Tonight, the Panama City Beach City Council voted and approved a variance request in the zoning of a particular parcel that rests in Pier Park from T-3 to T-3A, which will allow some amusement rides according to the zoning and future land use plan of Panama City Beach.

Something’s been a brewin’ in Pier Park and a movement is afoot to bring a little life revival to the new “downtown” of Panama City Beach.

Just recently, the contract was awarded to a local excavation company to begin demolishing a badly worn and dilapidated piece of Panama City Beach history.  Miracle Strip Amusement Park, right on Alf Coleman Road had been a long time Panama City Beach favorite for the old and young alike.  Countless locals and vacationers have endless memories riding on the rides, hanging in front of the attractions and smelling the warm salt air among the amusement lights.

“It’s so sad,” Karen Smith said one day when we were nearby shooting another episode of The Beach Show, “Miracle Strip was a HUGE part of my childhood and adolescent years.”  One of the most common affections we’ve heard is the shame that this great part of Panama City Beach was closed in vain at the prospect of progress.  The opportunity to make millions in pre-construction resort development buyout was too tempting for the owners who sold the property to a development group that was set to build Miracles, a sprawling, amenity-rich resort.

With the downturn in the previously booming condo industry, the property sat there for years, literally untouched but by vandals, vagrants and pests.

“They had approached me before to buy some of the old rides,” said Teddy Meeks, owner of the Miracle Strip Carousel in Pier Park.  “They knew I had bought the carousel and made me an offer I couldn’t refuse.”  Teddy just recently bought the old Balloon Ride and The Red Barron Plan ride from the former Miracle Strip Amusement Park. He’s been working with Pier Park for months trying to conceptualize the perfect combination to ensure absolute nostalgic charm that is clean and tasteful.  The trick is to add to Pier Park without bringing any element that is less than the high-standard that Simon Property Group has set.

In addition to the old balloon and Red Barron rides, Meeks has purchased a 50 foot tall Ferris Wheel that will bring the total number of rides to 4.  “We want to have that charm that the old rides have, but we want everything to look and feel new,” Meeks said, “we didn’t want those new rides with the fancy graphics, we wanted to keep it retro and clean.”  More rides are being planned for the future.

When they brought the carousel into Pier Park, there was quite a bit of skepticism as to how well it would do and how it would be received by the Pier Park community AND Panama City Beach.  But, interestingly enough, it has brought a sense of belonging to Pier Park and opened the shopping center up to former PCB loyalists that before were unsure if they could accept the change and evolution that has been sweeping over Panama City Beach the last several years.  Pier Park is becoming quickly ingrained into Panama City Beach and becoming a memory-generator in its own right.

Adding amusement rides to a Simon Property Group mall is a far stretch from normalcy, but the cool thing is that they are willing to look at new ideas on a community by community basis.  Miracle Strip Amusement Park is almost as much a part of Panama City Beach history as the white sand PCB’s famous for.  Generations enjoyed the entertainment found there for decades.  To bring a little bit of Miracle Strip back to life in Pier Park is a bold move, but it is something that is sure to win over the hearts of thousands, earn the trust of Panama City Beach loyalists and seal the relationship and future prosperity of Pier Park in Panama City Beach.

Bravo guys, bravo.

Proud of their latest destination portfolio addition, Southwest Airlines included Panama City as one of their top stories in their first edition In A Nutshell email newsletter.  “Grab your beach ball, it’s on!” the first sentence says.  Other announcements in the newsletter include a Bags Fly Free Video Contest and an introduction to their “Green Plane”.

Thought this was cool as there’s no telling how many people saw this.  My dad sent it to me, and he’s in Dallas, TX.

After a lousy three days, this morning awoke with a perfectly deep blue sky speckled with cute, fluffy white clouds and the sound of chunky V-8’s rumbling down Back Beach Road on their way to register for this weekends Emerald Coast Cruizin Classic Car Show.  Held in Frank Brown Park in Panama City Beach, this is the fifth year that Emerald Coast Cruizin has come to our beach, and myself as well has thousands from all over the Southeast United States are glad to have perfect weather on the forecast for the rest of the weekend.

