Calling all buyers: Former Bay County Juvenile Courthouse selling for $3.95 million
PANAMA CITY — Local officials hope to soon sell the former Bay County Juvenile Justice Courthouse.
According to Joel Schubert, deputy manager for Bay County, the 25,000-square-foot property that sits on 2.7 acres off 11th Street officially hit the national real estate market last week.
It is being marketed by CBRE: Global Commercial Real Estate Services, a brokerage based in Dallas that is the largest commercial real estate services and investment firm in the world.
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"We think it's important to have a broker that has ... a national footprint (and) is used to dealing with potential buyers on a daily basis," Schubert said. "This is something that needs to be marketed outside of our county, potentially, to get (the) highest return."
Documents provided by Bay County officials note the property is listed for $3.95 million, and it is zoned public/institutional. Schubert said this allows for a variety of potential uses from government to private industries.
Proceeds from sale will help fund new juvenile justice facility
He also said officials hope for the building to sell within about six months. The money will be used to help fund the construction of a new juvenile justice facility that will be added to the existing Bay County Courthouse off 4th Street.
The project, which will take approximately two years to construct, is expected to cost about $13 million. It not only will add 27,000 square feet to the courthouse, but realign the building's entryway to create a focal point between the two facilities.
"We're going to use the (sale) to offset the cost of the new juvenile justice (facility) on the (Bay County Courthouse) campus," Schubert said. "There's certainly an advantage to having all (local judicial services) on the same campus. It's economies of scale."
The Bay County and Juvenile Justice courthouses have been separate since 2000.
Schubert said the Juvenile Justice Courthouse was utilized until shortly after Hurricane Michael, which hit the Panhandle in October 2018 and damaged the building. It has since been gutted and is ready to be revamped by a new buyer.
"It's ready for buildout," he said. "That means the potential buyer could come in there and have a lot of flexibility on how it's finished out. So depending on what use they want to put the building to, they can certainly construct those spaces to accommodate their needs."
This article originally appeared on The News Herald: Former Bay County Juvenile Justice Courthouse selling for $3.9 million
