'The Margaritaville experience': Sales center for new Beach Cottage Resort opens in PCB

PANAMA CITY BEACH — A new, Jimmy Buffet themed community designed for easy living is around the corner for Panama City Beach.

With a coastal breeze in the air and the sounds of drinks being mixed in the background, a grand opening ceremony was held Wednesday afternoon for the sales center of the Margaritaville Beach Cottage Resort.

The resort, which still is under construction, is being built off Front Beach Road near Crane Street through a joint venture between The Premier Property Group, Harris Doyle Homes and Margaritaville Holdings.

"It's exciting because we've been working on this project for a couple years," Garrett McNeil, owner of The Premier Property Group, said of what it means to open the sales center. "We have streets and roads in, we have houses under construction, and now we can share our vision with people here in our sales center."

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McNeil noted that the community will feature 118 single-family homes of various sizes, along with 15 resort condos. It also will boast a lazy river, large swimming pool, pickleball courts and private beach access.

Construction on the resort broke ground toward the end of 2021, and a handful of homes already are for sale. All homes will cost between about $400,000 to $4 million.

A press release on the project states that homes will be constructed and sold in phases. There will be beachfront options as well as other homes north of Front Beach Road that surround the heart of the resort.

"We want our owners and our guests to feel like they've really gone ... somewhere special, and Panama City Beach is special," McNeil said. "We want them to feel it when they get here."

The community marks Margaritaville's second ongoing project in the area. The other, Latitude Margaritaville Watersound, is an existing community for those 55 years old and older that is being expanded off State 79 in unincorporated Bay County.

Unlike Latitude, the Beach Cottage Resort was not designed for residents of a specific age, but it is tailored more for those who want to buy a property to rent to seasonal guests.

John Cohlan, CEO of Margaritaville Holdings, said the two were not built necessarily to compliment each other, but to compliment a growing coastal area with markets for both an active living community and resort.

Cohlan said he believes Panama City Beach is among the best places in the world to enjoy "the Margaritaville experience."

"We've been in the resort business for a long time, and so this is really just a spectacular place to have Margaritaville resort," he said. "It's really special for us to be able to create this experience in such a beautiful spot."

This article originally appeared on The News Herald: Sales center at Margaritaville Beach Cottage Resort opens in PCB