Pensacola, FL is supported by beaches and strong major institutional employers. Some of the market’s anchors include Navy Federal Credit Union, Naval Air Station Pensacola, Baptist Health Care, Ascension Sacred Heart, Andrews Institute, and the University of West Florida. These employers drive demand across office, medical office, retail, multifamily, hospitality, and service-oriented commercial properties. Most current activity is concentrated in downtown’s Bayfront and in north Pensacola along the Nine Mile Road corridor.

Downtown Pensacola

Hotel development, infrastructure investment, and new residential density keep demand strong for experiential retail, restaurants, and entertainment uses downtown.

• Downtown infrastructure improvements —including stormwater upgrades, ADA improvements, wider sidewalks, upgraded intersections, and better pedestrian connections along Palafox Street —continue to support retail, restaurant, hospitality, and mixed-use investment.
• The Port of Pensacola is drawing major industrial and maritime investment, including Birdon America’s advanced shipbuilding and manufacturing facility and American Magic’s High Performance Center. Together, these projects represent roughly $300 million in investment and will bring more than 2,200 high-wage jobs. American Magic’s presence establishes a permanent base for elite sailing and strengthens Pensacola’s profile as a maritime innovation hub.
• Downtown Pensacola’s hotel pipeline reflects continued growth in tourism, conventions, and business travel. Projects include two Hilton-branded concepts and Hotel Tristan, a seven-story, 122-room upscale boutique hotel in the East Garden District expected to open this year.
• The former ECUA Main Street sewage treatment plant site, commonly known as “Old Stinky,” is one of downtown Pensacola’s most significant multifamily redevelopment opportunities. The eastern and western parcels are expected to deliver more than 600 residential units near Community Maritime Park and the downtown waterfront.
• Community Maritime Park is emerging as a major waterfront mixed-use district to be anchored by the planned REVERB by Hard Rock Hotel Pensacola, expected to break ground in 2026 and open in 2029. Located near Blue Wahoos Stadium and Pensacola Bay, the project is expected to include more than 125 tech-enabled hotel rooms and multiple food and beverage offerings. Maritime Park plans also include Rhythm Luxury Lofts, a 24-unit residential tower, structured parking, a public plaza, open-air gathering space, and destination dining.

Nine Mile Road Corridor

• Navy Federal Credit Union’s 10,000-employee campus anchors commercial activity in northwest Pensacola. Immediately adjacent, the former Navy Outlying Landing Field 8 site is moving toward redevelopment across approximately 540 acres. Branded Outlying Fields, the project is planned as a mixed-use district with employment, housing, retail, restaurants, civic space, and neighborhood services.
• Cordova remains the market’s key retail trade area. Raising Cane’s opened in June 2026, backfilling the former Red Lobster site next to Cordova Mall. Nine Mile Road continues to grow from Pace in the east toward Pine Forest Road, in the west. Central Nine Mile is now home to Pensacola’s first Costco.

Executive Summary

Pensacola Beach remains one of the area’s strongest tourism drivers, attracting roughly 2.5 million visitors. Pensacola’s commercial real estate market is benefiting from port-related industrial investment, downtown revitalization, beach tourism, hospitality growth, and new multifamily development.

The best opportunities are in industrial/logistics, mixed-use redevelopment, hospitality, multifamily, suburban town center concepts, and retail serving downtown, the waterfront, Pensacola Beach, and the Beulah/Nine Mile Road corridor.

Darryl Bonner, CSM, CLS, CCIM

Senior Advisor – Pensacola/Tallahassee Market Leader

Stirling is proud to recognize our advisors who have earned the CoStar Q2 2026 PowerBroker Award, a distinguished honor recognizing top-performing commercial real estate professionals across the country.

Presented quarterly, the CoStar PowerBroker Award recognizes brokers responsible for some of the highest-performing sales and lease transactions within their respective markets. Award recipients are determined using transaction data independently verified by CoStar, highlighting professionals who continue to demonstrate excellence in commercial real estate.

Congratulations to Stirling’s Q2 2026 PowerBroker Award recipients:

• Debbie Anglin, SIOR – Broker Associate
• Jeff Barnes, CCIM
• Steadman Bethea
• Lee de la Houssaye
• Justin Elliott
• Angela McArthur
• Scott Macdonald, SIOR
• Shawn Maxey
• Jill Meeks
• Carly Plotkin
• Alec Purser

Congratulations to each of our recipients on this well-deserved recognition. We are proud of their continued commitment to delivering exceptional results for their clients and strengthening Stirling’s presence across the Gulf South.

