The Inspired development team and Hard Rock officials visited Mayor D.C. Reeves and city officials to discuss adjustments to their Reverb project at Community Maritime Park.
- The developers behind the Reverb by Hard Rock Hotel and Rhythm Lofts at Community Maritime Park have submitted design revisions to the city’s Planning Review Board, proposing changes to building heights and adding new amenities.
The Dawson/CCI development team filed an abbreviated Planning Board application on Nov. 7 to adjust floor-to-floor heights at Rhythm Lofts while adding an event space to the adjacent hotel. The changes are scheduled for review at the Planning Board’s Dec. 9 meeting.
Key Design Changes
Rhythm Lofts will see its overall height reduced by approximately one floor’s worth, though the building will maintain its 16-story count, including a three-level parking podium. The reduction comes from lowering floor-to-ceiling heights rather than eliminating floors. According to the developers, the change creates “a more balanced and visually proportionate relationship” with the neighboring hotel.
Meanwhile, the Reverb by Hard Rock Hotel gains one floor in the revised design, bringing it to 12 floors, including its parking podium. The hotel will add a 7,000-square-foot event space featuring views of Blue Wahoos Stadium and Pensacola Bay, designed to accommodate various event types and group sizes.
Project Scope Unchanged
Despite the architectural adjustments, the project’s core numbers remain intact. The Reverb will still offer 147 hotel rooms, while Rhythm Lofts continues to include 248 residential units.
The revisions represent a refinement of the development’s visual profile rather than a substantial change to the project’s scale. The Planning Board will review the proposed modifications next month, with final approval still pending.
The Maritime Park development represents one of downtown Pensacola’s most significant mixed-use projects, combining hospitality, residential, and entertainment uses adjacent to the Blue Wahoos baseball stadium.
I never said this project would have any affordable housing units in it, I am saying state law allows pre-emption and that Quint Studer himself said in his book he wanted taller for his first developments at Maritime Park at a time when there was not such a state law.
But the point I would make to Hawthorne, in terms of what mixed income housing is, if you have a $50,000,000 penthouse condo in the same high rise structure that you have affordable units, where you have then retail, hotel, a night club, restaurant, and then other purchased condo units, you are talking about a structure that has a doorman. A structure with security. It is true there are low income neighborhoods with high crime. Not every person who is low income is going to commit crime. The reality is, if both the expensive condo and the affordable housing are in the same building, its a building with no crime, because of that penthouse and then the businesses open 24 hours.
That was the idea of mixed income housing, that was the point of Hope VI, that the higher income units means the subsidized housing could be provided without any crime risk that some housing projects had. That is the idea of it. That you have a mixture of income. It also means those who work in the building can live in it. I never said that was applying to Reverb. I was speaking more generally in terms of how to ensure affordable housing.
From George Hawthorne: Unfortunately, the FHA HOPE VI grants can only be used in public housing redevelopment project where a public housing project is demolished and redeveloped.
Also, the developers Smith/Dawson are very experienced developers that have the understanding of the financing tools and structures to optimize the financing package . However, you can’t expect them to build an affordable housing project on the most expensive and best located property in pensacola.
There must be a balance between market realities af the overwhelming demand for affordable housing! Remember it is market rate housing that pays the property taxes the keep the city operating!
Hope VI funds can be used for site purchase for any building that will be tall, as long as it includes the affordable units, where it is possible to build a 40-60 story or more structure on Hope VI funds where the affordable units are there, but where there are also so many pre-sold condo units to help finance it (if one is to use that model) and then so much retail and hotel space.
The law of Florida permits any county or municipal building regulation to be pre-empted, including the height limit of Pensacola, if there are so many affordable units.
If the affordable unit is a 150 square foot efficient unit with a full bathroom of bathtub/shower, sink, and toilet and then the kitchen, and then the living quarters in studio form, I will use an example of a block that is never going to have a high rise simply because everyone knows it so they will understand area dimensions of the land that rises up from, namely Palafox, Government, Zarragossa, and Jefferson. At that site if one were to build a high rise with parking garage, if it was all condo like Aston Martin Residences in Miami there would be dozens of residences, there is the reality that if a site of that ground level area was 10 floors affordable 150 square foot efficiency units, each of those could fit 50 units or more even with the garage space, where then one builds up
I support Reverb, I’d like it taller, but this will be the solution for affordable housing, mixed use developments