Beulah's sleepy days are numbered
- November 10, 2014
- / Carlton Proctor
- / economy
If you want to know what's really going on in Beulah these days, stop by Jennifer Gaugler's Crafty Girl shop.
Centrally located at the intersection of Beulah and Nine Mile roads, just a hop, skip and jump from Navy Federal Credit Union's sprawling 302-acre campus, Gaugler's quaint crafts store has become a meeting place of sorts.
It's here you can get a sense from her and her customers what locals think of Navy Federal's unprecedented growth, and the economic and social impact it's having on this rural community.
"I think all this growth is affecting more of the older people who have lived here a long time," said Beulah resident Lisa Dupree. "I see more and more of them putting their property on the market, selling it, taking the money and moving to more rural areas.
"I think they are really afraid of the growth that's coming."
Gaugler can give you the names of developers building a new subdivisions to meet the rapidly growing demand for housing in Beulah.
[sidebar]
Lisa Nix passes food to George and Crystal Lemay at Miguel's On The Run in Beulah. The boom at Navy Federal Credit union has been good for Nix's business, but is changing the quiet community it is home to. (Michael Spooneybarger/ Pensacola Today)[/caption]
"Some of the residents out here don't like all this growth," said Lisa Nix, who operates Miguel's on the Run, a taco stand near Navy Federal's campus. "They came out here years ago to get away from the city and the growth. But now it's here and some deal with it, and some don't.
"I also hear some people say they don't like the way Navy Federal took over the 4-H land," she said.
Nix is referring to the Navy Federal's 2012 purchase of the 240-acre Langley Bell 4-H Center that lay adjacent to its largely built out 62-acre Heritage Oaks campus.
The controversial, $3.4 million deal paved the way for the $1 billion campus Dawson promised by 2020.
While many longtime Beulah residents resent, or are wary of, the rapid growth, Nix, a Pensacola resident, has no complaints.
"The new construction Navy Federal is doing has really helped my business," she said. "I get a lot of construction workers who come here for lunch."
But some longtime residents like Richard Gibbs see the handwriting on the wall and are taking advantage of rising land prices and demand for developable properties.
[caption id="attachment_9313" align="alignright" width="300"]
Lifelong resident Richard Gibbs stands at the entrance to the Escambia County Equestrian Center in Beulah. (Michael Spooneybarger/ Pensacola Today)[/caption]
"My wife and I have been living here in Beulah since 1962," said Gibbs, an auctioneer. "We raised our children on our 125-acre farm."
But a few years ago Gibbs sold 47 acres; within the past few months he sold the remaining acreage to an investor.
Gibbs has taken his proceeds and is moving down the road to Magnolia Dairy Farm, just across the state line in Alabama.
The boom times to come
Navy Federal's impact on Beulah is visible to even the most casual observer.
But the growth of the world's largest credit union's growth is rippling throughout Escambia County's economy and beyond.
For instance, Navy Federal's across-the-street neighbor, Nature Trail, an upscale single family subdivision, continues to lead the county in the annual dollar value of new home construction.
Of Nature Trail's 650 lots, nearly 400 are built out.
That's produced a lot of jobs for Pensacola area carpenters, plumbers, electricians, architects and engineers, said Nature Trail resident Eric Nickelsen.
Nickelsen said the rapidly growing subdivision and Navy Federal peacefully coexist.
"Nature Trail is a gated community and we've had no problems and don't give it a second thought that Navy Federal is across the road and expanding so rapidly," said Nickelsen, who sits on the homeowners association board. "In fact we have about 40 residents in Nature Trail who work over at Navy Federal.
"I don't know of anything that's been synergized as well as Navy Federal and Nature Trail," he said. "Navy Federal has done a beautiful job with its campus. They are great neighbors."
Nickelsen, a retired banker who is now part owner of the John S. Carr Co., said he doesn't see any immediate end to the residential home building boom under way in Beulah.
"I absolutely see more subdivisions coming," he said. "There's no doubt in my mind that Beulah is a very hot area for residential housing. It's a beautiful area and it's an easy commute on (the interstate) to downtown Pensacola."
[caption id="attachment_9309" align="alignright" width="300"]
Morning traffic heads into Beulah. Transportation issues are one of the chief concerns related to the growth of Navy Federal Credit Union. (Michael Spooneybarger/ Pensacola Today)[/caption]
One of the biggest challenges facing county and state planners is improving the transportation infrastructure to accommodate the traffic increases that will result from Beulah's growth.
Florida Department of Transportation funding is already in place for widening Nine Mile Road from U.S. 29 to the Beulah community.
County officials said that widening project will begin in 2016. And there are plans to build an Interstate 10 exit ramp that would give access of the interstate along Kingsfield Road near the back of Navy Federal's property.
Escambia County is also moving forward with plans to acquire 640-acre site next to Navy Federal that is currently a helicopter training field used by Whiting Field Naval Air Station.
That site eventually will be developed into a commerce park, said Pensacola contractor Jim Cronley, a key proponent of the project.
'There's going to be a city out there'
If anyone has a big-picture view of what's coming to the Beulah area it's Escambia County Commissioner Wilson Robertson.
[caption id="attachment_9310" align="alignright" width="300"]
Traffic streams by the sign entering Beulah. (Michael Spooneybarger/ Pensacola Today)[/caption]
His District 1 covers Beulah and the western and central sections of the county that everyone expects to see the most growth in coming decades.
"There are thousands of acres between Beulah and Cantonment that will be developed over the next decade,” Robertson said.
"As a result you'll see schools built, a post office and probably stores like Walmart and Target build out there in the not too distant future," he said.
Robertson said Escambia County is one of two counties in Florida that have an approved "sector plan" that will allow large scale development to occur and meet state land use guidelines.
Robertson said he hears from a lot of his Beulah community constituents who are unhappy about the growth and changes.
"I know there are a lot of people who moved to Beulah 20 to 30 years ago who are discontent with what's happening there, but they need to know growth is going to happen and they need to realize that.
"People who may want a quiet, rural community to live in might want to steer clear of Beulah in the future," Robertson said. "The growth is coming, and it's coming fast. There's going to be a city out there one day."
UPDATE: The story was edited to remove an erroneous reference to Richard Gibbs as former Escambia County Tax Collector. His brother E.J. Gibbs was the former Tax Collector.
According to the University of West Florida Historic Trust, the origin of the name for the Beulah community comes from an unknown author:
"On July 23, 1880 residents held a meeting in the center of the community with intentions to choose a name and found a village. After long and careful deliberation and because they were God loving people, they chose the name Beulah which is found in the Bible and added Springs, for the springs that were in existence at the time close to the Baptist Church. Beulah Springs, Florida came into existence. The small post office was close to the church on what is now Beulah Church Road."
Watch Michael Spooneybarger's video of how Beulah is changing here.
[/sidebar] "There's a 110-unit residential housing subdivision being built right now on Frank Reeder Road by Holiday Builders," she said. Want the latest rumors about which big-box store will be the first to build in Beulah? Just ask Gaugler's friend and Beulah resident, Jaycee Costentino. "We hear all the time that a Target or a Walmart is going to be built out here," said Jaycee Costentino, a Beulah resident. And there's lots of conversation, Costentino says, about plans to built two new public schools in Beulah, projects that already are on the drawing boards, said Escambia Superintendent Malcolm Thomas. While this once-sleepy community on high, rolling land in west central Escambia County still has its bucolic charms, no one who lives in Beulah doubts massive change is coming — and soon. The disappearing 'country life' Driving this change is Navy Federal, the Virginia-based credit union that announced late last month a second phase $350 million, 5,000 job expansion of its Heritage Oaks campus. This news comes as Navy Federal, which currently has some 4,000 employees on its Beulah campus, is moving apace with construction of its Phase I, $200 million, 1,500-job expansion project that broke ground in July. By 2020, Navy Federal's CEO Cutler Dawson said the Virginia-based company will have in place a $1 billion campus in Beulah employing some 10,000 people. "All the growth at Navy Federal is coming to Pensacola," Dawson said following his announcement of the Phase I expansion. What does all this mean for Beulah? Obviously growth and change. And lots of it for decades to come. [caption id="attachment_9318" align="alignright" width="300"]
Lisa Nix passes food to George and Crystal Lemay at Miguel's On The Run in Beulah. The boom at Navy Federal Credit union has been good for Nix's business, but is changing the quiet community it is home to. (Michael Spooneybarger/ Pensacola Today)[/caption]
"Some of the residents out here don't like all this growth," said Lisa Nix, who operates Miguel's on the Run, a taco stand near Navy Federal's campus. "They came out here years ago to get away from the city and the growth. But now it's here and some deal with it, and some don't.
"I also hear some people say they don't like the way Navy Federal took over the 4-H land," she said.
Nix is referring to the Navy Federal's 2012 purchase of the 240-acre Langley Bell 4-H Center that lay adjacent to its largely built out 62-acre Heritage Oaks campus.
The controversial, $3.4 million deal paved the way for the $1 billion campus Dawson promised by 2020.
While many longtime Beulah residents resent, or are wary of, the rapid growth, Nix, a Pensacola resident, has no complaints.
"The new construction Navy Federal is doing has really helped my business," she said. "I get a lot of construction workers who come here for lunch."
But some longtime residents like Richard Gibbs see the handwriting on the wall and are taking advantage of rising land prices and demand for developable properties.
[caption id="attachment_9313" align="alignright" width="300"]
Lifelong resident Richard Gibbs stands at the entrance to the Escambia County Equestrian Center in Beulah. (Michael Spooneybarger/ Pensacola Today)[/caption]
"My wife and I have been living here in Beulah since 1962," said Gibbs, an auctioneer. "We raised our children on our 125-acre farm."
But a few years ago Gibbs sold 47 acres; within the past few months he sold the remaining acreage to an investor.
Gibbs has taken his proceeds and is moving down the road to Magnolia Dairy Farm, just across the state line in Alabama.
The boom times to come
Navy Federal's impact on Beulah is visible to even the most casual observer.
But the growth of the world's largest credit union's growth is rippling throughout Escambia County's economy and beyond.
For instance, Navy Federal's across-the-street neighbor, Nature Trail, an upscale single family subdivision, continues to lead the county in the annual dollar value of new home construction.
Of Nature Trail's 650 lots, nearly 400 are built out.
That's produced a lot of jobs for Pensacola area carpenters, plumbers, electricians, architects and engineers, said Nature Trail resident Eric Nickelsen.
Nickelsen said the rapidly growing subdivision and Navy Federal peacefully coexist.
"Nature Trail is a gated community and we've had no problems and don't give it a second thought that Navy Federal is across the road and expanding so rapidly," said Nickelsen, who sits on the homeowners association board. "In fact we have about 40 residents in Nature Trail who work over at Navy Federal.
"I don't know of anything that's been synergized as well as Navy Federal and Nature Trail," he said. "Navy Federal has done a beautiful job with its campus. They are great neighbors."
Nickelsen, a retired banker who is now part owner of the John S. Carr Co., said he doesn't see any immediate end to the residential home building boom under way in Beulah.
"I absolutely see more subdivisions coming," he said. "There's no doubt in my mind that Beulah is a very hot area for residential housing. It's a beautiful area and it's an easy commute on (the interstate) to downtown Pensacola."
[caption id="attachment_9309" align="alignright" width="300"]
Morning traffic heads into Beulah. Transportation issues are one of the chief concerns related to the growth of Navy Federal Credit Union. (Michael Spooneybarger/ Pensacola Today)[/caption]
One of the biggest challenges facing county and state planners is improving the transportation infrastructure to accommodate the traffic increases that will result from Beulah's growth.
Florida Department of Transportation funding is already in place for widening Nine Mile Road from U.S. 29 to the Beulah community.
County officials said that widening project will begin in 2016. And there are plans to build an Interstate 10 exit ramp that would give access of the interstate along Kingsfield Road near the back of Navy Federal's property.
Escambia County is also moving forward with plans to acquire 640-acre site next to Navy Federal that is currently a helicopter training field used by Whiting Field Naval Air Station.
That site eventually will be developed into a commerce park, said Pensacola contractor Jim Cronley, a key proponent of the project.
'There's going to be a city out there'
If anyone has a big-picture view of what's coming to the Beulah area it's Escambia County Commissioner Wilson Robertson.
[caption id="attachment_9310" align="alignright" width="300"]
Traffic streams by the sign entering Beulah. (Michael Spooneybarger/ Pensacola Today)[/caption]
His District 1 covers Beulah and the western and central sections of the county that everyone expects to see the most growth in coming decades.
"There are thousands of acres between Beulah and Cantonment that will be developed over the next decade,” Robertson said.
"As a result you'll see schools built, a post office and probably stores like Walmart and Target build out there in the not too distant future," he said.
Robertson said Escambia County is one of two counties in Florida that have an approved "sector plan" that will allow large scale development to occur and meet state land use guidelines.
Robertson said he hears from a lot of his Beulah community constituents who are unhappy about the growth and changes.
"I know there are a lot of people who moved to Beulah 20 to 30 years ago who are discontent with what's happening there, but they need to know growth is going to happen and they need to realize that.
"People who may want a quiet, rural community to live in might want to steer clear of Beulah in the future," Robertson said. "The growth is coming, and it's coming fast. There's going to be a city out there one day."
UPDATE: The story was edited to remove an erroneous reference to Richard Gibbs as former Escambia County Tax Collector. His brother E.J. Gibbs was the former Tax Collector.
Recent Posts
-
CivicCon launches with a look at good growth in cities
-
Building stronger brains one baby, one parent at a time
-
SCI debuts commercial on Early Learning City
-
Entrecon: World class speakers and an opportunity to sharpen skills
-
PYP Quality of Life survey 2017
-
EntreCon Pensacola 2016: A look back
-
Leadership tip: getting better employee takeaways
-
Leadership tip: be interested instead of interesting
-
Leadership tip: delivering difficult messages
-
Brain Bags boost Arc, Early Childhood Court programs