Uniquely positioned in Southern Alabama, Mobile and Baldwin Counties are experiencing one of the most significant periods of infrastructure investment and economic development in their history.  Several large-scale projects are progressing simultaneously, all of which will have a major impact in the continued economic growth and long-term viability of the region, and the entire Gulf South.

Notable projects include the following:

• A new passenger terminal at Mobile International Airport, located near Downtown Mobile, is under construction, with an anticipated opening date of late 2026 / early 2027
• Regions Arena, a new 10,000-seat entertainment and convention facility is nearing completion in Downtown Mobile, is slated to open in early 2027
• The Port of Mobile is flourishing because of the completed channel expansion project completed in late 2025, making the deepest container terminal on the Gulf Coast
• The Mobile River Bridge and Bayway Project has recently gained momentum, with plans for Phase I, estimated at $3.2 billion, include a new 6-lane cable-stayed toll bridge with high clearance over the navigational channel, restriping the existing Bayway to 3 lanes in each direction, and related interchange and traffic-flow improvements in both counties. The completion date is projected to be in 2031.
• Construction of the initial phase of the 2.8M SF Novelis aluminum manufacturing facility in N. Baldwin County is nearing completion, with a commissioning date of late 2026 planned.
• The Baldwin Beach Express Extension from 1-10 to I-65 remains at the forefront of long-term infrastructure enhancement to handle the high growth associated with Baldwin County.

The transformational projects mentioned herein are the result of several factors, including the unprecedented population growth of Baldwin County, as well as the impact of the tourism industry associated with visitors to Gulf Shores and Orange Beach.  The population growth is driven by domestic migration, as retirees, remote workers, businesses and families move to area, seeking quality of life, lower taxes, and access to the Gulf Coast. Annual population growth of Baldwin County remains above 2% -positioning the county as one of the fastest-growing in the State and the Southeast.

In addition to population growth, Baldwin County’s economy is certainly impacted by the 8.5M+ tourists that visit the area each year. This influx of people has fueled the continued success of such developments as The Wharf in Orange Beach a 400,000-sf shopping center that is 99% leased, the development of Margaritaville Resort, a new $300M project in Orange Beach, the $60M renovation of Tanger Mall in Foley, Embassy Suites Resort Hotel in Gulf Shores, and numerous other hotel, retail, and entertainment-focused projects.

From a commercial real estate market perspective, we see opportunities across the board to meet the inevitable growth.  In fact, multiple industrial projects totaling over 15M sf of development in Baldwin County alone are in various planning stages.  The Class-A office market in Baldwin County is practically non-existent – representing a great opportunity for Stirling to consider a campus-style office park that our team is working on.  Of course, future retail development opportunities will also result from the dynamic growth of the market. Stirling’s presence and involvement in the Coastal Alabama market is certainly exciting, and our Daphne team stands ready!

Jeff Barnes, CCIM

Senior Investment Advisor

As summer comes to a close, we’d like to thank our 2026 interns for their hard work, dedication, and contributions to our team.

We appreciate the enthusiasm and fresh perspectives each of you brought to Stirling, and we’re grateful you chose to spend your summer with us.

Please join us in recognizing our 2026 Summer Interns:

• Perrin Barreca – Covington
• Lilly Brown – Covington
• Daniel Croxton – Covington, Baton Rouge & New Orleans
• Jackie Holyfield – Daphne
• Ivy Hunt – Covington, Baton Rouge & New Orleans
• Matthew Ritchie – Baton Rouge
• Mary Schmidt – Covington, Baton Rouge & New Orleans
• Abby Skinner – Baton Rouge
• Rylee Smith – Covington
• David Taylor – Daphne

Thank you for being part of the Stirling team. We wish you all the best in your future endeavors!

Elevate your retail asset management strategy with insights from Stirling’s Donna F. Smith

Register today: https://loom.ly/6r5UZF8

Stirling’s Executive Vice President, Donna F. Smith, will lead a two-part ICSC virtual webinar covering the fundamentals of retail asset management, including tenant retention, capital planning, and strategies to enhance long-term asset performance.

Webinar Schedule:

Part I: Foundations of Retail Asset Management
July 30, 2026
2:00 to 3:00 PM ET

Part II: Foundations of Retail Asset Management
August 5, 2026
2:00 to 3:00 PM ET