The Most Beautiful Place You Never Knew Existed, Soon With Flights Arriving Daily

Imagine Florida. This instruction is going to elicit different scenes in peoples' inner-thought lives. Some might imagine something akin to what viewers of CSI Miami are used to seeing, while others might dream of theme parks in Orlando. Still others will think of Jacksonville or Tampa, while the Northwest Coast, Pensacola excluded, gets little attention other than for the politicians in Tallahassee or the Spring-Breakers in Panama City. These realities, in addition to the variety of good destinations in Florida often add up to the Northwest Panhandle area being overlooked or forgotten. Enter St. Joe.

St. Joe Company, a real estate developer, is out to refute that stereotype. With nearly 600,000 acres of land concentrated primarily in Northwest Florida, St. Joe has made raising awareness of the beauty, desirability, and availability of land in this area one of its top concerns. Of course, St. Joe knows that not every potential homeowner is seeking the same environment, amenities, and location. For this reason the company has developed, and is continuing to develop, multiple unique communities on its land. Their business model is simple: they sell you land in one of their communities, on which you build your home, or you buy a previously completed home in their community. For most people, this is a second home, which enriches the lives and experiences of the typical city-dweller who seeks an aquatic escape or rustic environment. St. Joe currently offers about ten different residential communities in Northwest Florida, and despite being geographically separate and designed to cater to the needs of the multitude of unique potential homeowners, the communities bear a strong resemblance to each other in their well planned, well maintained and luxurious feel. St. Joe pinches no penny and spares no expense to make sure its residents and vacationers have a first-class experience in any of the communities they decide to stay or live.

Before describing the individual communities and their unique features and ambiences, it is important to note the similarities. As expected, each community is centrally planned with homesites (the property St. Joe sells to a homeowner for building) numbering from a few hundred to over a thousand. It would be a mistake to see the vast size of JOE'S properties and automatically assume its developments are more similar to suburbs than communities. St. Joe is intentional in the use of the term "community", and that is because its communities include numerous publicly accessible amenities such as walking and biking paths, golf courses, fitness centers, swimming pools, beach access, and fine dining. Each St. Joe resident has access to many, if not all of these things and thus "knowing your neighbor" is passively encouraged by the design of the community.

One other important similarity to note between all of JOE'S properties is the beach access; JOE's design for beach access is more complex than one might have originally anticipated. In some larger communities with homesites numbering in the low thousands, it goes without saying that not every property could be built on the beach. In fact, St. Joe has decided to restrict all the buildings – home and otherwise- to behind the dunes in effect preserving nature and undeveloped pristine beauty of the beach, as well as the integrity of the dunes. This may seem disappointing for those who would rather be closer, but rest assured, this is for everyone's benefit and there are multiple excellent reasons JOE decided to develop its properties in this way. By building behind the dunes, St. Joe sidesteps issues of crowdedness and perceived "beach ownership" and makes a very clear statement that all homeowners in the community are welcome to use any part of the beach. Far from being an idle promise, St. Joe made its commitment to this very obvious and credible by purposely designing roads, bike paths, and walkways to easily allow any homeowner in the community to get to the beach in the most direct, efficient, and hassle-free way possible. Secondly, JOE fills a market niche by having this widespread beach access instead of heavily concentrating in building homes on the water. A homeowner who wishes to be close enough to the beach to walk or bike but does not have the resources to locate there will find a reasonable and satisfactory solution in one of JOE's communities. Thirdly, building on the beach is very high risk due to rapid rises in water levels and hurricanes. By preserving the naturally formed dunes and not destroying or building beyond them, everyone in the community receives an extra layer of protection from Mother Nature. The beach belongs to everyone and no one simultaneously, just like Nature intended.

Of JOE's communities, WaterColor is the clear paragon. WaterColor is both large and well-settled; the entire WaterColor community is about five hundred acres and contains twelve hundred homesites. WaterColor also boasts the exquisite gourmet Fish Out of Water restaurant and the appropriately named WaterColor Inn, the region's only AAA Four Diamond hotel. With access to the marine lifestyle activities, such as fishing, boating, kayaking, and windsurfing, as well as the finer things in life like spas and fine wines:, the entire family is sure to find a niche in which they can be comfortable. Thanks to the WaterColor Inn, your extended family who wish to join you will never feel like they are imposing on your piece of paradise. Don't worry about the kids either – they'll have a blast at Camp WaterColorcomplete with arts, crafts, and even a family sized pool.

