St. Joe Company
St. Joe Company is a Florida landowner and real estate developer focused on residential, commercial, hospitality, and conservation projects in Northwest Florida.
Last updated November 4, 2026
AI crawler reads
No AI crawler has read this profile since Oct 28, 2026.
Overview
St. Joe Company is a publicly traded Florida real estate developer and landowner whose activities are concentrated in Bay and Walton counties and neighboring parts of Northwest Florida. The business traces its origins to the St. Joe Paper Company, established in 1936 in connection with the Alfred I. du Pont Testamentary Trust and the development of a paper mill at Port St. Joe. Although forestry remains part of the company, its principal business has shifted from paper manufacturing and timberland ownership to the development, operation, and management of real estate assets. The company historically accumulated a very large Florida land position. At one stage it controlled more than one million acres, much of it acquired during and after the Depression-era land boom. Over time, St. Joe sold property outside its strategic core and concentrated its holdings in Northwest Florida. A major portfolio rationalization occurred in 2014, when the company sold more than 380,000 acres to AgReserves for $562 million while retaining land considered important to its long-term development strategy. Financial details of that transaction are reported in the company's reference materials and should be distinguished from current operating figures. St. Joe's present activities are organized around residential, commercial, and hospitality development, supplemented by asset management, forestry, and land sales. Residential projects include master-planned communities, single-family neighborhoods, active-adult housing, workforce housing, and multifamily apartments. Its development portfolio includes WaterColor, Watersound Beach, Watersound West Beach, Watersound Origins, Breakfast Point, Ward Creek, WindMark Beach, College Station, Park Place, Titus Park, and Latitude Margaritaville Watersound. The company also works with homebuilders and joint-venture partners to create communities rather than acting solely as a conventional homebuilder. Hospitality is another major operating platform. St. Joe owns or operates hotels, inns, club facilities, marinas, and related resort amenities in the Panama City Beach and South Walton areas. Assets and brands associated with the portfolio include WaterColor Inn, The Pearl Hotel, The Lodge 30A, Camp Creek Inn, and hotels operated under Hilton, Hotel Indigo, and other lodging flags. Its Watersound Club provides golf, beach, tennis, dining, wellness, and other private-membership amenities. The company rebuilt two marinas damaged by Hurricane Michael and reopened them as Point South Marina locations. The commercial portfolio includes lifestyle shopping centers, industrial and logistics properties, commerce parks, offices, medical facilities, and apartment communities. Pier Park North, Watersound Town Center, VentureCrossings Enterprise Centre, and planned Watersound West Bay Center illustrate the company's strategy of placing commercial assets near its residential and hospitality developments. St. Joe has also participated in the creation of a medical campus in Panama City Beach with Tallahassee Memorial HealthCare and the Florida State University College of Medicine. Large-scale planning and conservation are central to the company's land strategy. Under the Bay-Walton Sector Plan, approximately 110,500 acres are covered by a long-term framework, with about 53,000 acres designated for conservation. The company states that its Northwest Florida holdings total approximately 171,000 acres when land outside the sector plan is included. Its conservation-related activities include protection of portions of West Bay and connected waterways, forest management, prescribed burning, and cooperation with public agencies on habitat and species protection. St. Joe has also donated or sold land for schools, sports facilities, parks, hospitals, and other civic uses. The company relocated its corporate offices from Jacksonville to the Bay-Walton area in 2010 to be closer to its principal land holdings. Land donated by St. Joe helped enable construction of Northwest Florida Beaches International Airport, which opened in 2010. Corporate offices later moved into a newly constructed facility at Beckrich Office Park in Panama City Beach in 2020. The company's identity today is therefore less that of a paper manufacturer than of a large, regionally focused land platform combining development, recurring real estate operations, hospitality, forestry, and conservation.
