Tuesday night’s Fort Walton Beach City Council meeting saw the approval of a major development order for Phase 4 of the Freedom Tech Center on Lewis Turner Boulevard. 

• Phase 4 includes the construction of a second hotel, a Holiday Inn Express® & Suites Hotels.

The 115-room Holiday Inn Express® & Suites Hotels will be located at 300 Liberty Lane NW, and will be opening in the Spring/Summer of 2024. Aside from rooms, the hotel will offer high-speed internet access, free breakfast, pool, a gym, and a view of the centrally located FTC Park.

The mixed-use development covers 50 acres of land leased from the US Air Force under their Enhanced Use Lease (EUL) program and will transform the north side of Fort Walton Beach into a bustling commerce center. Rents paid on the entire project go to and directly support Eglin Air Force Base, according to the development. 

Overall, the development will offer a range of amenities, including jobs, housing, hotel, and meeting space accommodations, restaurants, Class A office space, and a 4-acre recreational park with a 200′ USA Flag Pole.

• Developer Jay Odom updated the council in February, stating that the infrastructure for the entire development, including water, sewer, power conduits, roads, and curbing, is already in place.

The property’s first accommodation, a Home2 Suites By Hilton Fort Walton Beach, is currently under construction, with steel construction currently up to the first floor. The hotel will feature 126 rooms and 4,500 square feet of meeting space, and is set to open in the Spring/Summer of 2024.