“I couldn’t hardly get started before yesterday (Wednesday) because of the storm,” Robert ‘Rakes’ Parrish said, “I pretty much did everything you see here yesterday and this morning.”  With Tropical Depression Ida blowing through here Tuesday, the residual left us with waterlogged fields and a rainy windy mess yesterday.  But today, you wouldn’t know the wiser; the grass is green, the spirits high and the cars are shiny at Frank Brown Park’s festive grounds, the same location the Panama City Beach Seafood Wine and Music Festival rocked just a few short weeks ago.

Unlike the Seafood festival weekend, this weekend is expected to be cool.  After a couple rainy days, the sky almost seems bluer than we’ve seen in a while.

Talking with Phillip Noles, “You never really know until mid Saturday how many cars will be here, but all projections are leaning towards 4,000 cars.”  He went on to say that he’s seen registrants from Alabama, Georgia, Mississippi, Kentucky, Louisiana, Texas, New Mexico and beyond.

I spoke with a local couple that comes every year.  They had a beautiful classic that was actually for sale.  “We’re looking at getting into something different,” she said, “oh yea, another hot rod,” when I asked what she was thinking.  “It’s his fault,” pointing to their friend next to them, sporting a heavily modified classic pick-up with a sweet vintage Cadillac hood ornament.

Talking with Noles, he was telling me a great, touching story; the kind of story that just makes you feel good.  An elderly home in town had asked “Rakes” to bring a few cars out to give some of the residents something to be excited about.  “Rakes” went above and beyond showing up with 50 cars.  “How much’ll it cost,” said the Home Director.  “Nothing,” Rakes said, “that’s part of the deal, just tryin to help.”  The idea was to let those folks see some of the cars that were hot during their heyday.

Walking around, listening to the 40’s and 50’s music being pumped through the clear, cool air made me want to roll up my jean bottoms, put on my converse, slick back my hair and start swing dancing.  I know my generation is a far cry from that era, but I have a kindred spirit to those times.  Something that I’m reminded of when I see Rockwell art.

If you didn’t win some of the free tickets we gave away, you should go to the show anyway.  You won’t regret it.  There will be thousands of beautiful cars to look at, tons of super friendly people to talk to, gobbs of tasty food to eat and plenty of great music to listen to.  Tickets are being sold at the gate for $8 for one day general admission and $20 for a three day pass.  Kids 12 and under are free.

This week’s features:

• Deal 1 – Perfect Home in Palmetto Trace only $219k
  
• Deal 2 -Home steps from Beach only $210k
• Deal 3 – Steal in Wild Heron only $128/sqft
  

The Beach Show is your ONLY internet TV show all about Real Estate on Panama City Beach.

Remember, it doesn’t cost anything to work with us if you are a buyer.

Click the “more” tag for show notes.

Call us at 850-527-5651 to see these properties or for anything else you need regarding real estate in Panama City Beach.

Show Notes

Deal 1 – Perfect Home in Palmetto Trace only $219k

• List Price: $219,000
• Square Feet: 1,582
• Price/SqFt: $138.43
• 3 Bedrooms, 2 Bath
• Built in 2005
• Being the least expensive single family home in Palmetto Trace, this home in centrally located in the neighborhood and has quick access to both community pools, sidewalks, and good ‘ol family fun. Palmetto Trace is full of families and is located right across from Pier Park. This home is the poplular Abaco split floorplan with tall ceilings and is in move-in ready condition.

Deal 2 – Home steps from Beach only $210k

• List Price: $209,900
• Square Feet: 1,776
• Price/SqFt: 118.19
• 3 Bedrooms, 2 Bath
• Built in 1970
• We’ve featured this home before. From the Florida room, you can see the emerald green waters of Sunny Side Dedicated Beach. This spacious home is cute and quaint and comes with hard-wood floors and a very fancy master bathroom. Ourside is a huge storage shack.

Deal 3 – Steal in Wild Heron only $128/sqft

• List Price: $319,000
• Square Feet: 2,510
• Price/SqFt: 127.09
• 3 Bedrooms, 3.5 Bath
• Built in 2006
• This home is located in The Courts (as in the tennis courts) and is absolutely amazing. With huge features and remarkable attention to detail, it is very easy to justify these homes selling for near $1 million a few years back. All of the elements to this home are super high-end affording you a lifestyle previously only had by the super rich.

Call us at 850-527-5651 to see these properties or for anything else you need regarding real estate in Panama City Beach.

