PANAMA CITY — City officials have approved a demolition order for a vacant building that’s been at the center of a fight over the future of the property.
A demolition plan, now approved by the Panama City Planning Department, was included with Royal American’s 44-unit senior affordable apartment complex development order application to the city back in July. City Manager Jeff Brown said the plan was to grant the demolition order after the development order was approved.
Marie Hotel property owner Joey Chapman wrote in an email Thursday that demolition is scheduled for sometime next year. City Planner Anna Papke said the demolition order should last six months.
Papke said demolition orders are purely an administrative call; the only thing the department checks is whether the applicant is indeed the property owner. Before demolition, the property owner still must apply for a permit with the Bay County Building Department, who can inspect for asbestos and make sure the site is secure. A county building department representative said the permit paperwork can be completed in one sitting.
Royal American also submitted a new development order Sept. 26 for a 31-unit complex, fitting the density requirements for the abutting pieces of property separated by Luverne Avenue. The plan cuts the building down from five floors to four and commercial space on the first floor is limited to 3,120 square feet instead of 6,000 proposed with the 44-unit complex plan.
Royal American also proposed at the last commission meeting a two-level parking structure and leasing property at Magnolia Avenue and Fifth Street to the city for parking. The new plan just includes surface parking but now fewer spaces are required to meet city code.
Opponents of affordable housing at the Marie Hotel were not phased by the demolition order’s approval.
“The plan was to start with a blank piece,” Commissioner John Kady said. “I’ve heard, because of the age of the building, that it’s something that’s not easy to renovate. I’m not surprised the first step is demolition.”
Since February, Kady has been the most vocal opponent of an affordable housing complex at the Marie Hotel site at 490 Harrison Ave. He believes the new development order application meets city code requirements, although it still has to go through the Planning Board and be approved by the City Commission.
“Really the only big issue before, when it came before the commission, was density,” Kady said. “It appears they’ve addressed that.”
Dwight Hicks, whose real estate office is across Fifth Street from the Marie Hotel, also has been a vocal opponent of housing at the site — even if they were high-end apartments. However, he supports the demolition of the building. He formerly served with the Downtown Improvement Board (DIB) and toured the Marie Hotel building. He said the ceilings are only 7 feet high.
“You could not even put a new hotel there now,” Hicks said. “I’m glad to see it go. Just a lot would be better than what it is.”
Royal American sent the Downtown Improvement Board a letter stating it was not going to allow the DIB to continue using the Marie as the vintage market during Friday Fest or for events during Dickens of a Christmas.
DIB Treasurer and Elegant Endeavors owner Jane Lindsey also was a vocal opponent of the 44-unit development. She acknowledges the building had to come down.
“If it’s progress, then good,” she said. “That’s what we need for downtown.”