From Beststuff.com
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.
Somewhat disparagingly-nicknamed "The Redneck Riviera" by its
detractors, this area is largely disregarded in the
thought
process of those seeking beauty and luxury.
St. Joe Company, a real estate developer, is out to refute that stereotype. With over 600,000 acres of land concentrated 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. 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 has about ten different 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 homesteads (the property St. Joe sells to a homeowner for building) numbering from a few hundred to a few thousand. (To correct an easy misconception, St. Joe is no longer in the business of building houses or contracting out their construction, although it is selling some of the homes it built in the past.) 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 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; St. Joe's design for beach access is more complex than one might have originally anticipated. Even the smallest communities are hundreds of acres large and contain at least a few hundred homesteads, so it goes without saying that not every property could be built on the beach. In fact, St. Joe has decided not to build any properties on the beach and instead to preserve the natural beauty and undeveloped pristineness of the beach, as well as the integrity of the dunes. This may seem disappointing, but rest assured, this is for everyone's benefit and there are multiple excellent reasons St. Joe's decided to develop its properties in this way. First, building on the beach, or even extremely close to it, necessarily gives some sense of beach ownership (even if not legally or contractually legitimate) to the inhabitants of the closer structures. While the people in those dwellings may prefer that, such outcome is zero-sum; those living farther away from the beach feel less welcome and entitled to its use, or more cramped while on the sand, due to the presence of beach homes. By not building on the beach, St. Joe sidesteps this issue 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, St. Joe's fills a market niche by having this widespread beach access instead of heavily concentrating in building homes on the beach. 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 St. 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, and no one is stuck with an extremely high insurance premium for their villa on stilts. The beach belongs to everyone and no one simultaneously, just like Nature intended.
A complete description of WindMark Beach is impossible at this point in time, as the principal determinants of the community's ambience – the residents – are mostly still being sought. That being said, St. Joe has given WindMark Beach an incredible framework from which to build, and to imagine anything less than exemplary results would be unrealistic. With over two thousand acres of space, half of which is dedicated to natural preservation and open space, three and a half miles of coastline, and fourteen miles of boardwalks, it might be hard to believe that WindMark Beach is developed – until you see it's Village Center, complete with a fitness center, swimming pool, gourmet restaurant, and upscale boutiques. The common structures are built in Seaside Chic style 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 Memorial Day, 2010, the seven terminals 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. At the writing of this article, there are efforts underway to get a low cost carrier like Southwest Airlines to commit to providing service to the new facility, but no deal has been reached as of August 2009.
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 multiple left-leaning environmental and political groups 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 West Bay shoreline and 44 miles of creek and tributaries, 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 elderly man or woman 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.