Organizers of a project in Cantonment titled "The Bluffs: Northwest Florida's Industrial Campus" are projecting 60 companies and more than 15,000 jobs if the project is completed.
“The development of the Bluffs project is something we’ve been working on for several years now. It’s an effort of the Pensacola-Escambia County Development Commission,” said Scott Luth, CEO of Florida West, an alliance of more than 100 public and private entities.
He says the charge is to look into a long-term, long-range development of venues for business and industry, for the next 20 years.
“This is one of those multiple projects that we’re looking at,” Luth said. “We’re looking at the Tech Park as a development, and now we also have in our inventory The Bluffs project itself.”
The public/private partnership’s 6,000 acre master plan includes 1,700 acres wedged between Highway 29, the Escambia River, and near International Paper. What makes the area stand out, says Luth, is the existing infrastructure.
Despite being near the river, the sites are about 100 feet above water, hence the name “The Bluffs.” The time frame, described as “long-term and generational,” targets four primary development areas, each with its own separate identity.
“Some of those have rail spur property, some of those are adjacent to the waterway,” Luth said. “Some are closer to [Emerald Coast Utilities Authority], some are closer to Ascend Manufacturing. So, each one of those sites really has its own unique characteristics.”
Besides Ascend and International Paper, other partners include ECUA, Gulf Power, and the University of West Florida. Luth says the project came about after a high-level assessment of the area, which showed that there was an opportunity there.
Of the four primary development areas, “Live Oak Bluff,” 13 lots on 415 acres, appears likely to see the first groundbreaking. A freight corridor is already on the drawing board, expanding access to Highway 29 to an Interstate-10 exit under construction in Beulah. Scott Luth at Florida West says that’s the next step in the process.
“Exactly what is the cost to put the roads into the site, where will the funding come from to support that infrastructure?” said Luth. “Specifically, who are our target industries?”
The marketing phase for The Bluffs is already underway. Luth says some of the sites have been shown to prospective firms.
