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West Main A New Neighborhood in Downtown Project Report Pensacola, Florida Executive Summary A NEW NEIGHBORHOOD IN DOWNTOWN PENSACOLA As one of the oldest settlements in North America, Pensacola did not come upon its privileged location by accident. As celebrated by the famed naturalist E. O. Wilson in his autobiography, the confluence of sea, sand, and city near the end of Palafox street provides all the makings of a thriving ecosystem, not just for flora and fauna, but for humans as well, But, like most American urban waterfronts—traditionally the location of freight terminals and waste discharge—it has taken many centuries for Pensacola’s downtown coast to arrive at the point where can reach its full potential. Now, freed from the burdens of shipping and industry—including an ECUA wastewa- ter treatment plant - a large peninsula just west of Palafox and 19 adjacent acres can be properly redeveloped as a mixed-use neighborhood of shops, restaurants, homes, and hotels, all anchored by three great amenities: the large public Community Maritime Park, the popular minor-league Blue Wahoos Stadium (Fetterman Field), and historic Bruce Beach to its immediate west, soon to be refurbished into Pensacola’s only downtown, swimmable, white-sand beach. The Study Area The plan detailed in the pages ahead looks comprehensively at these two main parcels— the Maritime Park peninsula and the ECUA parcel—and also considers key surrounding properties that will benefit from and, contribute to, their redevelopment. These include, among others: • The area of Nick’s Boathouse, which separates (but could connect) Maritime Park and Bruce Beach; • The largely empty block just north of Maritime Park, prime for redevelopment; and • The block-sized parking lot in front of City Hall, which interrupts the important walk to the site from Palafox street. The plan also considers Corrine Jones Park and the historic Tanyard neighborhood to its north, which new development can enhance through the proper scale and mix of uses. Palafox Street S DeVilliers Street Corrine Jones Park City Hall ECUA Parcel Main Street Maritime Parcel Bruce Beach Fetterman Field Maritime Park November 24, 2019 | © Speck & Associates / DPZ CoDesign 2019 3 Executive Summary The Opportunity A market study by Weitzman Associates has determined that this site can support a development program containing the following uses: • Approx. 1800 apartments of which about 70% are rental and the rest are condominium; • Approx. 80,000 square feet of retail, fairly evenly split among grocery, conve- nience, restaurants, and “experiential.” • Up to two large hotels, several of which have already expressed an interest in this location. Together with the surrounding public parks, ballfield, and office space, these uses are poised to create a lively, walkable neighborhood that helps to complete Pensacola’s downtown core. The Challenges Three main challenges could potentially impede the optimal development of the study area: its elevation, its multiple ownership, and its zoning: • Elevation: the majority of the site—and the entirety of the 19-acre ECUA parcel— sits well below the resilient first-floor elevation of 16 feet. Two key strategies of the plan ahead are to focus retail activity on the higher-elevation Maritime Parcel, where shopfronts can sit at grade and, elsewhere, to place residential uses above a ground floor of parking, carefully shielding that parking behind lobbies, stoops, and other pedestrian-friendly edges. • Multiple Ownership: Several parcels in the area, most notably the parking lots in front of City Hall and Nick’s Boathouse, provide key connections among Maritime Park, Bruce Beach, and Palafox Street. The plan ahead necessarily designs across property lines in order to encourage an outcome that optimizes the value of every parcel in the study area. It is hoped that individual owners, inspired by the plan’s potential and City leadership—as well as likely financial benefit—will embrace the plan and participate in its implementation. • Zoning: The current zoning on site is conducive to the sort of high-density, walk- able development that befits an urban waterfront, but oddly encourages taller, denser development further from the water, in the low-lying Tanyard neighbor- hood rather than on the peninsula surrounding the baseball stadium. A central motivation for creating and formally adopting a plan of this nature is to modify the existing zoning to create an outcome that celebrates the active waterfront while respecting the more domestic scale of the Tanyard. The pages ahead describe the site’s regional and historical context, walk through the project Market Study and existing Zoning, and then illustrate the plan for West Main in great detail. These sections are followed by the plan’s Urban and Architectural Standards, the documents that are proposed to regulate the study area moving forward, as an evolution beyond its existing zoning. Collectively, these pages repre- sent a vision that grew out of an intensive week-long planning effort that fully welcomed and embraced the aspirations of the community for these important prop- erties. It is hoped that all who encounter this document will take the time to review it carefully and, if they judge it positively, participate in its timely implementation. 