Northern Florida Sets Sights On Brand-New Flight Hub
It’s been a turbulent ride, but developers and builders of the nation’s first major greenfield airport to be built since Denver’s in 1995 are gearing up for a final landing in Panama Bay County, Fla. Lawsuits and an ongoing contractor dispute notwithstanding, officials with the Panama City-Bay County Airport Authority still plan on a May completion of the $330-million airport, envisioned as a crucial spur for future economic growth in Florida’s panhandle.
The 4,000-acre airport site, donated by developer St. Joe Co., Jacksonville, is a launching pad for an ambitious long-range master plan for a 74,000-acre development in northwest Florida. A nearby existing airport has just one 6,000-ft-long runway and nowhere to grow because of its proximity to environmentally sensitive West Bay and two military airfields.