City Hall
Reeves Previews Birdon Vote, Discusses MLK Two-Way Killed, CRA Expansion
Mayor D.C. Reeves opened his Wednesday morning press conference with a brief mention of the storm system tracking toward the Gulf Coast, reassuring residents that the city’s emergency management team is monitoring the situation alongside the county EOC and PFD Chief Craner. As of Wednesday morning, the mayor characterized the threat as “a pretty sizable rain event” but nothing more severe.
The bulk of his remarks centered on the proposed Birdon America’s shipbuilding facility at the Port of Pensacola, the city’s largest prospective private employer.
Triumph Board Vote Monday
Reeves announced the project will go before the Triumph Gulf Coast board on Monday in Panama City. The board will review the term sheet for the grant agreement with the city and performance requirements tied to Birdon’s investment—representing step two of a three-step grant approval process.
If Monday’s vote succeeds, the next milestone will be formal approval of the grant agreement, which the mayor hopes to bring before the Triumph board later this summer. Pensacola City Council approval of the lease terms between the city and Birdon would follow, along with confirmation of two additional funding sources: a $33 million EDA grant from the U.S. Department of Commerce and a $14 million Florida Job Growth Grant Fund award.
The full project financing picture as currently structured:
- Triumph Gulf Coast: $76 million
- Florida Job Growth Grant Fund: $14 million
- U.S. EDA: $33 million
- Birdon private investment: $152 million
- Total project cost estimate: $275 million
The investment would fund construction of two advanced manufacturing facilities totaling 380,000 square feet at the port ($130 million in site prep and construction) plus $145 million in equipment. Birdon is projected to bring up to 2,000 jobs and $160 million in annual payroll to the region at full operation.
Reeves noted that Birdon is completing a noise study on its intended facility design—something the mayor said was a firm requirement from his office before moving forward.
“It was a non-starter from our office that we could keep the harmony between a vibrant port economy and a vibrant downtown economy.”
The mayor said Birdon has experience navigating that balance at other Northeast facilities and was receptive to the requirement.
On questions about traffic, subcontractor impacts, and environmental reviews tied to a large industrial facility, Reeves acknowledged the city is still working through parking and commuting logistics and promised to follow up on whether a formal environmental impact statement is required.
Groundbreaking Rescheduled; Childcare Ribbon Cutting Set
The Pricker groundbreaking, originally scheduled for Wednesday morning, has been moved to June 26 at 9:30 a.m. due to weather.
The Alice S. Williams Childcare Center ribbon-cutting is set for July 20. The center will provide childcare services for children from birth through age two through Community Action Program. A $500,000 African American Culture and Historical Grant funded the project in part from the state of Florida, with an additional $550,000 from the Westside CRA.
CRA Expansion on Hold
PNJ reporter Jim Little asked why the CRA boundary expansion discussion has been paused. Reeves said he hasn’t spoken directly with Councilman Delarian Wiggins about the decision, but offered what he called “pretty reasonable logic”: the statewide debate over property tax restructuring makes this a poor moment to advance conversations with major implications for how local governments are funded.
“I think it’s fair to say that we’re looking at things through different lenses right now than we were 90 days ago.”
Reeves stopped short of saying the CRA expansion is off the table, indicating the underlying logic for updating old maps and boundaries hasn’t changed. The timing just needs to be right.
FDOT Drops Two-Way MLK/Davis Conversion
Reeves confirmed that FDOT has informed the city it will not move forward with the long-discussed conversion of Martin Luther King Jr. Drive and Davis Highway to two-way traffic. The project ranked 10th on the TPO priority list and would have required an estimated $6 million to execute—money the city does not have and would have been expected to contribute. The city would also have taken on maintenance of what is currently a state road.
A key sticking point was the cost of the northern terminus near the Fairfield/I-10 interchange, where a roundabout or major intersection redesign would have driven the cost significantly higher than most people assumed.
The mayor said FDOT’s decision to flag the problem before the city spent $600,000 on two-way design work was fiscally responsible, even if disappointing.
Data Centers: Open to Discussion, Eyes on the County
Asked about Councilman Bare’s interest in an ordinance banning data centers within city limits, Reeves said he’s generally supportive of the conversation but doesn’t see a data center inside Pensacola’s 22 square miles as the primary threat. His bigger concern: what happens in unincorporated areas of the county, where water flows, power grids, and environmental impacts don’t stop at city limit lines.
Budget: Flat Is the New Normal
Reeves offered a candid look at budget preparations heading into the FY2027 cycle. With the statewide property tax restructuring still unsettled, the city is running parallel analyses—one for conventional budget assumptions, one for potential property tax impacts.
His guidance to city departments: flat budgets. “If your budget’s $100 last year, your budget’s $100 this year,” he said. Cost-of-living adjustments for employees are part of the conversation but nothing has been decided.
Juneteenth Closures
City offices will be closed Friday, June 20 for Juneteenth. Sanitation routes shift accordingly: Thursday routes will be collected Wednesday; Friday routes will be collected Thursday. Osceola and Roger Scott centers remain open. The Hunter Pool will operate on a holiday schedule with open swim from 10:30 a.m. to 3:30 p.m.