A hotel in Warrington that has sat vacant and damaged since Hurricane Sally made landfall in September 2020 is the subject of a new redevelopment proposal before the Escambia County Commission, brought by the building's current ownership after more than five years of inactivity at the site.

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Sally was a Category 2 storm that came ashore near Gulf Shores, Alabama on Sept. 16, 2020, moving at roughly 2 mph, an unusually slow forward speed that produced historic rainfall across the Pensacola area. More than 30 inches fell in some locations over 24 hours. Total damage across the region ran to approximately $7.3 billion. The Three Mile Bridge and Escambia Bay Bridge were both severely damaged, and thousands of residents lost power for weeks. More than five years later, some of that damage remains physically visible in the built environment.

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This Warrington hotel has been one of the more prominent examples, a damaged, vacant structure on the neighborhood's main commercial corridor at a time when the surrounding area has otherwise started to see meaningful investment.

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New ownership proposing redevelopment of a distressed post-storm property is generally positive news, but the details matter considerably. What is the proposed use? What is the timeline for construction? And what level of commitment, financial guarantees, performance milestones, bond requirements, does the county intend to require before approving the plan? A vague redevelopment promise attached to a land use approval can sit on a shelf as long as the damaged building itself did.

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Warrington has real momentum as a neighborhood. Proximity to NAS Pensacola, a working waterfront character and improving commercial corridors have drawn developer and small business interest that was harder to find there a decade ago. What replaces the damaged hotel will either add to that momentum or represent one more missed opportunity on a block that has been waiting for something to happen since the storm.

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The commission has not yet voted on the proposal. A date for the full hearing had not been publicly announced as of publication.