History
St. Joe Company was established in 1936 as St. Joe Paper Company in connection with the Alfred I. du Pont Testamentary Trust. Edward Ball, du Pont's brother-in-law and trustee, played the leading role in organizing and controlling the company. The business developed from earlier efforts by the trust to acquire Florida land and from du Pont's 1933 purchase of the financially troubled Apalachicola Northern Railroad. The railroad connected the Florida Panhandle with Port St. Joe and provided infrastructure for a paper mill and a potential industrial town. Construction of the Port St. Joe paper mill began in 1936, and the mill operated from 1938 until 1996. During the middle decades of the twentieth century, the company expanded its land base through extensive purchases across Florida. It eventually became one of the state's largest private landholders, controlling more than one million acres. The paper and forestry businesses supported employment and economic activity in the Panhandle, while timber operations supplied and managed forest resources associated with the company's land portfolio. The company's industrial history also generated serious environmental effects. For decades, mill wastewater was discharged into an unlined impoundment in the Highland View area and St. Joe Bay. Paper production released sulfurous emissions and pollutants associated with pulp bleaching, while intensive forestry and the replacement of native longleaf pine ecosystems with slash pine plantations altered regional habitats. Historical accounts also describe heavy withdrawals from the Floridan Aquifer and the ecological consequences of large-scale timber clearing. These issues form an important part of the company's historical record, although the supplied references do not provide enough detail to characterize later regulatory outcomes comprehensively. As Florida's economy and land values changed, St. Joe gradually moved away from its original paper-centered identity. It sold properties outside its strategic areas and redirected attention toward real estate development, land sales, and asset management. In 1966 the company ceased using St. Joe Paper Company as its primary name. The paper mill ultimately closed in 1996, leaving real estate, forestry, and land management as the foundation for the modern enterprise. A major strategic shift occurred in the early twenty-first century as St. Joe focused its holdings in Northwest Florida, particularly Bay and Walton counties. The company developed or expanded master-planned communities, shopping centers, hotels, apartment properties, industrial parks, and resort amenities. Its WaterColor and Watersound projects became central examples of its approach: large, coordinated communities combining housing, hospitality, retail, recreation, and environmental planning. In 2010 the company moved its corporate offices from Jacksonville to the Bay-Walton area. That same year, Northwest Florida Beaches International Airport opened on approximately 4,000 acres donated by St. Joe. The airport improved regional access and supported the company's long-term development thesis. St. Joe later sold more than 380,000 acres to AgReserves in 2014 for $562 million, retaining a substantial strategic land position concentrated in Northwest Florida. Hurricane Michael damaged communities, marinas, and other assets in 2018. In response to the resulting housing shortage, St. Joe began developing College Station, Park Place, and Titus Park in eastern Bay County. The company also rebuilt its two damaged marinas, which reopened in 2022 as Point South Marina at Port St. Joe and Bay Point. During the same period, St. Joe expanded its recurring operating assets, including multifamily housing, lifestyle retail, hotels, club facilities, and medical real estate. The company's modern development framework is shaped by the Bay-Walton Sector Plan, a long-range land-use plan covering approximately 110,500 acres of St. Joe property. The plan provides for extensive residential, commercial, industrial, and hospitality development while designating approximately 53,000 acres for conservation. Across its wider Northwest Florida holdings, the company reports approximately 171,000 acres, including property outside the sector-plan area. Conservation work includes protection of West Bay shoreline and tributaries, prescribed burning, managed forestry, and habitat programs involving species such as the red-cockaded woodpecker, flatwoods salamander, and gopher tortoise. By 2020 St. Joe had moved into newly constructed offices in Panama City Beach. In 2023 it opened several hotel and resort assets, including The Lodge 30A, Embassy Suites by Hilton Panama City Beach Resort, Home2 Suites in Santa Rosa Beach, Hotel Indigo Panama City Marina, and Camp Creek Inn. The company now presents itself primarily as a long-term regional land platform: it develops property, retains and leases selected commercial and hospitality assets, manages forests, sells land, and integrates conservation into its large-scale planning strategy.
- 2023
Multiple hospitality properties open
[2]The Lodge 30A, Embassy Suites by Hilton Panama City Beach Resort, Home2 Suites, Hotel Indigo Panama City Marina, and Camp Creek Inn opened during the year.
- 2022
WaterColor development completed
[2]The WaterColor community reached completion with residential, hotel, retail, restaurant, and park components.
- 2022
Point South Marinas reopen
[2]Rebuilt marina facilities in Port St. Joe and Bay Point reopened with a combined 427 slips.
- 2020
Latitude Margaritaville Watersound breaks ground
[2]St. Joe and Minto Communities USA began developing the active-adult community in Watersound.
- 2020
New Panama City Beach headquarters opens
[2]The company moved into newly built corporate offices at Beckrich Office Park.
- 2018
Hurricane Michael damages regional assets
[1]The hurricane damaged communities, marinas, and other infrastructure in the company's operating region and contributed to local housing demand.
- 2014
Large land sale to AgReserves
[1]St. Joe sold more than 380,000 acres to AgReserves for $562 million while retaining core Northwest Florida holdings.
- 2010
Corporate offices move to Northwest Florida
[1]St. Joe relocated its corporate offices from Jacksonville to the Bay-Walton area to be closer to its principal development holdings.
- 2010
Northwest Florida Beaches International Airport opens
[1]The airport opened on approximately 4,000 acres donated by St. Joe, strengthening regional connectivity.
- 1996
Port St. Joe paper mill closes
[1]Closure of the mill accelerated the company's transition toward land development, forestry, and real estate asset management.
Products and positioning
A major Northwest Florida landowner and master developer that combines long-term land planning with residential communities, commercial properties, hospitality assets, forestry, and large-scale conservation.
Residential and resort community
WaterColor
WaterColor is a waterfront master-planned community in South Walton. Its completed development combines more than 1,000 residences with the WaterColor Inn, shops, restaurants, parks, and resort-oriented amenities across approximately 499 acres. It illustrates St. Joe's strategy of integrating residential development with hospitality and commercial uses rather than treating housing as an isolated product.
Residential and resort communities
Watersound
Watersound encompasses several St. Joe communities and resort assets along the Northwest Florida coast, including Watersound Beach, Watersound West Beach, Watersound Origins, Watersound Town Center, and Watersound Club. The portfolio links residential neighborhoods with golf, beach, dining, retail, recreation, and hospitality facilities.
