Deal Estate: It’s Just Business

Destin

▪ The Market Shops at Sandestin is getting a major facelift. Owner OBP Partners of Miami has begun a revitalization effort, transforming the resort shopping area into a dining, shopping and entertainment center with an intimate neighborhood atmosphere. Renovations are slated to begin in October and the project should be complete in January 2014, according to Ian Schenkman, principal of OBP. 

“There won’t be too many structural changes, but we will renovate the facade, create additional storefronts that face Highway 98, add stone elements and a new color palate to update the look. We will also improve the inner courtyard areas to create a nice dining atmosphere that’s conducive for events and gatherings,” he explains. 

Tenants will be neighborhood-oriented, with no outlets or big box stores, Schenkman adds. There are also plans for a farmer’s market on days that alternate with other area markets. 

Nearby Sandestin Golf and Beach Resort and Sandestin Real Estate, which has been a tenant in the Market Shops since the mid-1980s, are looking forward to the project’s completion with great anticipation. 

“We are very excited about the planned renovations and look forward to working with OBP as they develop quality options for our community,” says Kitty Whitney, executive director of Sandestin Real Estate. 

▪ Trending: In the first half of 2013 compared to the last half of 2012, the ratio of the sales price versus the list price has narrowed in commercial sales, according to Gordon MacLean, managing broker for NWF Realty Inc. MacLean points out that while the ratio was approximately 71 percent in the latter half of 2012, meaning properties were selling for roughly 71 percent of their list price, that gap narrowed to roughly 89 percent in the first half of 2013. 

“The ratio is one indication of how correctly the market participants perceive the value of the properties that are trading hands,” explains MacLean. “As the market continues to work through the remaining distressed properties in our area, we should expect to see a more balanced market wherein the ratio of sales price to list price falls to 10 percent or below.” 

Pensacola/Ft. Walton Beach

▪ The push to make Pensacola a site of fast-paced economic development has gotten another shot in the arm from the Greater Pensacola Chamber of Commerce. The chamber launched ChooseGreaterPensacola.com, a best-in-class interactive portal designed to show off Greater Pensacola’s workforce and real estate assets. 

30 A

▪ A new resort is moving into Rosemary Beach with phase one slated for completion by summer of 2014. The Inn on the Gulf promises to bring an edgy aesthetic inspired by resorts in Miami to the 30A corridor and will be the “greenest, most environmentally-friendly hotel in the Panhandle,” according to Mark Humphreys, CEO of Humphreys & Partners Architects, one of the leaders of this new development. The resort will consist of three four-story buildings, with one- to three-bedroom units ranging from 460 to 2,118 square feet. Each room will have a kitchen, and the resort will house a restaurant in addition to a rooftop deck, bars and several swimming pools.