PANAMA CITY — Despite a chilly reception, developers are trying to shift momentum in an uphill battle to add affordable apartments downtown.
Royal American/Marie Hotel One representatives are lobbying to drum up support after plans to revitalize the Marie Hotel in downtown Panama City stalled in a recent city Planning Board meeting. The company asked city officials to indefinitely table their plans so they could work on public reception, but, following presentations with Downtown Improvement Board (DIB) members and the city’s Main Street group, downtown business owners still have not embraced the idea.
Royal American plans to develop 80 units of low-income senior housing on the site of the Marie Hotel at 490 Harrison Ave. Board members and several nearby business owners expressed opposition to the plans and questioned how another low-income apartment complex would improve downtown.
“The point we are trying to make to folks is this isn’t going to be a home run for income,” said John Lewis, who represents Royal American/Marie Hotel One. “It’s not a huge number, but it’s better than nothing.”
Figures from a National Association of Home Builders study indicate a typical 80-unit elderly complex contributes $734,560 to local businesses and $316,000 in local tax revenue each year.
“It’s a start,” Lewis said. “It’s a single, but it’s more than what the Marie Hotel is doing now, which is nothing.”
The Marie Hotel has sat dormant for decades. Lewis refuted claims its redevelopment would be similar to the St. Andrews Towers, a nearby low-income complex, by setting rent requirements. St. Andrews Towers, Lewis said, is “designed for the lowest of low income” by only requiring residents to pay utility costs.
To receive tax credits from the Florida Housing Finance Corporation (FHFC), the Marie Hotel development’s rent and income requirements would be set for 15 years. At least 35 percent of single-unit renters would pay $390 each month and at least 60 percent of single-unit renters would pay $669 each month.
Tenants would have to be 62 years old or older, Lewis said.
“Our average tenant we’re looking for would make $21,000 of income each year, and they usually have nest eggs that are beyond that,” he added.
DIB reaction
DIB members still were leery of plans for the Marie Hotel.
“If they don’t fill it with the right requirements, then they can get somebody even though they are not [62 years old] who makes less than $25,000, which opens the door to be just like low-income housing,” said Mike Ferrucci, DIB member and owner of Ferrucci Ristorante. “It’s a much better looking building and a better project; I’m just afraid of the people it attracts.”
City commissioners have been pursuing ideas of a moderate- to higher-income, more tech-friendly community development for the downtown area. At the same time, they rejected two other low-income elderly housing development’s attempting to attain the tax credits for construction, citing incompatibility with the community.
The Marie Hotel development also would require a contribution of about $20,000 from Panama City coffers.
Lewis said market research does not support taking the route through traditional lenders to build commercial condos.
“We would love to do that,” he said. “But, it has got to work and you have to have a market study that supports those rents and the loans to support construction. If you don’t have that market of customers, you aren’t going to get a loan from a bank.”
Market research is a key component to attaining the tax credits, Lewis said, which is supported in Panama City. He encouraged residents to view redevelopment of the Marie Hotel as progress.
“We all live here and have been here a long time, so we are not going to do anything to diminish the growth of downtown,” he said.