St. Joe Co. moving headquarters: Company will remain committed to SouthWood, official says
St. Joe Co. moving headquarters: Company will remain committed to SouthWood, official says
Though it will move its headquarters and consolidate some of its outlying offices, an official with the St. Joe Co. said personnel dedicated to its SouthWood community in Tallahassee will remain even after the company completes its relocation by the summer of 2011.
The state’s largest private landowner, the St. Joe Co. announced Wednesday that it will end its 75-year residency in Jacksonville and take its headquarters to a 50,000 square foot office building in Panama City.
The building is on 100 acres of property adjacent to the Northwest Florida Beaches International Airport, which is being built on 4,000 acres of land donated by St. Joe and now owned by the Panama City-Bay County Airport and Industrial District.
Only about five of its 15 employees in Tallahassee will be asked to relocate to the new headquarters, said William McCalmont, St. Joe executive vice president and chief financial officer. The company has about 142 total employees with more than 50 based in Jacksonville.
“We have an ongoing commitment to the SouthWood project and we are leaving a dedicated team there,” he said. “That has been and will be our focus in Tallahassee, and it should remain unchanged.”
Personnel heading to Bay County from offices in Jacksonville, Tallahassee, Port St. Joe and South Walton County will be corporate-level staff assigned to the company’s airport project or its West Bay project, a 75,000-acre multi-use development that represents one of the largest in the country.
“This is not about a corporate resizing,” McCalmont said. “It’s about efficiency and effectiveness by having our corporate office located in one place.”
Because a majority of the land St. Joe Co. owns is in northwest Florida, McCalmont said it makes sense for the company to be based there, particularly as it continues to develop its West Bay project. St. Joe will occupy about one-third of the building into which it is moving. The company hopes to draw retail businesses, restaurants, and hotels to the office park.
“The way we see our shareholders benefiting is we are going to lead by example in our development in West Bay as we seek to attract business around and to the new international airport,” McCalmont said. “By being the first tenant, they will see us lead by example.”
About 100 miles west of Tallahassee, West Bay is in north central Bay County in the Panhandle across St. Andrews Bay from Panama City. Ultimately, a 50-year master plan of the 75,000-acre West Bay project includes land for the $330 million airport, about 5,480 dwelling units, 4.4 million square feet of commercial, office and industrial allotments, 41,000 acre preservation area and 900 marina slips.
McCalmont said financial incentives from local governments to relocate had not been confirmed and that discussions about incentives are ongoing.
“The biggest incentive is the support of the local community and officials in the area to help us attract new industry and businesses to the community,” he said.
Local politicians issued statements about the relocation after St. Joe Co. made its announcement.
In a written statement, U.S. Rep. Allen Boyd, D-Monticello, said the move would bring new local jobs to the area and help expand its appeal to tourists and entrepreneurs. State Rep. Jimmy Patronis, R-Panama City, also issued a news release, which also stressed the significance the move would have in stimulating the economy.
“The move signals that our region is poised for growth once Florida’s economy gets back on track,” Patronis said.