St. Joe plans Topsail West

SANTA ROSA BEACH, FL — Some 116 acres of woodland along U.S. Highway 98 is slated for a new development. Walton County commissioners have approved St. Joe Co.’s conceptual plan to transform the property stretching from west of West Hewett Road to east beyond East Hewett Road into a town center.
   
As proposed, Topsail West will include more than 308,000 square feet of retail space, 5,000 square feet of office space, 190 senior-living units, 110 assisted-living units, and 310 multi-family units, according to a staff report presented at the County Commission’s meeting Aug. 25.
   
The county’s planning department approved the development in mid-August. The project will be built in six phases, with the last one completed in 2020.
   
Tim Brown, the county’s senior planner, said specifics of the plan have not been hammered out because it only is conceptual.

The plan is more of a roadmap to give commissioners a general idea of what the development will contain, but can still be changed.

For example, it allows for up to 308,300 square feet of retail space. However, the developer could decide to use less space than that but not more, Brown said.
   
Mac Carpenter, the county’s planning manager, said each of the six phases must go through a technical review process before construction can begin.
   
But St. Joe may not be the one that pays for all the reviews or other associated costs.
   
“St. Joe didn’t come right out and say it, but my understanding is they don’t want to be the developer,” Brown said. “They want to sell each phase, so whoever buys the property to develop it would get the technical approval.”
   
Either St. Joe or another developer will pay for required traffic studies.
   
The developer also must provide a pedestrian and transit plan for the overall development and pay any outstanding fees, according to the staff report.
   
Brown said the development could be completed by 2020 but “depending on the interest, it could take a lot longer than that.”
   
St. Joe spokesman Jerry Ray did not respond to repeated attempts to contact him Friday and Monday.
   
However, according to St. Joe’s Web site, www.joe.com, the company works with “a wide range of strategic partners and third-party developers on resort, residential, commercial and industrial developments in Northwest Florida.”