St. Joe Company breaks ground on new residential community off Highway 79

BAY COUNTY, Fla. (WJHG/WECP) - With Latitude Margaritaville Watersound welcoming its first residents and a new medical campus coming just down the road, it seems the Highway 79 corridor is booming with developments.

The St. Joe Company is now working on a massive residential community just north of Philip Griffitts Senior Parkway.

From rubble to residential, St. Joe has broken ground on what will be the Ward Creek Community.

“It’s about four miles from the beach. It will be in close proximity to the new medical campus that we’re working on with Tallahassee Memorial Health Care and Florida State University,” Senior Vice President for Residential Real Estate Bridget Precise said.

Plans call for roughly 1,600 home sites including a mix of both single-family and townhouse.

It’s something Panama City Beach city leaders said is a much-needed addition to the growing community.

“We’re seeing a big boom in both condos, apartments, hotels, and subdivision. It’s very exciting. A lot of people are coming here to invest in Panama City Beach and in Bay County in general,” Vice Mayor Geoff McConnell said.

Houses will range in size and price.

“From 40-foot single-family detached, some 50 footers, 60 footers as well as some bigger 75-foot lots. So, it will be a pretty diverse product offering there,” Precise said. “We suspect we’ll get empty nesters, young families, you know people working in the local industry, as well as some retirees.”

St. Joe is currently working on the first phase of the project, which includes 205 single-family homes and 150 townhomes. There will also be amenities added, including a pool and some additional walking trails.

The first phase is set to finish this summer. But St. Joe officials said they don’t have a timeline on when we can expect the entire project to be completed.

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