadequate drainage system that failed to stem an unhealthy discharge of sediment into nearby creeks.

The consent order will formalize the continued cleanup from the environmental damage caused by the deluge and spell out future action required to prevent another occurrence, he said. The order includes a $299,000 fine.

Some environmental damage has taken place in streams and creeks leading to the waters of West Bay, and the damage must be monitored and corrected, Fancher said. Click here to see photos of the airport's construction.
The illegal discharge has led to a flurry of recriminations from environmental groups, many of which originally opposed the $318 million airport's construction on 1,300 acres near West Bay. The airport is set to open in May 2010.

The latest pressure has come in the form of a letter to DEP from the St. Andrew Bay Resource Management Association (RMA), asking the state agency to "suspend its reliance on self-reporting by the contractor, a process which has eroded public's confidence in your agency's oversight role."

Fancher said the DEP has been reviewing weekly reports on the airport's self-monitoring, insisting that, "We are at the site on a weekly basis."

In the letter to the DEP, RMA president Kennard Watson said that his group was "particularly concerned about potential impacts of the degraded water quality to fragile seagrass beds in West Bay."

Randy Curtis, executive director of the Panama City-Bay County International Airport, said the airport has been working continuously with DEP experts to solve the ongoing discharge problems. The formal consent order, including the amount of the fine, has been under negotiations with the DEP, he said.

"We have received the revised consent order," he said, noting the biggest sticking point has been the amount of the fine.

Curtis said the Airport Authority likely will call a special meeting prior to the July 15 deadline to decide whether to agree to the order's stipulations. If an agreement is not reached, the matter would go through an "administrative hearing" process, he said.

The consent order outlining the airport's environmental problems is the result of a DEP investigation triggered by heavy rains in late March and early April, a period during which the National Weather Service recorded about 14 inches of rain in Panama City.

The DEP issued a proposed consent order May 19 that called for nearly $400,000 in penalties. The airport responded by blaming much of the problems on heavy rains and questioning the fine.

Fancher said the $299,000 in penalties outlined in the current consent order will be assessed on the Airport Authority. Additional fines could be forthcoming on individual contractors such as Phoenix Construction Co., which was responsible for the new airport's site preparation, he said.

 

[Kurt]

Construction Update: 7/2/2009

by NewPFN on July 9, 2009
Contract 1: Heavy Civil and Airfield Lighting
In general, base bid earthwork and Main Access Road are significantly completed. All of the P-403 asphalt base and 99% of the 15″ concrete paving lanes have been placed on 8,500 linear feet of Runway 16-34. On the taxiways and main apron, all lime rock base and the first 2″ lift of P-401 base have been placed.
Approximately 89% of contract is complete with 71% of the contract time used. All interim milestones being met or exceeded.
Production volumes in place are as follows:

• All 1330 acres cleared and grubbed.
• 75,354 tons of asphalt pavement is in place (68% of both airside and landside). Second lift of asphalt is on Taxiway D and Main Apron.
• 165,860 square yards of landside lime rock base and 130,885 square yards of flightline lime rock base have been installed.
• 62,272 cubic yards of the 67,233 cubic yards of 15″ concrete runway pavement and 14″ main terminal apron is in place (93% of ultimate volume). Grinding, jointing, and grooving of the runway has been completed. Final presentation of the profilographs is now underway.
• 99% of the RCP storm sewer installations are complete (43,228 linear feet). 70,262 linear feet of perforated under-drain has been installed along the taxiways and runways (45% of total).
• Installation of Pond C filter sands continues. Bottom sands are in place, top sands are now 75%. Testing of sands continues at every 2,000 square yards.
• 49,654 linear feet of electrical lighting duct bank and lighting conduit has been installed (43% of design quantity) and 99,879 linear feet of counterpoise systems (31% of design). 56 base can plazas, 128 taxiway edge lights, and 348 runway light cans are now complete (35% of design).

There is an average of 97 workers and 150 pieces of equipment on site daily.

Contract 2: Terminal Building, ATCT and Support Buildings
Review of architecturally related features continues. Site inspections by Bay County and internal threshold inspections actively continue and are being tracked in log format.
Approximately 35% of the contract is complete with 43% of the contract time used.
Terminal

• 100% of the foundations and 98% of the structural concrete elements are now complete.
• Structural steel element installation is 80% complete.
• Under slab utility rough ins are 92% complete.
• Fire protection piping is at 48%.
• HVAC is at 20%.
• Roofing insulation and membrane underway 20% complete.
• Testing for the building is being recorded in a matrix format included within Monthly Material Testing Summary.

Air Traffic Control Tower

• The tower is now poured to level 9 (135′ above the pile cap).
• During July, the tower floor structures will be completed and ready for cab to be set.

Terminal Support Facilities

• Concrete slabs and under slab utilities have been completed.
• Masonry wall construction is complete in all buildings but the Public Safety Building where it is 35% complete.
• 92% of the storm sewer systems are in place.
• 45% of the site utilities have been completed.

Rental Car Facility

• Utilities continue and storm water pipe is now complete.
• Pre-engineered metal building is now on site.
• Curb and gutter underway.
• Building slab and under slab utilities in progress.

An average of 115 personnel are on site daily.
Contract 3: Utility Contract
The contract has been executed and all necessary submittals, insurance and bonds have been received from the Contractor.
On January 13, 2009 a limited Notice To Proceed was issued for the onsite utilities only. The final notice to proceed for remaining offsite work was issued on January 20, 2009.
Approximately 40% of contract work is complete with 46% of the contract time used. All interim milestones are being met or exceeded.
Production volumes in place to date are as follows:
Main Access Road

• 22,972 lf of 3W2″ power distribution duct bank installed.
• 30,971 lf of street light duct work installed on west side of main road.
• 6,849 linear feet of 6Wx4″ concrete encased communication duct bank.