As expected, WaterColor is located on the beach, and the buildings of public importance such as the fitness center, Inn, spa, and restaurant are all close to the Gulf of Mexico. Put succinctly, the ambience of WaterColor can only be described as "fun". WaterColor is a bright, bustling center of activity and it's impossible to not have a good time. Potential homeowners who are younger, have children or large families to accommodate, want to spend a lot of time in the water, or who really want to be involved in the communal aspect will find WaterColor a great fit.

Ten miles east of WaterColor lies WaterSound. On paper, the 1400 acres and 1000 single family homesites at WaterSound seem similar to WaterColor's, and they both boast beach access and a nature-friendly environment. However, a closer inspection reveals WaterSound's ambience to be quite different then WaterColor's. WaterSound generally trades the hustle and bustle of WaterColor for quiet serenity. True, there's no children's camp or Inn, but that's a fair trade for WaterSound residents who prefer a slower-paced spot in paradise. WaterSound Village Commons has a fitness center, mail room, pool, and food options, but the lavish and family friendly options of WaterColor are traded for peace and low-traffic. Boasting equally beautiful beaches, marine, and nature access, WaterSound offers a serene getaway for the person or couple who want to enjoy beauty in smaller numbers.

RiverCamps is JOE's answer for the outdoorsman. This 1,500-acre community located on Crooked Creek and the West Bay is the naturalist's paradise, with plenty of woodlands, marshes, creeks, water, and savannas to keep homeowners busy for days at a time. More spacious than either WaterColor or WaterSound (and not beach oriented), RiverCamps' residents enjoy the paradox of natural seclusion and privacy within a community atmosphere. Like certain other JOE communities, it has an interconnected boardwalk and the Riverhouse that includes amenities such as a pool, grill, boat dock, fitness center, library, and dining area, but the real appeal of RiverCamps is its location: nature! The low resident density and the architectural style contribute to the feeling of being alone with nature. Many of the houses are wooden and are built with conservation in mind; look out one of the many windows around your house and you'll see some combination of woods and water rather than paved roads or other houses. The nature lover doesn't need to be given instructions at this point, as he'll naturally walk, hike, jog, bike, fish, or boat, but his friends can read a novel on the screened in patio as they see natural beauty in their peripheral vision. RiverCamps truly walks a tight rope of combining man-made luxuries with the beauty of nature, and does so in a way that few would have imagined possible.

Further East along the Gulf Coast is JOE's WindMark Beach Property. With over two thousand acres, half of which is dedicated to natural preservation and open space, three and a half miles of BeachWalk planned, it might be hard to believe that WindMark Beach is developed – until you see WindMark Beach's Village Center, complete with a fitness center, beach club, including a large, 35,000 square foot swimming pool, casual, Gulf-front restaurant serving modern southern cuisine and upscale boutiques. The common structures are built in with wide windows and metal roofs, honoring the tradition of the region and designed to work well with the environment in which they are located. WindMark Beach is still a work in progress, but it has every indication of being a valuable and worthwhile investment.

Unless you choose to live in your St. Joe property exclusively (which most owners do not), transportation between your primary residence and Northwest Florida will be of paramount importance. This has been a substantial inconvenience for homeowners who do not wish to spend the greater part of a day on the road, as current options by air are limited, forcing those averse to driving to fly into a small regional airport in Panama City. This is about to change, however, with the construction of the brand new Panama City-Bay County International Airport. With a scheduled opening date of May, 2010, the seven gates and increased size over the old airport enable more frequent landing of larger jets to get you closer to your Northwest Florida property more quickly. In fact, as of October 21, 2009, low cost carrier Southwest Airlines has committed to providing service to the new facility in May, 2010.

Those concerned about the environmental effects of a new airport defacing the beauty they expect in the region need not fear: the airport was designed in consultation and with the support of people concerned about the environment to ensure that it maintains a high level of environmental friendliness. Best of all for those concerned with preserving natural beauty is that "as a result of the relocation, 41,000 environmentally sensitive acres, including 33 miles of creeks and tributaries and 44 miles of undeveloped shoreline, will be protected forever". This win-win scenario can only benefit St. Joe residents, the economy of northwest Florida, and the environment.

Northwest Florida has more to offer than just spring breakers and politicians; it is filled with the pristine beauty of nature. St. Joe is eager to share this secret with you, and has carefully and considerately developed some of the coastline and woodland areas to maximize your exposure and enjoyment to nature while minimizing your impact. It matters not whether you're a young professional seeking a second home, an active retiree seeking warmth and sunshine with your spouse, or an avid outdoorsman who would love nothing more than retiring to a cabin in the woods – St. Joe and Northwest Florida have an answer for you – and you'll be able to fly in!

-John Lentz Jr.
www.joe.com