Pensacola City Council backs incentive payment for Westmore apartments and Waverly condos

A block of Spring Street in downtown Pensacola will get a facelift as part of a new grocery store and apartment development that the Pensacola City Council voted unanimously on Monday to support.

The new Westmore Apartments will bring 328 apartments, a 37,000-square-foot large-scale grocery store, and a 750-space parking garage with 175 spaces reserved for grocery store customers.

Lousisana-based Bearing Point Properties is building the development that developers also hope will include a 54-unit luxury condo development called the Waverly.

Meeting as the Community Redevelopment Agency board on Monday, the City Council voted unanimously to approve a development agreement that pledges $1.5 million in CRA funds as an incentive to upgrade a block of Spring Street between Garden and Romana streets.

The developer will build and pay for the Spring Street improvements at a cost of $2.4 million before being reimbursed by the city with the $1.5 million incentive payment.

Incentive payment up for vote: Pensacola to vote on $1.5 million reimbursement for apartment and condo developments

Spring Street improvements planned: Pensacola asked to chip in $1.5M for Waverly housing/grocery store project downtown

The plan calls for upgrading landscaping along Spring Street and shifting the center of the road about 50 feet to the east, which will add a sharper curve in the street, allowing trucks to make deliveries to the grocery store.

Two council members, Casey Jones and Allison Patton, raised the issue of adding a bike lane to Spring Street.

John Buzzell with Bearing Point Properties told the CRA board that they are working on updating designs to Spring Street that will add some type of bike lane to the street, though he could not say specifically what it would look like at this point.

"At the end of the day, a bike lane of some sort is being considered and will be incorporated," Buzzell said.

The CRA has made a similar incentive payment before with the East Garden District project and improvements to Jefferson Street, which so far has only produced the new location for the Union Public House restaurant. Those plans had called for shops, residential units and a 150-room boutique hotel.

Unlike the East Garden District project, the incentive payment will not be made until the completion of the grocery store and parking garage, and with construction underway on the apartments. At that point, the funds will be put into an escrow account and the developer will have 36 months to finish construction before being able to withdraw the funds in the account.

Pensacola Cheif Financial Officer Amy Lovoy told the board the project is estimated to have a taxable value of $45 million, which would mean an additional $580,000 a year in tax revenue for the CRA, so the incentive payment would pay for itself in three years.

Those numbers don't include the tax revenue from the Waverly condos, which were not listed in the development agreement.

Buzzell said his company is still working to sell units and get state approval for the condo development. The Waverly was left out of the agreement with the city so construction could begin on the Spring Street improvements this summer.

Buzzell said he had full confidence the Waverly would be built, but his team is working to sell units and get needed state approval for the condominium's construction.

"Am I gonna do everything I can to sell these condos? Absolutely, it's just out of my control," Buzzel said. "Delivering a 40,000-square-foot regional grocer to downtown with 328 residences is more in my control. And so delivering that community benefit, we felt comfortable in delivering that and sharing in this those infrastructure improvements with you guys."

Buzzell said the plans for the parking deck are $2.5 million more than they would otherwise be to add for the parking spaces for the Waverly condos.

"If the condos don't show up, I have a bunch of extra parking spots — very expensive parking spots," Buzzell said. "So are we betting on it? Absolutely. I'm putting my money on it."

This article originally appeared on Pensacola News Journal: Waverly developer gets $1.5M Spring Street upgrade from Pensacola