New Panama City airport holds hopes for region

A major landowner in Panama City, Fla., hopes a new airport to open this Sunday will open the region to the world.

The St. Joe Co., donated 4,000 acres for the new Northwest Florida Beaches International Airport in a bet that a better airport would bring additional tourism and business to the area -- including the tens of thousands of acres around the new complex that St. Joe owns..

The airport, built in an area called West Bay, will replace Panama City-Bay County International. It has drawn new service by Southwest Airlines, adding to existing Delta Air Lines service to Panama City.

St. Joe Co. Chief Executive Britt Greene spoke to The Atlanta Journal-Constitution about what the airport means for the area, from the potential to increase real estate values for second homeowners to better opportunities for luring businesses to the area from Atlanta and other cities.

Q: Why was donating the land for the airport a good investment for St. Joe Co.?

A: It was good for us because it took a lot of land holdings that were off the coast, and all of a sudden put them in a position more centered around the potential for economic growth.

Q: How do you think the airport will improve the tourism and second-home market and the area’s economy?

A: Generally I think it’s going to open us up to the nation. This has been typically a drive-in market and for a long time this has not been the easiest place to get to. It certainly has the prettiest beaches in the country. Atlantans know that every well, but the rest of the country doesn’t. We used to be somewhat disconnected from an air travel experience and so the ability to go to secondary and tertiary markets and advertise the opportunity to come to this beach and get there easily puts us on a map for consideration for a much wider population of the United States.

Q: How will the character of the area as a destination change?

A: From a development standpoint you will see growth at a pace that’s faster than would happen (otherwise) but also responsible growth. Culturally I don’t think that anybody would see much change as a result of this growth because there’s so much public landownership still in the area, it protects them from what you might see around larger cities.

Q: What are the main types of travelers the airport will bring to the area?

A: There’ll be heavy tourism followed by increasing growth of business. (There's) a large military presence in the area and defense contractors that service the military bases in the area. I also think we’ll get a lot of business owners and site selectors to start looking at this area as an opportunity because of its renewed connectivity. Just the sheer number of passenger seats is a multiplier of 2 or 3 times over what’s currently been available at the existing airport. Second home buyers from Atlanta who made that decision a while ago are going to find that family members from other parts of the country are going to be able to come, that their decision about retiring here is going to be easier because they’re going to have more choices about how they fly out of the area to go to places around the world.

Q: What kinds of companies are you interested in recruiting to your VentureCrossings development next to the airport?

A: Our efforts have centered on the aviation and aerospace industry since they’re there already.

Q: Are there any particular companies or industries in the Atlanta area that you’re targeting?

A: Coca-Cola (with a laugh). We’d be happy to talk to them about coming down. There are a number of what I would consider Fortune 500 companies in Atlanta in a number of different industries who may see an opportunity to put a satellite office in the region.

Q: What were the indications that you got that investing in a new airport would benefit your landholdings in the area?