4 November 24, 2019 | © Speck & Associates / DPZ CoDesign 2019 Executive Summary 1/4 mile / 5-min walk November 24, 2019 | © Speck & Associates / DPZ CoDesign 2019 5 Contents Executive Summary .......................................................... 3 Existing Conditions Regional Context .............................................................10 Local Context ..................................................................11 Neighborhood Context ....................................................12 Key Sites for Intervention .................................................13 Site Notes .......................................................................15 Site Details: ECUA Parcel .................................................16 Site Details: Maritime Parcel .............................................17 Flood Hazard Zone AE .....................................................18 Flood Hazard Zone VE .....................................................19 Site Photographs ............................................................ 20 Scale Comparisons .........................................................21 Maritime Parcel History ................................................... 26 Prior Master Plans - Maritime Parcel................................ 28 Prior Master Plans - ECUA Parcel .................................... 43 Landscape & Open Space Strategies [SCAPE] ................ 45 Market Study [Weitzman Associates] ............................... 46 ECUA Capacity Study ..................................................... 59 General Zoning Summary ............................................... 60 WRD Zoning Summary ................................................... 67 C-2 Zoning Summary ..................................................... 69 Overall Zoning Summary ..................................................70 Mayor Robinson’s Transition Report .................................72 Master Plan Design Charrette .............................................................75 Overall Site Plan ............................................................. 78 ECUA Parcel Detail ......................................................... 80 Maritime Parcel Detail ..................................................... 82 Westward Link Detail ...................................................... 84 Eastward Link Detail ....................................................... 86 Plan Diagrams ................................................................ 88 Capacity .........................................................................91 Circulation .....................................................................100 Character ...................................................................... 116 Existing Conditions Regional Context Molino Barrineau Park Milton Cantonment Muscogee Rte 90 Pace Bagdad I-10 I-10 Rte 281 Rte 87 Mulat Avalon Beach Rte 29 Escambia Bay I-10 Brent Northeast Pensacola I-110 Pensacola East Bay Bellview Holley Rte 90 West Pensacola Navarre Lillian Rte 98 Site Pensacola Bay Warrington Oriole Beach Rte 98 Perdido Bay Gulf Breeze Pensacola Beach Perdido Key From wikipedia.com 10 November 24, 2019 | © Speck & Associates / DPZ CoDesign 2019 Local Context Johnson Ave Ferry Pass I-10 Pensacola Blvd Langley Ave Palafox St I-110 Summit Blvd Spanish Trail Rd W St Michigan Ave Massachusetts Ave Texar Dr Scenic Hwy Pensacola 12th Ave Jordan St 9th Ave I-110 Cervantes St Pace Blvd Pace Cervantes St Palafox St Gregory St Garden St Navy Blvd Bayfront Pkwy New Warrington Rd Barrancas Ave Main St Rte 98 Barrancas Ave Gulf Beach Hwy The study area, 212 acres in size, fronts the Pensacola Bay with nearly a mile of waterfront access. Within the study area are approximately 30 acres develop- able land. While this land is the immediate design focus, the plan also considers how it can be stitched into the downtown. November 24, 2019 | © Speck & Associates / DPZ CoDesign 2019 11 Neighborhood Context West Pointe Old East Hill Heritage Eastside Neighborhood East Hill North Hill Long Hollow Preservation Neighborhood District Westside Gateway Garden District Redevelopment District Belmont DeVilliers Neighborhood Aragon District Downtown Improvement

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