Mayor D.C. Reeves spoke for nearly an hour, updating a CivicCon crowd on a massive shipbuilding expansion and the city’s infrastructure improvements during his annual State of the City presentation Thursday at Bayview Community Center.
- The centerpiece announcement was a $76 million Triumph Gulf Coast grant for Australian-based Birdon’s expansion at the Port of Pensacola. The $275 million project promises 2,000 high-paying jobs by 2028—1,500 positions averaging $68,000 and 500 averaging over $100,000 annually.
“In the current situation right now, zero of that would be coming from the city coffers,” Reeves said, contrasting it with economic development projects in other cities that typically require substantial municipal investment.
On infrastructure, Reeves reported that the Palafox Street reconstruction remains on schedule for completion on May 24, meeting the five-month timeline promised to downtown businesses. The project will triple or quadruple stormwater capacity.
- Pensacola International Airport is pursuing $113 million in safety and modernization improvements, including five new gates and potential nonstop West Coast flights (Las Vegas?). The airport served 3.1 million passengers last year, despite infrastructure built for 1.3 million.
Demolition of the former Baptist Hospital campus is underway with an 18-month timeline and $13 million investment. He plans to step up community engagement throughout 2026 to determine future uses for the 38-acre site.
On housing and homelessness, the city’s community response specialists had 661 interactions with unhoused residents in 2025, placing 118 in shelters. Three Community Land Trust homes are completed, with nine more planned at the former Malcolm Yonge Gym site.
- The mayor emphasized his administration’s commitment to urgency and accountability while following the strategic plan developed with citizen input.
For those who enjoy long-form reporting, I have a more complete article on the mayor’s presentation below.
Reeves Addresses Citizens
Pensacola Mayor D.C. Reeves delivered his annual State of the City presentation Thursday evening, highlighting his economic development wins, infrastructure improvements, and efforts to address housing and homelessness while bragging the city has achieved its highest employee satisfaction ratings in eight years of tracking.
“We’ve been testing employee engagement for eight years at the city since Mayor Robinson started and we had the highest employee engagement, highest employee satisfaction in the history of the city since we’ve been taking that,” Reeves told the packed audience at Bayview Community Center in East Hill. “That’s not something that you might read in a headline. It might not be the flashy things that you’ll see today, but there should be an expectation for the 900 people who work here.”
Note: The reason you didn’t read about the latest employee engagement on this blog or in our newspaper is that the city never released the results. The survey is not available on the city’s website. But, hey, politicians taking swipes at the media is all the rage. Ask Rex Northrup.
Economic Development Takes Center Stage
The centerpiece of Reeves’ economic development update was the announcement of a $76 million Triumph Gulf Coast grant for a Birdon shipbuilding project at the Port of Pensacola, which he described as potentially “the second or third largest in the history of Triumph.”
The Australian-based company’s expansion would bring 2,000 high-paying jobs to the city by 2028, with 1,500 positions averaging $68,000 annually and another 500 averaging over $100,000. The total project cost is $275 million.
“In the current situation right now, zero of that would be coming from the city coffers,” Reeves stated. “So when you compare that to other economic development projects in other cities, typically there’s a pretty large financial ask of the city, of the county.”
- The project still requires two more approval steps from Triumph, including term sheet negotiation and final grant approval.
Reeves also highlighted the American Magic, which recently completed its $20 million, 60,000-square-foot building with only $8.5 million in Triumph funding. The facility currently employs 14 locals and expects to expand to 30 employees by year’s end.
Infrastructure Projects on Schedule
The mayor reported that the controversial Palafox Street reconstruction remains on schedule for completion by May 24, meeting the five-month timeline promised to downtown businesses.
- “We promised the small business owners that that’s what we would do. We promised our residents that is what we would do,” Reeves said. The project will triple or quadruple stormwater capacity, with the road able to handle 98,000 gallons at one time.
Pensacola International Airport is moving forward with $113 million in safety and modernization improvements, including five new gates. The mayor announced the airport is working to secure nonstop flights to the West Coast, calling it “a place you like to be lucky in.”
- Hint: Las Vegas
“Our baggage claims, our seating areas, a lot of our infrastructure is built for 1.3 million passengers, and last year we did 3.1 million passengers,” Reeves explained.
Baptist Campus Demolition Underway
The demolition of the former Baptist Hospital campus has begun with an 18-month timeline and $13 million investment through a public-private partnership.
- “We certainly didn’t want that outcome for our city,” Reeves said, referencing New Orleans’ Charity Hospital, which has sat vacant for decades. “So what we end up with is 38 acres of site that now becomes a leverageable asset to help enhance our entire community.”
The mayor indicated 2026 will focus on community engagement about the site’s future use, with discussions expected around education, healthcare access, and addressing the designated food desert on the west side.
The city sent postcards to surrounding residents about the Baptist Hospital demolition project.
