25-story high rise condo tower planned for Panama City Beach
By Ed Offley
News Herald Staff Writer
Posted Jan 21, 2019 at 10:00 AM / Updated Jan 21, 2019 at 12:08 PM
PANAMA CITY BEACH — Ending a decade-long condo construction drought along the Gulf of Mexico beachfront, a local developer has announced plans for a 25-story high-rise condominium tower slated for construction on a nine-acre tract on east Thomas Drive that includes 850 feet of beach frontage.
When built, Palace Sands, as the development will be called, will have condos ranging in size from 1,229-square-foot two bedroom/two bath units, to 4,200-square-foot, two-story penthouses with five bedrooms and five bathrooms. Prices for the units will range from $570,000 to $2.7 million.
Under planning for a year, the condo’s design is intended to be “the best in show” once completed, said developer Michael Jones, principal partner in Palace Partners LLC. “This is the very first Gulf-front high-rise condominium on the Beach in a decade,” Jones said. Speaking of his private partners, he added, “We all woke up last year and realized that the market is almost ready for new development.”
The developers are currently working with Bay County on the permitting and pre-construction process for the site, which originally belonged to the late developer Charles Faircloth. Plans are to break ground in September or October 2019.
The tower design includes nineteen “standard” residential floors. Each will have a pair of three-bedroom/three-bathroom end units; four two-bedroom/two-bathroom units, and two three-bedroom/two-bathroom units. In addition, the project will feature four two-story penthouse units on the top floor, each with a 22-foot-tall atrium, and a total of five bedrooms and five bathrooms. Also, two separate villa units will be located on the “amenity deck” (the project’s fourth floor) adjacent to the indoor swimming pool. The lower three levels will include a two-stage parking structure, and a level dedicated to recreational and commercial activities.
The project will mark a major comeback for Jones, who developed Princess Condominiums beginning back in 1994, and who also built the Harbor Lights and The Ultimate projects in Destin. After the recession in 2008, Jones said he shifted his career to real estate sales, a step he said has made him better aware of identifying customer desires for beachfront real estate.
Even though groundbreaking for Palace Sands is at least eight months away, Jones and his partners have already opened a sales office on the site, located on the 6100 block of Thomas Drive on the Beach’s east end. They have also launched a website at palacesands.com.
Article originally posted here: https://www.newsherald.com/news/20190121/25-story-high-rise-condo-tower-planned-for-panama-city-beach