Studer Community Institute

Once more unto the Hawkshaw breach

December 4, 2014
/ Shannon Nickinson
/ community-dashboard

Few parcels in Pensacola have as tortured recent history as the Hawkshaw property. The land, across Ninth Avenue from the tony Aragon subdivision and next to the Gulf Power Co. headquarters has been vacant for some time. In June, City Council members — acting as the Community Redevelopment Agency — declined to entertain the responses that an RFP for the property drew because they were too far below the appraised value of the property. Come the Dec. 8 CRA meeting, chairman Charles Bare wants that Hawkshaw discussion reopened. In a memo to his fellow board members, Bare writes, "it is appropriate to discuss the mitigating circumstances related to the development of the site from a purely non-textbook framework. "Such a discussion will facilitate board members' consideration of the same set of real world facts and decision on whether to issue a new RFP, taking into account all limitations and issues affecting the site." Factors that will impact development on that site include the site's propensity to flood, height restrictions for the area that "create a ceiling for the building footprint limiting the total number of possible units/square footage, notwithstanding available density bonuses." It is time to reconsider the appraisal, Bare writes, taking these and other market factors for pricing and development costs into account. To read more about previous efforts to develop Hawkshaw, click here. To be in on the discussion about what to do with it this time around, attend the CRA meeting immediately following the City Council agenda conference meeting, which starts at 3:30 p.m. on Dec. 8 on the second floor at City Hall.

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Once more unto the Hawkshaw breach

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