Bobbi Blades, ABR,CRS,GRI,PMN,RRS

What a year 2008 has been! We have experienced an absolutely "unbelievable" Real Estate market. We have been bombarded daily by all forms of the media with good and bad news. Talk of "change" and reconsiderations have been everywhere. What has remained the same is our dedication to a stronger, brighter, vital, and growing Pensacola Area. We are a strong, warm, enjoining, colorful, and culturally diverse Community with a determination and spirit not only to survive but thrive. We are, afterall, the City of Five Flags.

We end 2008 and begin 2009 with exciting news of new development on Pensacola Beach with grading and construction beginning on the Gulf front Indigo Hotel on Ft Pickens Rd, a 162 room boutique Holiday Inn Hotel with over 3000 square feet of meeting space being developed by Little Sabine a Division of American Fidelity Life Insurance at a cost estimated to be close to $50,000,000. The Gulf front Pensacola Beach Holiday Inn (formerly Beachside Resort) begins soon. Built on 4 acres of land, this resort property will have 206 rooms and 10,000 square feet of meeting space. Developed by Innisfree Hotels its cost is estimated at close to $60,000,000. Reservations will begin soon on the new Gulf front Island Empress (formerly the Clarion) on Via de Luna Dr; and, The Grand Marlin at the foot of the Beach Bridge (formerly Boy on a Dolphin,) an upscale marina, restaurant, yacht club, and commercial retail project with restaurants and retail shops has begun; scheduled to open in 2009.

This dedication and large capital investment to Pensacola Beach's growth by community investors, leaders and developers shines brightly and tells a positive story regarding our economy and their belief in our Community.

Beach Club on Via de Luna, White Sands and Portside Villas on Ft Pickens Rd are complete or in final completion; owners are moving in and enjoying the beautiful white sand and crystal clear blue green waters our Beach is famous for. And, we have been promised by the Florida State DOT, that the road between Navarre and Pensacola Beach will again be opened before the end of 2008.

The National Park Service has also made a decision on a contractor for the reconstruction of the road connecting Ft Pickens Rd with Fort Pickens. Soon we all will be able to again enjoy the 7 miles of beauty the Park at Ft Pickens has to offer and Divers will have more direct access to dive sites.

Great news comes in bundles as the Santa Rosa Island Authority researches the feasibility of improving the core business district on Pensacola Beach with new parking garages, professional office and retail buildings, and a pedestrian walk over for access between businesses and the beaches of the Sound and the Gulf.

2009 will bring celebration of our colorful history and beginning, and development of new, fresh ideas and direction for our Community as we Celebrate Pensacola's 450^th Anniversary of the establishment of the first Spanish - European settlement in Florida and the founding of the Colony at Pensacola by Don Tristan de Luna. This celebration begins the "Seven Year Florida Celebration" highlighting the Spanish influence throughout the region and the State of Florida as well as America. Look for details soon on celebration activities and events.

The completion of Navy Federal Credit Union's third building and construction of the Navy's new Navigation Training Center will bring several hundred new job opportunities and residents to our Community. Many of our technical support and manufacturing companies are tooling up and hiring to support goods, software and development required by new industry moving into northwest Florida and southern Alabama.

Early 2009 grading and soil remediation/preparation for the new Vince Whibbs, Sr. Community Maritime Park will begin on our Downtown Pensacola waterfront. This multi facet facility will be completed in stages over approximately 5 years bringing new life and energy to our City Center. It will include an amphitheatre, coliseum, park, boardwalk, pier, marina, restaurants, retail space, business offices, and residential buildings. The Admiral Jack H. Fetterman Maritime Museum, operating under the direction of the University of West Florida, will house a museum, class rooms, conference rooms, and offices of the University of West Florida's Oceanographic and Archeology Departments, along with real time viewing of many of the "ship excavations" currently on going in Pensacola Bay, and educational and interactive displays of how tidal changes and action affect our coastline, sea life and lifestyle. Did you know that the 2 oldest recorded sunken ships in all of North America are right here in our Bay?

At the same time the Escambia County Utility Authority is busy with the construction of the new waste water treatment facility and offices in North Escambia County to be completed by 2010. Once this new facility is completed much needed services for northern Escambia and Santa Rosa Counties will be available to meet the needs of new industrial facilities and residential communities allowing our Counties to grow; AND, the plant will be removed from its current downtown location. Demolition, disposal and remediation of the downtown facility and land will begin once the new facility has been tested out. Look for news to come regarding what will happen to and with the old site.

We have a sparkling new beginning in our Community and our Country coming in 2009. Let's celebrate the beauty of the area we live in, the communities that bind us; participate, support, communicate, and encourage the Leaders who will guide us with energy, vision, and integrity through change, growth and prosperity in 2009 and the years to come.

Today is a great day and I'm shouting about it. In touring my immediate market area I see three new high-rise condo and hotel projects going up, and a gorgeous community development plan including building and improving our business core on beautiful Pensacola Beach.

Oh, but wait a minute, the markets are down everywhere, money is tight. I wonder if that's tight like "I need let my belt out another notch" or tight as in "girdle" tight? Home sales are stabilizing, inventory is down (gee, I may just have a choice of homes to purchase and be able to afford it now.)

By the way, did you hear the one about the Obese Bill they just past in Congress that no one seemed to want to pass but did anyway that won't help tax paying Americans nearly as much as they thought because.... guess what! Only a portion of the $700B Bill is even allocated to helping the credit crisis - the rest of it is what they call "Pork Barrel" spending. Items totally unrelated to "the Bill" but used as collateral (payment) for a vote from Congressmen. That's kind of like making or taking a bribe and or "cookin' the books" which, last time I looked it up, was neither moral, ethical, nor legal.

But,wait, just a minute! Did any of us know about all of those "add ons?" Just when were they added on, for whom, and by whom? Who would dare use a "Crisis" such as this - one the Media claims to be the worst in at least 8 years, to gain for themselves and only their constituents (who will have to pay for it in the end anyway?) Is fuzzy logic like fuzzy math? Is telling one-half of the truth or leaving out an important aspect of "the story" still a lie?

We not only have an over weight society, we have "Obese" Bills that are weighing us down AND we're letting it happen. We are the Government and every time you ask the Government to handle and/or pay for something - you/we pay for it. And, doggonit, just like any other good business person we need to screen the people we hire to manage our business - don't we? And, if we do hire them we need to hold them accountable for their actions - don't we? Accountability is something that seems to be exercised only with a few in Governmental departments and seldom if ever in the News and "Entertainment" areas.

Where's a Spin Doctor when you need him? - Oh, yeah! He's out writing campaign ads. Yes, James that would be you; it's certainly not your level headed wife! And, Oh - the ads are right - Change is Coming and the plug needs to be pulled on the "Good Ole Boy" Network currently rated "U" - "Unsafe" for lawful, tax paying Citizens of the USA."

Guess What? I really did have a great day. I've spoken and communicated with some great people who want to buy homes, land, ranches, business properties, and they're excited because together we can find the right home and right way to make it happen; and, they have choices.

I'm excited because I'm a stockholder (in more ways than I could every have imagined) in a Corporation named, The United States of America. And just like any other Corporation we're preparing for our Semi-Annual Stockholders Meeting - that would be Tuesday, November 4, 2008.

I'm excited and I will be there to cast my vote not only for the President, who by the way is only a spokesman, and all of the Talking Heads and Directors of the Corporation, Department Heads, Pundits, etc. Yep, I'm going to be there....

Are you?