Tuesday the Airport Authority met and again discussed the new name for the new airport that is currently under construction in North Bay County.  The Board met a few weeks back and decided upon the name Northwest Florida Panama City International Airport, much to the dismay of local tourism industry leaders and government officials.  The justification of the previously picked new name by the board consisted of wanting to give Panama City credit for nurturing the new airport project along and ensure travelers to our area knew and understood that they were coming to Panama City.

But, I think that being sure that people know they are coming to Panama City is contradictory to the mission as a whole here.

The whole idea to bringing a low cost carrier and marketing our area as a region has nothing to do with Panama City, but rather the whole Panhandle area of Northwest Florida; Panama City is just one component in the entire machine.

Well, apparently we at PCBDaily aren’t the only ones that feel this way.  Many in the community, including the Mayor of Panama City Beach, the Bay County Tourist Development Council, and various other officials had sounded off in response to the new name with formal letters, charters and the like.  Mayor Gayle Oberst said in a letter to the board:

It was with regret that I learned the name that was selected for the newest airport in  Florida.  I sincerely hope that you will reconsider and choose a name that is truly regional in nature and scope.

This airport is a milestone for all of this area in many ways: the new industry that will grow, the increase in the tourism business, the first time this area including the surrounding counties has worked together to make the airport and the future to happen, and the overall increase in the quality of life for our residents.

I think we can safely say that there are so many other names including those listed in the top five selections under consideration that more represent the nature of what is happening here.  What a wonderful opportunity we have and it is a shame not to take advantage of it. Northwest Florida has already been taken by another airport and Panama City denotes such a narrow scope (one city of many).

Once again I would request that you reconsider, think regional, and do what is best for Bay County and our regional partners.

Shortly thereafter, the Bay County Tourist Development Council assembled a resolution and submitted formerly to the Airport Authority Board their suggestion for a new name:

NOW THEREFORE, BE IT RESOLVED, unanimously, by the Bay County Tourist Development Council and Board of Directors of the Panama City Beach Convention and Visitors Bureau, Inc. that the Airport Authority is respectfully requested to reconsider the name of the new airport, and again consider naming the airport the “Northwest Florida International Airport.”

Well, it would seem everyone got their wish, with a little Airport Board twist squeezed right in the middle.  The new name that was decided upon yesterday is Northwest Florida Beaches International Airport.  And, although at first, the name may seem silly, here me out why I love it.

I love that at the beginning of the name is Northwest Florida.  This offers clarification as to where we are and what we are reaching for.  At the heart of this whole dream is to put all our differences aside (between us and our neighbors to the west AND east of us) and regionalize our area.  I firmly beleive that this new airport will serve Walton County just as much (if not more) as Bay County, and that’s a good thing.  People will fly into this airport and travel to all over the panhandle, and they’ll be driving right through Panama City Beach.  If we get that Highway 79 corridor dressed up before planes start landing, we’ll be sure to leave a stunning impression on them and leave them wondering, “maybe we should stay in PCB next time.”

The third word Beaches is great because it talked about what we are and what makes our area so special.  We have THE BEACH.  I know we all take that for grated – I know I do – but this is something that is very special to millions around the world.  Growing up in Dallas TX, my parents always had a little soda bottle of some of our white sand sitting on their bathroom counter, reminding them of what they most look forward to – vacation!  In fact, I think that bottle is still there!  Millions come to our sand in the panhandle each year and run it through their fingers, dreaming of the small chance they can one day live closer to the coast.  Yet, I live a quarter mile from this treasure and haven’t spent on the beach in months.  When people fly into our new airport, they’ll think more than just going to Northwest Florida, they’ll think of going to THE BEACH.  The Beach.  “I love the beach,” they’ll say.

International is meaningless unless we actually have international flights coming into our area.  But, the Airport Authority has been in talks with British Airways AND Virgin Atlantic, both of which are looking for new opportunity and bring flights regularly stateside.  They see this as an opportunity to bring their travelers to a whole region and open up to them a part of the country that they’ve previously not had access to.  It will take time for those relationships to work out, but I can assure you that with the capacity, we will uncover a huge pent-up demand for our area.

The new name isn’t exactly what everyone was hoping for, but I suspect that Northwest Florida International Airport really wasn’t plausible anyway.

Last Friday, President Obama signed a bi-partisan extension to the first-time home buyer tax credit program last week giving prospective buyers through June 30th, 2010 to close on a home and receive the $8,000 credit. In addition, the law contained an expansion of the former program to include homeowners who have occupied their current residence for five years who want to trade up to another home. These repeat buyers can now receive a credit up to $6,500. The income limits on the program for buyers to receive the full amount of the credit were also raised to $125,000 annually for an individual and $225,000 for a couple.