Joyner Road

• 7,878′ linear feet 24″ water main along Joyner Road.

GA Access Road

• 19,209 lf of 12″ water main installed from CR-388 north Loop Road and GA Roadway.
• 7,914 lf. of 30″ water main along GA Road.

Lift Station

• The lift station is 45% complete.

Force Main on CR 388
The work is complete.
Fuel Farm

• The fuel farm is 15% complete.

Booster Station

• The booster station is 20% complete.
• 16,387 lf. of 8″ sanitary force main completed onsite and along CR-388.
• 46 fire hydrants installed.

An average of 32 workers and 22 pieces of equipment are on site daily.
Contract 4: Landscape/Hardscape Contract
The contract was executed on June 2, 2009 in the amount of $2,957,056.52. A partial Notice to Proceed was released on June 8, 2009 for the seeding and erosion control measurements only along the Main Access Road and LEED area with a not to exceed amount of $600,000.00.
Production volumes in place to date are as follows:

• 27 soil samples have been taken and tested for PH and metal content.
• Erosion control measures have been installed along the Main Access Road.
• Submittals for wildflower seed mixtures are being reviewed for acceptance.

 

[Kurt]

New Airport Puts Panama City on Track for Long-Term Growth

Most of the country is waiting for the economy to turn, or even for the federal stimulus to have some measurable effect on local economies, but at least one part of the country has a third option. In the Florida panhandle, in particular the Panama City area, a new international airport--under construction, scheduled for completion next year--promises economic stimulation, both in terms of business growth and real estate development.

"A new business community will be able to grow around the new airport in a way that's impossible around the existing airport, which is too small and too hemmed in for further expansion," Randall S. Curtis, executive director of the Panama City-Bay County International Airport, told CPN. "But the long-term impact will involve more than development in the immediate vicinity of the airport. The entire region stands to benefit."

Indeed, the existing smallish airport--two runways, 6,308 feet and 4,884 feet long, on 745 acres--may have been hindering the area's growth while the rest of Florida has expanded mightily. Bay County is still fairly small, experiencing only modest growth in recent years, with its population expanding from about 127,000 in 1990 to 155,000 now, according to the U.S. Census Bureau. Located on a complex of bays (St. Andrews, West, North and East bays) on the Gulf Coast, the area has access to miles of desirable beaches and other natural amenities, but mainly draws vacationers and second-home buyers mainly from the nearby states of Mississippi, Alabama and Georgia.

New airports in other parts of the country, in fact other parts of Florida, also have a history of spurring growth over the long run. The Southwest Florida International Airport opened in Ft. Myers in 1983, and during the 1990s the population of Lee County (county seat, Ft. Myers) grew 31.6 percent, considerably faster than the rest of the state, and the area has continued to grow in the 2000s.

Curtis posited that after larger jets are able to fly into the area, more visitors will start coming from the cities of the Midwest and the Northeast. Ultimately, that may mean not only more vacationers, but more businesspeople with site selection on their minds, and more real estate investors.

The existing main landowner in that part of Florida, St. Joe Co., already stands to benefit enormously from the new airport. Formerly a paper company with vast acreage devoted to growing trees, St. Joe is now a company with vast acreage (about 800,000 acres) to develop. The company was instrumental in realizing the airport project, especially through its donation of the land necessary to build it.

The basic specifications of the $330 million new Panama City-Bay County International Airport include a primary runway of 10,000 feet (expandable to 12,000), a crosswind runway of 5,000 feet and a 120,000-square foot terminal building, occupying 1,300 acres on a 4,000-acre site. That will be the configuration of the airport when it opens next year, anyway. As air traffic increases, there's additional room for another runway the size of the primary one, plus an expanded terminal facility.

Currently, the Airport Authority is negotiating with low-cost air carriers about flying into the new airport, which Curtis calls a key component in spurring future development in the region. Bagging such an airline to fly in and out of the new airport is so important that a small increase in Bay County's bed tax was approved to pay for the effort.

Besides aviation-related facilities, the airport will have about 1,200 acres available for on-site industrial or other commercial development, including sites with direct runway access. "We've gotten the attention of the aerospace industry, for one," said Curtis. "Among other aerospace interests, this part of Florida, centered on Tyndall Air Force Base, is a major center for unmanned vehicle R&D."

The airport itself is only a small part of an entity called the West Bay Sector Plan, a master plan for 75,000 acres along the West Bay just northwest of Panama City that has been in the works for about a decade. Land use for West Bay Sector Plan calls for the ultimate development of about 37 million square feet of commercial property and 27,000 residential units, to be undertaken by a variety of developers. Jones Lang LaSalle has been hired as to oversee development with the West Bay Sector Plan, and is currently in negotiation with a master developer for the properties within the new airport.

Environmentalist opposition to the new airport was relatively mute because of the enormous conservation easements both within the new airport property and as part of the overall West Bay Sector Plan. All together, 41,000 acres of the total of 75,000 acres, including 33 miles of West Bay shoreline and 44 miles of creek and tributaries, will be never be developed.

"The West Bay Plan is a long-term plan that will encourage development in the long run," Janet Watermeier, executive director of the Bay County Economic Development Alliance, told CPN. The economy may be unfavorable to real estate development in the near term, but "when the economy turns, a template for development in Bay County in the area will already be in place."