Machines moved onto the long-vacant block across from Maritime Park on Sunday, breaking ground on a 323-unit apartment complex that will reshape one of downtown Pensacola's most prominent empty parcels.
Flournoy Development Group, a Columbus, Georgia-based multifamily developer, began construction on the eastern half of the former Emerald Coast Utility Authority wastewater treatment plant at 411 South De Villiers St. Mayor D.C. Reeves confirmed the mobilization at his Monday press conference and was direct about the city's role. No lane closures or road shifts are expected for at least two months, there is no planned driveway connection to Main Street during that period, and the city has no financial stake in the project. "Private property, no city subsidy, no tax incentive," Reeves said.
The project is named Ellison at West Main. City of Pensacola Planning and Zoning stamped the civil permit drawings in March 2025. The 8.13-acre site sits at the intersection of West Main Street, West Government Street and South De Villiers Street \u2014 zoned Commercial C-2 and inside the CRA Urban Design Overlay. The former ECUA plant operated on the site from 1937 until the authority took it offline in 2011. The eastern parcel has sat vacant since.
The layout calls for six buildings, labeled A through F, arranged around two interior courtyards. An amenity courtyard anchors the southern half of the site between Buildings A and B. A secondary courtyard sits in the northern half between Buildings D and E. All six buildings carry a finished floor elevation of 11 feet, set above the site's low-lying grade. Architecture comes from Wesseldyk and Associates. CBG Builders is the general contractor. Jacobs Engineering drew the civil plans.
Flournoy's portfolio page lists 323 total units averaging 909 square feet each. The development is classified as Type VA construction, the wood-frame assembly standard typical for mid-density multifamily projects at this scale.
The civil permit drawings show a stormwater system built around two underground R-tank detention basins fed by 15 ditch bottom inlets and a network of 18-inch reinforced concrete pipe. The seasonal high water table sits as shallow as 1.6 feet below grade at the eastern basin. Residents near the property raised flooding concerns with city officials when the broader ECUA site redevelopment was announced. The permit drawings include cross-sections showing minimum 20-inch cover requirements over both retention structures and geogrid extending three feet beyond each excavation footprint.
The western half of the ECUA property \u2014 282 units under developer Crest Residential at 390 Clubbs St., closer to Joe Patti's \u2014 received its civil permit in December 2024 and has been active since. Reeves said in February 2025 that the Flournoy parcel was further behind. It has since caught up.
Flournoy has built more than 40,000 residential units across the Southeast, mid-Atlantic and Southwest and operates under Kajima USA. The Ellison brand is its premium tier, with comparable projects in Franklin, Tennessee, Richmond, Virginia and Lake Nona, Florida either complete or under construction. The Pensacola project will be managed by Flournoy Properties Group.
Rendering courtesy Flournoy Development Group.