Pensacola is retooling a $53M Triumph port expansion request. Here's what's changing:

Pensacola Mayor D.C. Reeves is scaling back the city's initial $53 million Triumph Gulf Coast request to expand the Port of Pensacola and breaking the request into phases.

Reeves said at his weekly press conference Tuesday that the city would seek the first phase of funding for the project to focus on the Center for Maritime Excellence.

"At the end of the day, what we want is we want something that gets funded and gets moving," Reeves said. "So we're going to take that approach."

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The Center for Maritime Excellence will be a new building at the port that will give New York Yacht Club American Magic a permeant facility at the port, as well as allow for other tenants that focus on ocean sciences and maritime technologies research and development.

Reeves said he made the decision after discussions with city staff and staff at Triumph Gulf Coast.

Pensacola submitted its pre-application for the $53 million request to the Triumph Gulf Coast in September. Triumph Gulf Coast was set up by the state to award BP oil spill settlement funds to economic development projects in the eight counties impacted by the 2010 spill.

The pre-application called for upgrading and improving the port's infrastructure, such as ship berths, roads and cargo facilities, as well as moving the port's security perimeter to allow for the redevelopment of the northern section of the port.

The proposal followed the contours of the 2019 Vision Plan with some updates based on the growth of the port experienced in the last few years. Port Director Clark Merritt dubbed the proposal the "2022 Vision" plan.

Submitting the application was a major goal of former Pensacola Mayor Grover Robinson in the final months of his term in office.

Triumph Gulf Coast gave the city the green light to move forward with a full application after reviewing its pre-application.

Reeves said he did not have exact details on what the financial request would be but added it would likely include other infrastructure needed at the port.

"We're using this week, and really these next couple of weeks, to hone in exactly on what those phase one bullets will be," Reeves said. "But what we do know at this moment … is we are going to focus around the Center for Maritime Excellence for phase one."

In the city's pre-application, the Center for Maritime Excellence was also tied into light boat manufacturing planned by Streamline Boats, which holds the lease on port Warehouse No. 9. The company has had legal trouble over the last year and construction on Warehouse No. 9 has stalled.

Reeves told the News Journal after the press conference that the updated proposal would be for a separate building and not involve the Streamline Boats' facility.

One major aspect of the city's September pre-application was a private investment of up to $35 million from CEMEX, a Mexico-based concrete supply company, to increase the capacity of its facility at the port.

Reeves said it'd not been decided yet if CEMEX's part would be included in the first phase or become the centerpiece of a second phase request.

"We want to make sure that as it pertains to (CEMEX) … that we get that right," Reeves said.

This article originally appeared on Pensacola News Journal: Port of Pensacola's $53M Triumph request will be broken into phases