Open for business: New hotel equates to high AF return

  • Published
  • By Breanne Smith
  • AFCEC Public Affairs
JOINT BASE SAN ANTONIO-LACKLAND, Texas --  The newest vacation hot-spot for Fort Walton Beach-goers is now open to guests, for both work and play.

Hotel developers, Air Force officials and inaugural guests gathered on the Eglin-owned beaches of Okaloosa Island May 22 to celebrate a culminating moment more than six years in the making, a moment that Glenn Wagner, the lead project manager at Eglin Air Force Base, considers significant for the entire community.

"This part of the emerald coast has been a little underappreciated and underdeveloped," he said. "It's been eclipsed by Destin to the east and Pensacola to the west, and I think this is going to be the beginning of revitalization for Fort Walton Beach."

Property for the 152-room Holiday Inn Destin West Resort was made available through an Enhanced Use Lease, an Air Force program administered through the Air Force Civil Engineer Center that allows installations, like Eglin, to lease non-excess property to public entities and private developers at fair market value.

For Eglin, leasing their 17 acres of geographically separated beachfront property to the Emerald Breeze Resort Group means an added revenue stream to fund infrastructure upgrades and repairs. With three fully executed EULs now under their belt, EUL asset manager Kathy Bustos considers Eglin's latest deal one of the programs most innovative.

"A good project generates money for the host base," Bustos said. "But an exceptional project generates revenue and enhances the mission."

While guests enjoy a relaxing float down the resort's lazy river, several stories above on the hotel roof, Airmen of the 96th Test Wing are hard at work performing telemetry operations. Their equipment is now located above the adjacent buildings, allowing for greater range and visibility. Some of the equipment is enclosed in a protective dome which the hotel painted to look like a beach ball.

Though the beach ball has already become an identifying symbol for the hotel and its guests, the symbolism runs much deeper for Eglin's commanding general.

"Beneath that symbol is a very serious military mission being accomplished," said Brig. Gen. David Harris. "Our primary purpose for being here is the military mission; the antennas allow us to do that mission even better."

Primary mission benefits aside, the deal also directly supports infrastructure repairs and upgrades -- an area of the defense budget that has experienced deep cuts over the years. To-date, Wagner estimates the base has funded over $30 million in infrastructure repairs using in-kind payment through their various EUL arrangements -- projects that might otherwise go unfunded.

"We've done 13 or 14 roofs, installed a new running track with a new locker room facility to help with the PT (physical fitness) areas," Wagner said. "We've installed a few energy projects; upgrading air conditioning ... it's been a tremendous boost to the CE budget on Eglin Air Force Base."

In addition to mission and funding benefits, Innisfree Hotels also created a Military Appreciation Program, extending discounted rates to service members and their families on leisure travel.

Six years ago a team came together to create an opportunity, an opportunity that Harris considers well worth any commander's time.

"It is a proactive approach. You have to make it happen; these things don't just happen by themselves. You have to plan these things out. You have to sit down and partner with business and community leaders, find out where the resources that the government has can be applied to a business need, and those benefits applied to the military mission and the local military workforce."

For Wagner, the significance extends far beyond the military community.

"This is stewardship and asset management at its best," Wagner said. "The revenue from this previously underutilized parcel goes directly to maintaining Eglin AFB, saving the Air Force and taxpayers money."