Drive Front Beach Road past Pier Park on any given Saturday this summer and the corridor looks almost unrecognizable from two years ago. A golf entertainment complex hums behind a Walmart that used to anchor an empty field. A three-story purple building plays country music from a lot that sat vacant for the better part of a decade. And across from the pier itself, a chain-link fence still wraps a rebuild that was supposed to be finished months ago.
If you live along this stretch, you've probably seen updates about the projects here. Here's a roundup of what has opened and what remains underway.
The One That Opened Exactly When It Said It Would
Topgolf broke ground on Powell Adams Drive, just south of Panama City Beach Parkway and adjacent to Pier Park, in September 2024. The company announced an opening date of June 27, 2025, and held to it. The venue opened with 74 outdoor, climate-controlled hitting bays across two levels, a 22-foot video wall, more than 140 HDTVs, and a staff that ramped up to roughly 275 to 300 employees. Mayor Stuart Tettemer welcomed the addition at the time, noting, as SGB Online reported, that "both locals and visitors have been eagerly awaiting this exciting new entertainment venue."
More than a year in now, Topgolf is no longer the new thing on the corridor. It's the venue that did precisely what it said it would do, on the date it said it would do it, and has had over a year of operating history to prove out whether that promise held up. For a project backed by a national chain with a construction budget to match, that kind of on-schedule delivery isn't unusual. It's the baseline against which everything else on this list gets measured.
The Comeback That Took Three Years and Then Some
As MyPanhandle reported, the building that now houses Tootsie's Orchid Lounge on Thomas Drive has one of the longer memories on this stretch of beach. It was Spinnaker Beach Club, a Panama City Beach landmark dating to the early 1970s, until Hurricane Michael damaged it badly enough that it never reopened. The lot sat empty for years afterward.
Tootsie's itself wasn't new to the area either. The honky-tonk had operated at Pier Park since 2008 before closing in 2023 to prepare for the move. The new venue, built from the ground up on the old Spinnaker footprint under a deal between former Spinnaker owner Sparky Sparkman and Tootsie's owner Steve Smith, is a 30,000-square-foot, three-story building with two stages and a pool, designed to hold close to a thousand people.
The timeline slipped more than once. Officials initially pointed to early 2026. By mid-February, staff held a hiring event aimed at filling 200 positions, with an opening target that had moved to mid-March. One local who showed up that day, Jon Thomas, told WJHG: "the newest and biggest kind of like something of that level coming to this area." The date kept moving until Tootsie's Chief of Operations Tristan Smith told WJHG: "dates keep changing, but this one isn't." The grand opening ran a two-day celebration starting May 1, 2026, roughly three months later than the earliest projection, but it happened, and the venue has now been open through a full summer.
The Local Favorite That's Still Waiting
Not every rebuild on this corridor has landed. Hook'd Pier Bar & Grill, a small, locally loved seafood spot directly across from the pier, was damaged by fire and entered a city-backed rebuild in the summer of 2025. Panama City Beach's Parks and Recreation division announced the demolition and remodel would produce a larger restaurant, with more seating, a bigger deck, and two floors. Director Cheryl Joyner told WJHG at the time: "we're really excited about the restaurant that's going to come."
The expected reopening was Spring 2026. As of Yelp's most recent update on the listing in May 2026, Hook'd was still marked closed, with no firm date beyond "2026" itself. Spring has since come and gone without word of an opening.
A few blocks away, Foghorns Bar and Package closed for good on September 2, 2025. The building has since been torn down, and as of the most recent reporting, ownership was still searching for a new location with nothing announced.
How These Project Timelines Compare
Topgolf and Tootsie's had different project timelines. Topgolf opened on its announced date; Tootsie's opening followed several changes to its target date.
Hook'd and Foghorns were smaller, independently run businesses with different outcomes. Hook'd remains closed after its expected Spring 2026 reopening, while Foghorns closed outright and its building was torn down.
These projects have had different outcomes: Topgolf and Tootsie's have opened, Hook'd remains closed, and Foghorns' former site has no announced replacement. The mix of businesses on this stretch continues to change.
Three Things Still Just Signs in the Ground
A few more changes are coming to this same corridor, though none of them are open yet:
- Shell Point Beach & Surf Club will sit just east of Topgolf on a 10.5-acre site, partnered with Endless Surf to bring a year-round wave lagoon to the area. Plans include a family beach and pool, a splash pad, a members' beach club with a private pool and spa, a swim-up bar, and a surf academy. Construction is expected to begin sometime in 2026, with a target opening in 2027.
- Hook'd's actual reopening date remains the biggest open question on the corridor. Watch for updates from the city's Parks and Recreation division rather than the restaurant's own listings, which haven't been refreshed with a hard date.
- Foghorns' replacement, if one materializes, hasn't been announced. The lot where the building stood is currently just cleared ground.
For anyone following this corridor, the next chapter will depend on which announced projects move from plans to reality.
If you're weighing what a changing commercial corridor means for property nearby, whether you already own here or you're thinking about it, the team at Think Real Estate tracks these shifts as part of the job. Contact a local expert when you're ready to talk through what it means for your address.
