Doors open to new hotel in Port St. Joe

In a region where tourism’s growth has paced the state, Gulf County now has 27 new luxury hotel rooms to add to its repertoire.

And while it used to be a bank, owners Allen Harkins and Ben Carnes are now banking that demand for overnight stays will keep the new Hotel Saint Joseph bustling.

“One of the things we need the most in Gulf County is hotel rooms,” said Harkins.

The new hotel, at 504 Monument Avenue, the site of the former Capital City Bank, swung open its doors last month, a little more than three years after Harkins, a veteran hotelier, and Carnes, a veteran of the construction business, combined their resources to purchase the site in July 2021 from the bank for $815,000.

Carnes, president of Gulf County-based Blackfin Construction, had alerted his friend Harkins, a developer and operator of hotels from Tallahassee to Destin, to the sale of the property. This would be Harkins’ sixth project in 25 years, but his first experience with a building conversion and full remodel.

Water damage to the first floor from Hurricane Michael had kept the building shuttered since 2018, and now the new owners would have to bring the bank up to the new flood zone requirements. “This first experience was an experience,” said Harkins.

Since the first floor had a ceiling height of 14 feet, they brought it up five feet for a nine-foot height. The second floor has a 12-foot ceiling.

Originally known as First Union National Bank, before it was sold in 1998 to Capital City, “this was built during the era of the big voluminous spaces for banks that you used to see,” said Harkins.

The bank also had existing, functioning balconies with doors, so that was another plus they had to work with.

In gutting the inside, redoing all the existing external glass, and closing in the drive-thru space, the partners added 2,000 square feet of heating and cooling space.

“The whole concept was the idea of taking someone like Blackfin, and putting finishings of custom homes into a hotel, without their having to rent an entire home,” said Harkins. “Each of the rooms we had to design ourselves based on the space available.”

Half of the 27 rooms are suites, with a two-room set-up with a bedroom separate from the seated area. Half are two-room suites, and half are double queen, and while there are no kitchens, there are refrigerators and microwaves in each of the rooms.

A pool and deck, with seating area that looks out over a gorgeous view of St. Joe Bay, was added.

The first guests checked in Nov. 9, with the staff now at three full-time and one part-time person, with Harkins expecting to see that expand along with business. “All that will change, we’re really in the ramping-up stages,” he said.

Right now the hotel is expected to produce in the neighborhood of $100,000 in annual revenues from property, sales and bed taxes.

At the helm is Christie Funk, formerly the manager of 30A Cottages in South Walton, who has moved to Port St. Joe to manage the hotel after more than 30 years in the hospitality business.

While the hotel has a look of elegance, complete with advanced software that gives guests access with just a code, Harkins said he plans to keep it boutique.

“We’re not big enough to have a brand, unless they come up with some type of smaller independent model. We don’t have the room count,” he said. “I’ve always been involved with a branded hotel but we’ll just be an independent hotel. That’s a trendy thing right now.”