D.R. Horton offers Escambia County $33 million for OLF 8

The home building company D.R. Horton Inc. is offering Escambia County $33 million in cash for all of the remaining 539 acres of the Beulah property known as former Navy Outlying Field 8.

In a letter of intent sent on Friday, D.R. Horton said it would pay the county $33 million in cash at the end of a one-year "inspection period."

The offer comes as Escambia County has been searching for a developer to fulfill the OLF 8 Master Plan that was made part of the county's ordinances in 2021 after a long and sometimes contentious planning process between the county and residents of the Beulah area.

Escambia County purchased OLF 8 through a land swap with the Navy, where the county built an identical helicopter training field in Santa Rosa County in a project that ultimately cost the county approximately $18 million.

The county sold almost 100 acres of OLF 8 to Navy Federal Credit Union for nearly $4 million, and the company reimbursed the county for the cost of developing the master plan.

The master plan for the property calls for 343 acres to be developed into light industrial or commercial properties while 196 acres are set aside for mixed-use development, including an area for a town center and a new school. The plan also includes design standards for construction at the site, which specify how roads and buildings on the site must look.

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In its letter to the county, D.R. Horton said it recognizes the current OLF 8 Master Plan includes single-family, multi-family, light industrial, office, and retail land uses and that the company intends to "incorporate multiple commercial and residential uses into its future master plan."

In December, Escambia County also won the approval of a $14.2 million grant from Triumph Gulf Coast to build the infrastructure on the property needed for the implementation of the master plan.

D.R. Horton said it would work with the county to meet all of the requirements of the Triumph grant, which include bringing 338 "new-to-Florida" jobs to the property that exist for at least three years with an average salary of $53,556. Under Triumph's terms, construction or seasonal jobs cannot be counted toward the 338 total.

Escambia County Commissioner Jeff Bergosh, who represents Beulah, was initially opposed to any residential development at the site but agreed to allow it as part of the compromise at the heart of the master plan. Bergosh said the offer from D.R. Horton could be a "parardigm shift" for the county's OLF 8 project as the county will more than double its original investment, but he warned the "devil is in the details" of the final proposal.

"I am not going to vote for anything that violates the spirit of the compromise which produced the master plan," Bergosh said. "I'm not going to vote for anything that changes the compromise, which was jobs, retail, commercial, residential, and community space."

If the offer is accepted, the county stands to profit approximately $19 million off of the OLF 8 land swap when factoring in the $4 million sale to Navy Federal Credit Union, Bergosh said.

"If you think of it, it will be like an infusion of an entire $33 million because (the money put into the original project) we spent that years ago. That's gone. So, it will be like new money coming back."

All of the money recouped on the project must go into the county's Local Option Sales Tax fund, which was the source of the initial $18 million.

Bergosh noted that $33 million spread over the five districts is $6.6 million for each district.

"Imagine all the projects all around this county we could do with that kind of cash as an influx," Bergosh said.

Theresa Blackwell, a Beulah resident that was involved in the initial master plan, said she was shocked when she first heard the news that D.R. Horton was looking to buy the property.

"We've felt a lot of problems with D.R. Horton here in Beulah," Blackwell said. "In the past, I've been a neighbor to their building (projects) twice, and we've had to fight for drainage issues, etc., with them."

But after thinking about the idea more, Blackwell said she believes that if the county moves forward with D.R. Horton it must get the company to agree to follow the original OLF 8 Master Plan, especially the design codes.

"I think the fear in Beulah is that they will get OLF 8 and just cover it with the same types of subdivision development that they have put up before," Blackwell said.

Blackwell said any change to the master plan or design code that must be made should be done under the county's normal process of public notice and planning board approval before going to the County Commission to ensure residents are aware of any change.

"That's our only assurance, at this point, that they (D.R. Horton) will do something better than what they've done in the greater community with their residential developments," Blackwell said.

Escambia County Commissioners will hold a regular meeting Thursday morning beginning at 8:30 a.m. Bergosh said he expects the D.R. Horton letter to be added to the agenda as it requires the county to respond in 10 days.

Blackwell said she hopes Beulah and other county residents come out to the meeting to let their own opinions be heard about the potential deal.

This article originally appeared on Pensacola News Journal: D.R. Horton offers Escambia County $33 million for OLF 8