Panama City launches hotel project to recover from Hurricane Michael

Downtown Panama City saw an important step Wednesday in a years-long recovery from Hurricane Michael.

Construction began on Hotel Indigo in the center of the city. The groundbreaking of the hotel took place at the site of the former City Hall, which was heavily damaged during Hurricane Michael when it slammed the Florida Panhandle on Oct. 11, 2018.

The category 5 storm packed winds estimated to be in excess of 150 mph and caused so much damage to the city’s old government building that it was eventually demolished.

Panama City Mayor Greg Brudnicki said the public-private partnership for the hotel has the right idea.

“What we’re doing here today is an example of government getting it right. It shows that people can get together, hammer out a deal, leave their egos at the door, and create a win-win for the public,” Brudnicki said.

[…]

Bay County is augmenting the federally designed opportunity zone as an economic development tool in hopes of spurring economic growth and additional investment in the area from other businesses.

Opportunity zones are economically distressed areas designated by individual states where investors can choose to invest their capital gains for a number of years in return for a tax break. The goal is to empower communities and investors to direct funds to communities that need them most. Bay County has three opportunity zones, all in downtown Panama City.

Hotel Indigo, which is owned by InterContinental Hotels Group, is being designed to fit into the Panama City community, which reflects the unique attributes of that city. Real estate development group the St. Joe Co. is overseeing the project, a joint venture with Panama City.

Opportunity zone efforts are being encouraged in other areas of the country and U.S. Sen. Tim Scott of South Carolina was one of the key congressional leaders to promote the idea. He was on hand for the groundbreaking in Panama City Wednesday.