Port of Pensacola
SailGP has officially launched its training base at the Port of Pensacola as part of American Magic’s operation there, and Port Director Admiral Lance Scott says the team is exactly the kind of tenant the port wants. Scott joined me on Rick’s Blog Live right after Monday’s launch event.
The training camps will run through February in seven- to ten-day blocks, with two teams at a time. Mayor D.C. Reeves called the arrangement a “golden opportunity” at his press conference earlier in the day. Scott agrees.
“Those folks are going to experience Pensacola and then go back and talk about what a great time they had here.”
The Hybrid Port
Scott described a port that is no longer the city’s economic drain, as critics once argued. Studies going back to the 1990s floated converting it to condos, and it was still being questioned in the 2010s. The 2019 Moffatt & Nichol port vision plan changed the direction, and Scott says the port now operates on it. It is one of 16 Florida deepwater seaports, and each has to find its own niche. Pensacola’s mix looks like this:
- Public-facing: Portside Pickle and the ferry system
- Cargo: GE Vernova wind energy components and CMEX
- Maintenance, repair and overhaul: already operating
- Advanced manufacturing and sailing: American Magic
- Shipbuilding: Birdon, soon
“I joke that ship has sailed in terms of, do we get the port out? We’re here to stay.”
Birdon and 2,000 Jobs
Birdon would occupy the 16-acre northeast quadrant of the port, between the American Magic buildings and the fish house. The site has been without a tenant, partly because of environmental remnants from the old Halcor operation. Scott says he was introduced to Birdon in July 2025. He ties the deal to the national maritime strategy of restoring American shipbuilding capacity, with a focus on Navy work.
Scott knows the questions the public will ask and says he is not waving “fairy dust” over them. They are planning factors, and he outlined where each stands:
- Noise: Birdon has completed a noise study that drove its facility layout. The port is now reviewing it independently. Scott says the data shows a negligible increase in activity.
- Parking: Options include an eventual vertical garage at Commendencia or a hybrid model with commuters.
- Traffic: A study is already underway on the FDOT side.
- Jobs: Up to 2,000, but not all at the port, and they will be shift work.
The Inland Port
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The mayor has been talking up the need for an inland port. After walking the property with Scott on Monday and seeing how much land GE Vernova’s wind components occupy, I told him it looks like a must-have. He agrees, calling it essential for growth.
Components arrive by ship every four to five weeks and are trucked to the Scenic Highway plant. They are assembled there and stored until they ship to wind farms in the Midwest or Southwest. Scott says that cargo does not need to sit at the port or have water access. An inland port tied into rail, highway, water and the airport would offer storage, more jobs and flexibility to diversify cargo without cutting into current revenue.
