Mixed-use project coming to Fort Walton Beach

Brad Humrighouse, business development manager for Coldwell Banker Commercial United Realtors, has reported that project manager Greg Clauson has negotiated an exclusive marketing and leasing agreement for a 1.1 million-square-foot Class A mixed use project known as the Emerald Coast Research and Technology Park in Fort Walton Beach.
The developer of this enhanced use lease project is a joint venture partnership between the Hunt Development, Dick Corporation and Landings Real Estate Group (known as Eglin Properties LLC).
While Coldwell Banker Commercial United Realtors is responsible for the marketing and leasing of the project, Eglin Properties LLC is responsible for the design, development, financing and construction of the Emerald Coast Technology and Research Center at Eglin Air Force Base.
The development cost for this 98-acre project, adjacent to the Eglin’s west gate, is estimated to be about $250 million.
Anchored by the University of West Florida’s Research Education and Engineering Facility, the proposed development will include about 1.1 million square feet of Class A office product, technology and research space supported by an education cluster of undergraduate and graduate level research and training complimented by student housing. Also included are a variety of amenities including a conference center with a nightly stay hotel facility, mid-scale restaurants, child development center, and allocated space for an Okaloosa County EDC incubator project.
“The economic influence the development will have on the area is extraordinary and the complimentary uses contemplated within this project will lead to this area becoming known as the ‘Tech Coast’ are immense,” Clauson said in a news release. “The impacts will not only be immediate, but also play a formidable role on the future of the area’s growth with a diversity of new industries.
“For example, one of the characteristics of our area that will attract corporate relocation and additional units is the extremely qualified workforce we possess as a result of the existing military presence. We have an existing workforce that is well trained in management, fluent in a language other than English, college educated and in possession of technological skills creating an existing in place labor pool for high tech companies.”
This project could mean more than 1,000 new jobs to the Eglin area.
“Enhanced use leases are opportunities for the Air Force to partner with private industry by leasing underutilized assets,” Clauson said in the release. “These assets can bring numerous opportunities for improvements such as: office space, flight line and hangar facilities, warehouses and industrial buildings, laboratories and research and development facilities, energy co-generation plants, hotels and temporary lodging, conference centers, and hospitals and medical facilities just to name a  few.
“EUL projects cultivate meaningful support and improvement for the surrounding community through providing job opportunities helping to stimulate further economic growth. Air Force and community relationships are also strengthened as EUL enables joint cooperation to accomplish mutual goals.”
“From a business point of view,” Humrighouse said in the release, “this is a great opportunity to talk to companies across America and educate them on the beauty and benefits of business life on the Panhandle of Florida.”
This article was contributed to The Log.