Photo credit: Shannon Nickinson

The site of the old Medical Center Clinic building near downtown Pensacola has a new owner, but it may not yield the kind of redevelopment opportunity neighbors had envisioned.

Redevelopment of 1750 N. Palafox has been a challenge. It has been eyed as a spot to add to the housing or rental market stock in the area, but plans have fallen through. A strong mix of retail, commercial and housing is seen by urban planners as a key component of a vital downtown and an asset to the quality of life in a community.

The Emerald Coast Utilities Authority now owns it; the utility’s board unanimously approved the purchase at their Nov. 19 meeting for $637,500.

ECUA will build a 6 million gallon storage tank on the property that will be used as an emergency storage point for the nearby lift station at Palafox and Mallory streets. The tank would be used if sewage from the Moreno Street Lift Station would need to be diverted and stored, said utility spokeswoman Nathalie Bowers.

The tank will likely be dry, and will sit behind the footprint of the current building, Bowers said, and would be purely for emergency precaution.

The building, which Bowers says has significant black mold infiltration, is being evaluated by engineers and architects to see if it is usable.

“It’s created a health hazard; it’s been sitting there for 12 years,” she said.

Source: Google Maps

Bowers said that lift station is one of three “supersized” lift stations that were built as part of replacing the Main Street Wastewater Treatment Plant in downtown Pensacola.

Melanie Nichols of the North Hill Neighborhood Association noted the transaction was conducted in a low-key manner.

“I went through a year and half of their minutes to try to find it,” she said. “They’ve only mentioned that site twice.”

She also expressed concerns about the size of the tank facility and how it might impact the neighborhood aesthetically and environmentally.

“We certainly are happy to work with the community that surrounds a project and make sure that things are attractive and they serve all the purposes required,” Bowers said.

The property was owned by Jacksonville-based Palafox Partners LTD. Last April, listing agent Tom Bell said the asking price had been dropped to $750,000. In 2010, the price was $1.7 million. Water damage, mold and deterioration while vacant over the years will be an issue for a new owner to deal with.

Previous potential purchasers had talked about mixed-use development on the site. Last year the PACES Foundation tried to buy the site to redevelop it into workforce housing, but that plan did not come to fruition.

The building has been empty since 2004 when Hurricane Ivan damaged it.

Its assessment for tax purposes was $820,888 in 2015 according to Escambia County Property Appraiser’s records. Title was granted to Palafox Partners for the property in 2007. The property is zoned C-3, a commercial district for wholesale and light industry. It is not far from 1625 N. Palafox, the site of the former Coca-Cola bottling plant that drew fire from North Hill neighbors last year when the owner tried to lease office space in it for a Florida Department of Corrections probation reporting center.