More signs that home prices are stabilizing came in a report from the National Association of Realtors on Monday that said the median price of a single-family home was up $7,000 in the third quarter over the second quarter marking the two quarters of consecutive gains. The national median price of $177,900 was still 11% lower than the same quarter in 2008 but the overall trend in prices appears to be moderating. NAR Chief Economist Lawrence Yun remarked, “A shrinking supply of unsold inventory suggests we are getting closer to price stabilization in many areas, but we need a steady stream of qualified buyers to further reduce inventory and get us to a self-sustaining market.”

Mortgage rates have actually eased since last week with the benchmark thirty year fixed rate settling to nearly 5% with no points. The fifteen year is now below 4.50% at 4.375% with no points. Add a quarter percent for most government loan programs as these are typically slower to react to rate declines than conforming conventional loans. I do not see rates going anywhere anytime soon. They have continued to defy expectations and without any obvious signs of inflation on the horizon I expect they will continue to do so.

This weekend’s HUGE event is the Emerald Coast Cruizin Classic Car Show that will have the festive grounds at Frank Brown Park filled to the brim with sweet shiny show cars ranging from rat-rods to glossy polished hot-rod school buses.  Last year’s event had cars stretching from one end to another in an endless sea of machismo.  This year’s event promised to be even more promising with thousands of cars in attendance.

I’ve always worked closely with the event promoters to do everything I could to help this event be successful as it is truly one of a kind.  And this year, they’ve been gracious enough to give us 20 tickets to giveaway: ten 3 day passes and ten 1 day passes.  That’s right, 20 tickets total.  We’ll be giving them away in sets of two to keep it simple, so there will be 10 winners total.

I’m so stoked about this event, the weather is expected to be phenomenal.

Click here for more info on the event, including full event schedule.

Click here for pictures of last year’s event.

HOW TO ENTER THE CONTEST

So, in the past we’ve had some confusion as to what to do on these contests.  We run a little different operation here.  In order to “register” for a chance to win the tickets, there’s not actually any registering.  In order to be entered into the contest, all you have to do is post a comment in the comments section below.

In order to post a comment, you need to enter your name, your email address, your web site url (if you have one – this is optional) and your comment.  For the comment, tell us what you favorite car from last year was at the Emerald Coast Cruizin car show, and if you weren’t there, tell us your favorite classic hot rod.  Make something up if you have to!

This is a quick contest, so act fast!  We’ll be doing the drawing tomorrow (Thursday November 12 2009) at noon, and notifying the winners to pick up their tickets between 1 and 2 pm tomorrow!  (Alternate pick up times will be provided too)

HERE ARE THE RULES

• Each entrant can enter once and only once (we can verify this by ip AND cookies) and must use a valid first name and email address.
• Contest begins when this post is published and ends on Thursday November 11, 2009 at 12 noon CST.
• We will be doing the drawing regardless of how many people enter.
• All winners will be chosen at random.  There will be 10 winners total.
• By entering you are opting in to receive future newsletters and emails from pcbdaily and The Beach Show and you are opening yourself up to the greatest resource for news and information Panama City Beach has to offer.
• If you are selected and you do not respond to our email notifying you of winning by 5:30 pm CST Thursday November 12, 2009, then we reserve the right to either keep the prize for another give away in the future or award the prize to another entrant.
• This giveaway is open to anyone in the continental United States, however due to the time-sensative nature of this event, we will not mail these tickets.  If you win, you will be solely responsible for picking up your tickets.
• Read full rules here.

I have had a hard time focusing on what I want to discuss with you this week so I decided to share from one of my favorite Real Estate gurus, Barbara Corcoran who is a regular on The Today Show. I love her on so many levels but mostly because after making about straight D’s in high school and having over 20 jobs by age 23 she found her niche!!! I just love stories like that because it proves what I believe: that we all have a gift and how fun it is when we find it and share it. I guess I got a little side tracked with my happy talk so lets get to the Real Estate myths according to Barbara.

1. SELLERS TODAY ARE DESPERATE
This is not necessarily so and in fact only about 1 in 10 are in desperation. Buyers just naturally assume that if something has been on the market for 6 months or so then the seller is willing to take an even greater hit. It is her belief that a better question to be asking is what is the motivation? Are they being relocated and need to sell right away or do they just want to move up. So asking the question of why are they selling is more important than time on the market and other factors.

