PANAMA CITY BEACH, Fla.–The St. Joe Company (NYSE: JOE) (“St. Joe”) and Key International, Inc. (“Key International”) today announced their intent to pursue the formation of a joint venture to develop a new resort hotel in Panama City Beach, Florida.
“Key International welcomes the opportunity to work with a well-established and reputable partner like St. Joe, with the goal of expanding full service hotels in the Panama City Beach market,” stated Inigo and Diego Ardid, Co-Presidents of Key International. Since the 1970’s, Key International has been investing in and developing high end properties in Spain and the United States. Key International is currently developing a number of projects, including a 175-room Embassy Suites Oceanfront Resort in St. Augustine, Florida.
“St. Joe’s strategy is to partner with best in class companies to expand our portfolio of income producing properties,” said Jorge Gonzalez, President and Chief Executive Officer of The St. Joe Company. Gonzalez added, “We view the hospitality industry as a logical extension of this strategy, especially in the growing family-oriented lodging market of Panama City Beach, which is emerging as a year-round destination for the entire family with 17 million visitor day/nights in 2017. This announcement constitutes the second hotel joint venture that we are currently pursuing in the Panama City Beach market, including the announcement we made last October for a new limited service hotel adjoining Frank Brown Park. St. Joe is excited to join forces with Key International based on its proven track record of successful hotel development throughout the United States and abroad.”
The parties plan to jointly design, develop, construct, and operate a resort hotel located on land currently owned by St. Joe within Pier Park, having unobstructed views of the Gulf of Mexico. The current plan is for the hotel to be a nationally branded, full service hotel that is within walking distance to Russell-Fields Pier and the Pier Park lifestyle shopping center, which offers nearly 900,000 square feet of shopping, entertainment, and dining options. The proposed hotel would offer up to 250 guest suites, a pool, meeting space, and other amenities.
