Developers and officials from Bay County, Fla., have broken ground on a hotel project that’s being seen as a key regional revitalization and recovery effort following the devastation caused in the region by 2018’s Hurricane Michael.The Hotel Indigo at 1 Harrison Ave. is located in an Opportunity Zone within Panama City, the famed Gulf Coast seaside locale. The hotel’s site is where Panama City’s city hall stood before it was severely damaged by Hurricane Michael, a Category 5 storm that caused hundreds of millions in damages and led to 74 deaths in the United States and Central America.
U.S. Sen. Tim Scott (R-South Carolina), who sponsored the Opportunity Zone legislation, attended the March 31 groundbreaking. At the ceremony, Scott talked about the hardships he faced in 1989 during Hurricane Hugo.
“I was 23, still poor, and wanted to do something to help my neighbors,” Scott said. “At that time, all I could do was buy some toilet paper and diapers for a few neighbors.”
“Never could I have imagined that today, Opportunity Zones could help a community grow and come back to life like here in Panama City. Communities and private sector investors can come together to channel investment to these areas and bring real hope and opportunity to citizens.”
The 124-room hotel is Bay County’s first Opportunity Zone project, making it among the latest success stories of the tax incentive program created under former President Trump’s signature Tax Cuts and Jobs Act of 2017. The goal of the plan was to provide tax breaks to economically distressed areas throughout the U.S., spurring investment in those areas that may not have received such economic boosts otherwise.
The hotel and restaurant are expected to be complete and open to the public in spring 2023. The combined overall investment is approximately $36 million.
The St. Joe Company, a real estate firm based in Panama City, is leasing the city-owned site where Hotel Indigo will go. St. Joe is the project’s developer and construction company, and it will operate the property once it’s complete. The site, which will also include a restaurant, overlooks the water of Saint Andrew Bay.
U.S. Rep. Neal Dunn (R-Panama City) said the Opportunity Zones came “at the perfect time for Bay County as we continue to recover from Hurricane Michael. Today’s project will bring hundreds, even thousands of jobs for Northwest Florida residents and give them the opportunity for the American Dream.”
Greg Brudnicki, mayor of Panama City, called the project a prime example “of government getting it right. It shows that people can get together, hammer out a deal, leave their egos at the door, and create a win-win for the public. This is the beauty of the Opportunity Zone idea: Private investment can come into a blighted area and give people a hand up, not a handout.”
Jorge Gonzalez, president and CEO of St. Joe Company, pointed to how Panama City has not only dealt with Hurricane Michael, but the economic malaise caused by the COVID-19 pandemic.
“But today, the downtown is coming back,” he said. “It is coming back because the local community is investing in it one project at a time. We are believers in the downtown and we see a bright future ahead.”
Hotel Indigo is a part of a family of hotel brands from IHG (InterContinental Hotels Group). Each Hotel Indigo property is individually designed and reflects the local culture.
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