2. IT IS STUPID TO BUY BEFORE IT HITS THE BOTTOM
Barbara says,”That sounds really cool that you could time the market but the problem with that is as soon as the prices hit the very bottom they start going back up.” When it turns around most of the really good deals are picked over and people stampede the market and then prices go up quickly. Another factor right now that makes it a great time to buy is the interest rates are still great. However, they have inched up a little lately. I have noticed in our market in Panama City Beach the inventory for the lowest part of the market is more picked over than it was this time last year.

3. YOU CAN NOT BUY A HOME FOR LESS THAN 20% DOWN
That of course is absolutely not true, with FHA you only are required to put down 3.5% and in certain cases you can ask the seller to pay some closing cost especially if you add a little to the price to keep from coming so much out of pocket. Even if you have to buy mortgage insurance that is usually roughly 1 and 1/2 % and would still make your down payment around 5 %. I am excited that the tax credit has been extended and should help many people that have hesitated to go ahead and purchase their home while the inventory is good.

4. IT IS THE ABSOLUTE WORST TIME TO SELL
Of course that may be true depending on when you purchased your home and also where you are living. According to Barbara many areas are rebounding and already inching back up. Another very important thing to keep in mind is that if you are selling to move into another home you will more than make up for your loss over time with your new purchase at today’s pricing.

I really enjoy watching and reading Barbara Corcoran and glean some great stuff from her but I caution people to always take into account the area where you live. We have a different experience living on the coast and have something that many still find very appealing and valuable. It is impossible to make blanket statements about the Real Estate market so ask questions of your Realtor and trust their advise. It is a very exciting time in Real Estate and living in Panama City Beach gives us plenty to be thankful for whether prices are up or down. Thanks so very much for watching thebeachshow.com and know that we have so much fun bringing it to you.

If you haven’t been to Joey’s at the Beach or their most recent addition to the family, Joey’s at the Beach II (at the Y of Highway 79 and Front Beach Road) then you’re missing out.  I’ve had pizza by the slice there two weeks in a row and it is one of the two best places to get pizza in Panama City Beach.

I’m no foodie, nor a culinary expert, so I’ll spare you a “review,” and get right to the point.

Last week and today, we ordered the Joey’s Special, which is the equivalent to a supreme.  The ingredients are all fresh, the crust the perfect texture and the slices huge.  Last week I made the mistake in ordering two slices and could only finish one.  I say mistake, but really it just provided the perfect left-overs.

The pizza is awesome, but one of the things I loved most about this place is that for lunch, it was super affordable.  Karen and I bought lunch with tip for around $12.  We both had sodas, two huge slices of pizza and these cute little bread balls with minced garlic on top, and it was all delicious.

Here is a link to their site.

Here is a link to their menu.

Here is a map for their location:

View Larger Map

Amazing pizza.

Tropical Storm Ida, quickly making her way through the Gulf of Mexico is set to give Mobile and Pensacola a near direct hit tomorrow morning.  Panama City Beach has been overcast with Ida’s girth since early this morning, and we’ve seen wind gusts of up to 20 mph.  We were out on the new Russell-Fields Pier this morning and captured dozens of surfers sharing the huge waves that came in nice even sets with smooth breaks in between.

Read on for video, tips on hurricane preparedness, and info on closings tomorrow, etc.

It’s funny how a few years of little to no hurricane activity in Panama City Beach causes everyone to get all caught up in a tizzy when we have a puny and weakening tropical storm raging toward the west of us.  I remember a few years ago when we had hurricane after hurricane pointing directly at us for weeks at a time, we began to get casual in our confidence to be able to weather the storm.  In passing, you would hear people talking about putting up their hurricane shutters and buying generators.  Today?  Well, we’re shutting down schools, businesses and declaring a state of emergency.  Don’t get me wrong, I’m definitely going to use tomorrow to have a “play-day” with my family and I definitely don’t think we should take any threat lightly. Regardless of my limited previous argument, what should we be doing (or should have already done, rather) to prepare for this storm? Read on here for some tips we put together on hurricane preparedness. Schools in Bay County will be closed tomorrow.  So, if you have kiddos, enjoy them for a mid-week weekend as Veteran’s day will keep them home on Wednesday too!