Panama City
Beach:
Positive
Development
Vibes
by Charlotte
Crane, Florida
Trend
December, 2007
Two-story,
cinder-block
lodgings
accommodating
spring breakers
along Panama
City Beach are
rapidly
disappearing,
replaced by
towering resorts
targeting family
vacationers and
Boomer retirees.
Thousands of new
condo units are
creating an
oversupply. The
result: Price
declines, and
for some
builders,
postponed
construction
starts and
slower sales.
But tourism
leaders and most
major developers
remain unfazed.
They point to
numerous
projects still
moving ahead,
including Simon
Property’s
nine-figure,
1.1-million-sq.-ft.
Pier Park
lifestyle/retail
center, to be
open by spring.
Also stoking
that optimism
are tourism
prospects
created by the
$330-million
Panama City-Bay
County
International
Airport expected
to open in 2010.
“For the first
time in our
history, we’ll
be able to
promote
international
travel,’’ says
former
Convention &
Visitors Bureau
Executive
Director Bob
Warren, now vice
president of the
Grand Panama
Beach Resort.
Pier Park in
Panama City
Beach
