ORANGE BEACH, Ala. — Two items on the Orange Beach City Council’s agenda this week move real property in opposite directions: the city is selling one building and converting another.
Restructuring the Event Center Sale
The council will consider modifying terms for the sale of the Orange Beach Event Center at The Wharf to Wharf Retail Properties, LLC.
The headline number does not change. The revised agreement maintains the overall $7.5 million transaction value. What changes is how that value is delivered.
Under the revised structure, the buyer pays $5,565,000 in cash and $1,935,000 through a loan structured via an updated warrant. The city, meanwhile, leases the facility back through Dec. 31, 2026.
Each piece of that arrangement does specific work.
The split between cash and financed portions determines how much the city receives at closing versus over time. At roughly 74% cash, the city takes the large majority up front while carrying the remainder as an obligation owed to it.
A warrant, in Alabama municipal finance, is a debt instrument local governments use in place of general obligation bonds. Restructuring the financed portion “via an updated warrant” indicates the terms of that instrument were revised rather than the price renegotiated.
The leaseback is the practical element. Selling a facility the city still has bookings in creates an obvious problem: events scheduled under city management do not disappear at closing. Leasing the building back through the end of the calendar year lets the sale close now while the city honors commitments already on the calendar and manages an orderly handoff.
Maintaining the transaction value while modifying the payment structure and adding a defined leaseback period suggests a negotiation over timing and mechanics rather than over what the building is worth.
A Finance Building Becomes a Medical Center
The council is also prepared to move forward on a healthcare project by awarding a $1,409,690 bid to Langan Development Company LLC.
The contract covers renovation of the former Finance Building at 4151 Orange Beach Boulevard into Orange Beach Medical Center South.
The project remains within its $1.5 million capital budget — coming in roughly $90,000 under the allocation, which is a comfortable but not enormous margin on a renovation of this size. Renovations of existing buildings carry more cost uncertainty than new construction, because conditions behind walls and above ceilings are not fully known until demolition begins.
Converting municipal office space into a clinical facility is not a cosmetic job. Medical use imposes requirements that general office space does not: mechanical and ventilation standards, plumbing at each exam room, electrical capacity for equipment, accessibility compliance and infection-control considerations in finishes and layout.
The reuse itself is notable. A city that has vacated an administrative building has a choice between selling it, mothballing it or repurposing it. Converting it to a medical facility puts a publicly owned asset back into service for a use the community needs, on land the city already controls.
Two Transactions, One Pattern
Taken together, the items describe a city actively managing its real estate portfolio rather than simply holding it.
The Event Center transfers to private ownership at The Wharf, a commercial destination where a private operator may be better positioned to program and market the venue. The former Finance Building stays public and takes on a new function. One building leaves the books; another gets a second working life.
Meeting Details
The joint regular meeting and Committee of the Whole work session is scheduled for Tuesday, Sept. 15, 2026, at 5 p.m. in the Orange Beach City Hall Council Chambers.
Orange Beach City Council meetings routinely draw strong community attendance, with residents participating in discussions on the city’s comprehensive plan, infrastructure improvements and long-term growth strategy. The Committee of the Whole format, which pairs the regular meeting with a work session, gives council members room to discuss items in more depth than a standard agenda allows — and gives residents a window into that discussion before votes are taken.