- “We’ve sent postcards out to every surrounding resident, and I live on the west side, not directly close, and I got it,” Reeves said. “So I think we got a pretty good radius out there. You might’ve gotten it yourself to make sure that you know exactly what’s going on.”
He noted that the postcards were distributed within a wide enough radius that he received one at his home on the west side, even though he did not live directly adjacent to the former hospital site. The mayor also directed residents to formerbaptistdemolition.com – yes, another city website – for project updates.
Stormwater and Parks Investment
The city is moving forward with the Hollice T. Williams project, a stormwater initiative discussed since Hurricane Ivan in 2004. The first phase will cost $30 million across 18 city blocks and provide nearly 1 million gallons of stormwater capacity.
- “The first 21 years, there was about $1.5 million for one design that had been put forward, and we are about to spend 30 million on 18 city blocks,” Reeves said.
The city has committed $22 million to repairing and maintaining 95 parks, 72 playgrounds, and 11 community centers, including a $10 million renovation of Fricker Center that will include a career lab, senior center, and storm-hardened building.
Bay Bluffs Park repairs are moving forward with HDR Engineering on board. The initial $2 million phase will focus on enhanced amenities along Scenic Highway and repairs to the existing boardwalk.
Housing and Homelessness Initiatives
The city’s two community response specialists had 661 interactions with unhoused residents in 2025, placing 118 in shelters and transporting another 118 through Project Reconnect, which helps homeless individuals reach family members.
The city has installed approximately 14 pallet shelters at REAP with another 13 planned for Favor House, creating more than 25 units of temporary shelter.
- On permanent housing, the city’s first Community Land Trust project has completed three homes that “will stay affordable for as long as we’re all alive in this room,” Reeves said. Nine more units are planned for the former Malcolm Yonge site.
The mayor emphasized the difficulty of affordable housing development, noting that out of 46 applications for 9% low-income housing tax credits in Florida, only eight were awarded statewide. Two projects totaling 200 affordable units secured funding for the Baptist campus site because they qualified specifically for Escambia and Santa Rosa counties.
Land Development Code Overhaul
The city is conducting its first comprehensive land development code update since 1947. A final open house is scheduled for February 17 from 3-6 p.m. at City Hall.
- “The rules of the land development code dictate how large a house can be, so how can you have a duplex there? Can you have an accessory dwelling unit above your garage?” Reeves explained. “When we talk about trying to increase inventory of housing, you can’t really say you’re doing that without also taking a look at potentially archaic rules.”
Operational Improvements
Reeves highlighted the transformation of the 311 system, which had 2,000 open tickets when he took office and now maintains approximately 30 open tickets.
- “If your garbage hasn’t been picked up, anything that you need in the city, call 311,” the mayor said. “Put the onus on us to get back to you.”
The city’s voluntary recycling program has achieved 93% clean recycling rates with 4,200 households participating out of 20,850 residential households.
A childcare facility for children ages zero to one will open at Alice Williams Library this year, addressing what Reeves called “a problem of tomorrow.”
- “If your rent is low and you have three kids in childcare, are you less impoverished than someone whose rent’s higher that has none?” he asked, explaining the city’s expanded focus on childcare access as part of affordability.
Looking Ahead
Throughout the address, Reeves stressed the administration’s commitment to urgency and accountability, referencing the city’s strategic plan developed with citizen input.
“It’s really an honor to get to do this. The amazing people that work here really do make this city go. And what I’m most excited about is just to play this little part in such an amazing time in our city. We’re a safe city. We’re a city in demand. We’re a place that businesses want to move and that people want to move.
And that doesn’t mean we’re perfect. We have a lot to learn. Our operation can get better. I can get better as a mayor, but I certainly take pride in the fact of really two things. One is we will continue to work our tail off, like I told you in 2021 and 2022, that we will not be outworked. And when I say we, I mean we and every one of the city employees that are here, the 880 that work for us. We will not get out worked.
We will continue to remain urgent. And with urgency comes… Listen, every time we start a project, if 20% or 25% of people disagree and then you start another project and 25 disagree and start another project and 25 disagree, we’re certainly not going to let that deter us.
We’re going to follow the strategic plan that you gave us. We’re going to continue to stay urgent. And just know, again, how proud I am of our staff and how proud I am to do this job and to do it alongside you.
And I wake up every day loving to go to this job, to continue to exact change in our city, and it really has been an honor to get to do this. We are learning a lot. I know they always say the hardest thing in politics to say is, ‘I hear you.’ We do hear you.
We have tried to change community engagement. This meeting is for you. People can listen to me babble long every week at a press conference. This meeting is for you because we owe it to you to be accountable for what our performance is and what is going on that is strong in the city.
So again, on behalf of the city of Pensacola, myself, my office, our 900 people who work here, thank you for everything that you do and every activity in our city. Thank you for being engaged in our city.”
