DESTIN — While there is plenty of action on properties owned by World Choice Investments, lips are still tight on a potential project.
“All I can say is it’s going to be a very new, exciting development, and an economic driver for the area,” said broker and Realtor John Paul Somers, who sold the parcels to the Tennessee-based company.
World Choice Investments, which purchased four properties along U.S. Highway 98 and Commons Drive near Walmart last December, is affiliated with The Dollywood Co., which operates the Dixie Stampede and Pirates Voyage dinner theaters in Pigeon Forge, Tenn., Myrtle Beach, S.C., and Branson, Mo.
Since the purchase, there have been plenty of rumors that a Dolly Parton-inspired dinner theater will come to Destin.
Three of the parcels, which range from 2.34 acres to 6.99 acres, are in Destin. The fourth property, home to the abandoned First National Bank at 17005 Emerald Coast Parkway, is in unincorporated Okaloosa County.
County Planner Marissa Martinez said a demolition permit for the 21,601-square-foot bank was approved in April for William G. Yates of Yates Construction.
Destin Planning Manager Ashley Grana said World Choice Investments also was granted a demolition permit in April for the buildings along Henderson Beach Drive next to Walmart. There are no development orders filed for those parcels, Grana said.
A message left for Steve Ellis, World Choice Investments corporate director of sales, was not immediately returned.
Destin Log Staff Writer Matt Algarin can be reached at 850-654-8446 or malgarin@thedestinlog.com. Follow him on Twitter @DestinLogMatt.