Okaloosa Commissioner Drew Palmer will host a town hall meeting at 3 p.m. Dec. 30 at the Destin-Fort Walton Beach Convention Center to gather input on the 4-acre Holiday Isle property the state purchased earlier this month for nearly $84 million.
“This is an amazing opportunity to create something special on that property for the benefit of Okaloosa County residents and visitors,” Palmer said. “We are committed to keeping this process open to the public and value their input as we move toward finalizing the details of this endeavor.”
- County staff will give a brief presentation before opening the floor to public comment.
The state closed on the acquisition on Dec. 11, purchasing the property from Pointe Mezzanine, LLC and Pointe Resort, LLC. The sellers had planned to build a dense, multi-story condominium project on the site but instead sold to the state for public use.
The property includes a new 53-slip marina and sea walls but is otherwise undeveloped. It connects to the adjacent Norriego Point Park, expanding the combined public waterfront area.
Okaloosa County has pledged $5 million toward park improvements and will manage the facility. The county is just beginning to develop concepts for the property.
3 Responses
53 slips will require how many parking spots in the parking lot? I don’t believe the state is in the marina business. I do there will be other buildings required and fuel availability!
The waters are congested already!
I vote no to a new marina!
How about getting rid of half the boat slips and setting it up for locals only? A place to play and Park. Many people who live in the area can’t afford a boat and would like somewhere free to take their kids. The tourists already have plenty of beach access at their condos.
Mr. Palmer,
I wanted to share my thoughts with you about the perception of this “sweetheart” deal for an apparently well connected developer by a regular member of the public. Transparency is obviously not a focus for our local state and local government. My plea to Jared was to help a resurrection of the press in Okaloosa County since the loss of our local paper. All of the self congratulatory complements amongst yourselves (governing locals) aren’t really enough to cover the odor of this deal.
Jim McSwain
Jared,
Your distribution could offer the opportunity to develop some real journalism by acknowledging pros and cons of developments and issues you are reporting on. Maybe even balance some of the reporting with responsible and reasoned editorial comments from readers. I think the public is starving for hones, responsible, extensive and balanced reporting of happenings in the Okaloosa commercial, military and government “worlds”.
Maybe even some editorial or at least semi-investigative reporting. The $83M bailout of a developer would be a prime opportunity to begin such a change in the posture of your journal. For example: interview of county commissioners, state senator/representative, FWB council, Destin Council members on how this really came about. In other words, how are our state & local governments operating in the interest of the local public. Why are we continuing to dodge potholes on Eglin Parkway when it’s only an $11M fix and yet we so quickly and easily come up with the state funds to pay $83M to bailout a developer and can’t even call it a “public demanded” amenity.
And what is the background story of how the developer was able to finesse the purchase from the County Commissioners for only $8M in the first place. What was the process the County follows for lucrative deals like this? Who were the players? How did the deal come together? Did the local officials know of his previous troubles with the law?
Anyway, there is a newspaper coming on the scene, The Epoch Times, that shows great promise as a “real newspaper” and hopefully will inspire efforts like your own to become more than just a “happy talk” news source.
Thanks for Listening.
Jim McSwain
On Tuesday, December 30, 2025 at 06:41:30 AM CST, Jared Williams wrote: