St. Andrews Marina is in the middle of a long rebuild. Panama City approved the construction contract in June, and the city manager's best estimate for completion runs about 18 months from then. That would make this the first of two fall seasons with construction at the marina. The neighborhood's waterfront routine was set up for this before work began. The Saturday market moved off the marina more than a decade ago. This December, the marina's main public role comes on one evening, when lighted boats pass it on their way to the Hathaway Bridge.
So for the next 14 months, the useful question is where the neighborhood gathers while the marina is being rebuilt. The answer has been settling into place since 2011.
The market left the docks years before the cranes arrived
The Market at St. Andrews started at the marina. According to the Historic St. Andrews Waterfront Partnership, it began in 2004 as the St. Andrews Waterfront Farmers Market, under a pavilion at St. Andrews Marina built with St. Andrews Community Redevelopment Area funding. Since then it has moved twice:
- 2004: It opens as the St. Andrews Waterfront Farmers Market under the marina pavilion.
- September 2011: After volunteers took it over in fall 2010 and it grew, it outgrew the marina and moved to the boardwalk of the Yacht Basin.
- January 2019: It is renamed The Market at St. Andrews.
- May 2022: It moves to Oaks by the Bay Park.
That last move matters most this fall. The market now runs Saturdays from 9 a.m. to 1 p.m. at Oaks by the Bay Park, 2715 West 10th Street. That site has no part in the marina construction. The neighborhood's weekly market was out of the construction zone four years before the city signed a contract.
What the marina rebuild actually involves
The marina is old, and the hurricane made things worse. City Manager Jonathan Hayes told WJHG the marina was built in the early 1960s and was heavily damaged by Hurricane Michael in 2018. The same WJHG report said the rebuild started with a first set of 50 slips and that work has since shifted to reconstructing the bulkhead.
Most of the work is on the land side. A City of Panama City memo dated Feb. 2, 2026 describes the upland reconstruction as a four-phase project over about 20 months. Its scope covers utility lines, sidewalks, landscaping, a pavilion, a replacement parking surface, lighting and other site amenities. The stated goal is to keep access to the store and slips open while the work moves through its phases.
| Item | What the public record shows |
|---|---|
| Original construction estimate | About $12.9 million |
| Revised estimate, Feb. 2026 memo | $15.2 million |
| Planned upland phasing | Four phases over about 20 months |
| Contract type approved June 2026 | Cost-plus |
| Completion estimate, June 2026 | About 18 months if the schedule holds |
| Current permit expiration | End of July 2027, with an extension possible |
Counting 18 months from the late-June approval puts completion around the end of 2027. The permit, as Hayes described it, expires at the end of July 2027. He also told WJHG an extension could still be granted. On the schedule as described, the upland work could still be underway in fall 2027.
The marina has new management too. SAMP partnered with Coastal Marina Management to manage and redevelop the marina under an agreement that took effect April 1, 2026, Marina World reported. Boating Industry named Jason Lent as harbormaster, responsible for customer service, dock management and day-to-day waterfront activity.
What still runs at the water's edge
The marina is still open while it's rebuilt. The St. Andrews Marina website advertises fueling, snacks and drinks, and available slips, and it points visitors to the restaurants and shops on Beck Avenue. Its charters page says fishing and dolphin-tour charters still run from the marina. That makes the docks the place to go for a Saturday afternoon on the bay with visiting family.
The bayfront restaurants are open too. Uncle Ernie's Bayfront Grill booked live music from 6 to 9 p.m. on four straight nights, Sept. 27 through 30, 2026. Hunt's Oyster Bar on Beck Avenue has current hours and online ordering on its site.
Beck Avenue has had its own work done. The city's Community Redevelopment Agency progress report from Feb. 3, 2026 said the FDOT beautification project on Beck Avenue was nearly finished. The remaining turf was expected in February 2026, and vendor maintenance runs through February 2027. The street linking the marina to the restaurants is close to finished, while the marina itself is just entering its heaviest construction.
A fall calendar built around Oaks by the Bay
From Saturday, Oct. 24 through the boat parade, there are eight Saturdays: Oct. 24 and 31; Nov. 7, 14, 21 and 28; and Dec. 5 and 12. If the market keeps its standing schedule, each one is a market morning at Oaks by the Bay from 9 a.m. to 1 p.m.
The park hosts more than the market. The City of Panama City calendar lists Sunset Yoga at Oaks by the Bay Park on Thursday, Dec. 3, from 6 to 7 p.m. That's a sunset event on the bay at a park outside the construction zone.
Bigger plans for the shoreline are still on paper. The same CRA report lists the Bayview Avenue Boardwalk as an active capital project waiting on design and a proposal from Gormans. It has a $1.3 million budget, split between $800,000 in reserves and $500,000 in the FY26–27 budget, and no spending was reported as of that February report.
December 12: the marina's turn
The 40th Annual Boat Parade of Lights is Saturday, Dec. 12, 2026. Destination Panama City is organizing it with the City of Panama City. The parade starts at St. Andrews Bay Yacht Club and heads west along the shore of St. Andrews Bay. It passes Historic Downtown Panama City, the Panama City Marina, West Beach Drive, the St. Andrews Marina, Historic St. Andrews and Sun Harbor Marina before ending at the Hathaway Bridge.
The parade starts downtown and ends past St. Andrews, so St. Andrews is on the second half of the route. Here is the published schedule for the day:
- Holiday Village: 4 to 7 p.m. at the Panama City Marina, with holiday vendors, music and a visit from Santa
- Drone show: 5 p.m. at the Downtown Panama City Marina
- Boat parade: 5:30 to 7:30 p.m. on St. Andrews Bay
Destination Panama City lists the St. Andrews Marina as a viewing spot, along with the shoreline, the Panama City Marina and the city's waterfront bars and restaurants. The public votes for the best-decorated boat, and the winning captain gets a prize.
Dec. 12 is also the last of the eight market Saturdays. A St. Andrews resident can shop at Oaks by the Bay in the morning, eat on Beck Avenue in the afternoon, and catch the lighted boats passing the marina once darkness falls. The parade route goes past the St. Andrews Marina on its way west to the Hathaway Bridge.
The St. Andrews Marina rebuild is a long-term change on the neighborhood's waterfront, and the details tend to come out a few at a time in commission agendas and local news. If you have questions about the project or about life along Beck Avenue and Bayview Avenue, Think Real Estate is glad to share what we're seeing in St. Andrews. Contact a Local Expert.