Active-adult residential community · 2020
Latitude Margaritaville Watersound
Developed with Minto Communities USA, Latitude Margaritaville Watersound is a Jimmy Buffett-themed community designed for residents aged 55 and older. Construction began in 2020, and the first phase was planned for approximately 3,500 homes, with further phases contemplated. The project combines homes with lifestyle, recreation, and social amenities.
Lifestyle retail and commercial real estate
Pier Park
Pier Park is a major Panama City Beach commercial destination associated with St. Joe's lifestyle-center strategy. Pier Park North provides more than 300,000 square feet of leasable space and is positioned near residential and tourism demand. The project is part of a broader commercial portfolio that includes retail, restaurants, entertainment, and adjacent multifamily housing.
Private resort and membership club
Watersound Club
Watersound Club is a private membership platform with golf courses, a beach club, pools, tennis, pickleball, dining, wellness, and other recreational facilities. Its assets include Shark's Tooth Golf Course, Camp Creek Golf Course, and private Gulf beach access. Camp Creek Inn provides lodging connected to the club experience.
Hotels and inns
St. Joe hospitality portfolio
The hospitality portfolio includes WaterColor Inn, The Pearl Hotel, The Lodge 30A, Camp Creek Inn, Home2 Suites by Hilton, Hilton Garden Inn Panama City Airport, Homewood Suites Panama City Beach, Hotel Indigo Panama City Marina, and Embassy Suites by Hilton Panama City Beach Resort. These properties serve leisure, business, convention, and resort demand across Northwest Florida.
Industrial and logistics real estate
VentureCrossings Enterprise Centre
VentureCrossings Enterprise Centre is an industrial park near Northwest Florida Beaches International Airport. It includes more than 300,000 square feet of industrial and related commercial space and reflects St. Joe's effort to diversify beyond residential and tourism-oriented development.
Marina operations · 2022
Point South Marina
Point South Marina consists of rebuilt facilities at Port St. Joe and Bay Point. The two locations reopened in 2022 after Hurricane Michael damage and together provide 427 boat slips, supporting boating, tourism, and waterfront development in the company's operating region.
Income-producing real estate
Commercial and multifamily portfolio
St. Joe owns and leases shopping centers, warehouses, light-industrial buildings, offices, medical facilities, and apartment communities. Examples include Watersound Town Center, planned Watersound West Bay Center, Pier Park Crossings, Watersound Origins Crossings, Sea Sound Apartments, and North Bay Landing. These assets create recurring operating income alongside land sales and development gains.
Controversies
Historical paper-mill and forestry environmental impacts
Historical accounts describe wastewater discharges, sulfurous emissions, dioxin-related pollution from bleaching, heavy water withdrawals, and conversion of native longleaf pine forests during the company's paper and forestry era. The supplied references do not establish a specific scandal date or provide sufficient detail about legal outcomes, so this entry is included as historical environmental controversy rather than a quantified regulatory finding.
Brand decisions
2022
Expand recurring hospitality and commercial assetsStrategyBackground
St. Joe's strategy increasingly combined land development with ownership and operation of income-producing hotels, retail centers, apartments, marinas, and club facilities.
Action taken
The company continued opening hotels, rebuilding marinas, developing shopping centers, and advancing multifamily and medical properties in Northwest Florida.
Aftermath
The portfolio became more diversified across residential development, hospitality, commercial leasing, and asset management.
2020
Enter the Latitude Margaritaville Watersound joint ventureProduct launchBackground
St. Joe sought to expand its residential platform into the active-adult market while leveraging the Margaritaville lifestyle brand.
Action taken
St. Joe and Minto Communities USA broke ground on Latitude Margaritaville Watersound, planned initially for approximately 3,500 homes.
Aftermath
The community reached 1,000 home sales in 2022 and continued into additional development phases.
2018
Add housing after Hurricane MichaelStrategyBackground
Hurricane Michael destroyed or damaged housing and infrastructure in Bay County, creating additional demand for homes.
Action taken
St. Joe initiated the College Station, Park Place, and Titus Park communities in eastern Bay County and subsequently expanded their phases.
Aftermath
The projects became part of the company's expanded residential pipeline in the hurricane-affected region.
2014
Concentrate the land portfolio in Northwest FloridaStrategyBackground
St. Joe had historically owned land across Florida but was increasingly focused on strategic holdings near Bay and Walton counties.
Action taken
The company sold more than 380,000 acres to AgReserves for $562 million while retaining core Northwest Florida property.
Aftermath
The transaction reinforced St. Joe's identity as a concentrated regional land developer rather than a statewide landholding company.
Land-sale consideration. $562 million (2014)
Recent events
- Unconfirmed
The St. Joe Company donates land for FSU research facility[3]
The St. Joe Company donated 23 acres in Panama City to Florida State University for its InSPIRE aerospace research and advanced manufacturing facility.
Sources3 sources
Cite this profile: Cite the canonical profile. /brand-wiki/st-joe-company · Editorial policy · How profiles are compiled