Out with the new, in with the old
Martin Pemberton, Tallahassee Democrat
In a suprise announcement, St. Joe CEO Peter Rummel today revealed that the St. Joe company was abandoning it?s real estate business, and returning to its roots in paper and lumber.
?Joe is a forward looking company,? stated Rummel in a hastily arranged press conference at the newly opened Watersound Beach club, ?and the writing is on the wall regarding the real estate market. Looking forward, we see more opportunities in the paper and lumber business. We expect foreclosure notices alone to cause a 20% increase paper demand.?
Rummel went on to say that all current and planned real estate projects would be stopped, effective immediately. Watercolor, St. Joe?s marquee development along scenic 30a in south Walton County will be largely unaffected, since most lots have already been sold. Any unsold lots in the nearby Watersound project will be planted with loblolly pine for future harvest. When asked about St. Joe?s Summercamp project in Carrabelle, Rummel stated ?Ooops, I forgot about that one.?
Rummel also said St. Joe was retracting its donation of approximately 4000 acres of its land for the construction of a new Panama City airport. He said St. Joe will still push for a new bypass road connecting these acres to the 30a area. ?We would like a logging trail from these 4000 acres directly to camp creek lake, which will facilitate bringing high quality lumber to the world market. It will bring much needed jobs to the area, and the logging trucks will be of visual interest to tourists. It?s a win-win for everyone.?
Rummel hasn?t entirely left his Disney roots, however. He added that St. Joe is considering a paper and lumber themed adventure park that would take the place of the now defunct airport. ?We?ll have log rolling, a Paul Bunyan game, and so on. We?re still in the exploratory stages at this point, but once this is online we anticipate revenue growth of 30-40% annually.
St. Joe stock was up $12.45 in after hours trading on the news.
Martin Pemberton, Tallahassee Democrat
In a suprise announcement, St. Joe CEO Peter Rummel today revealed that the St. Joe company was abandoning it?s real estate business, and returning to its roots in paper and lumber.
?Joe is a forward looking company,? stated Rummel in a hastily arranged press conference at the newly opened Watersound Beach club, ?and the writing is on the wall regarding the real estate market. Looking forward, we see more opportunities in the paper and lumber business. We expect foreclosure notices alone to cause a 20% increase paper demand.?
Rummel went on to say that all current and planned real estate projects would be stopped, effective immediately. Watercolor, St. Joe?s marquee development along scenic 30a in south Walton County will be largely unaffected, since most lots have already been sold. Any unsold lots in the nearby Watersound project will be planted with loblolly pine for future harvest. When asked about St. Joe?s Summercamp project in Carrabelle, Rummel stated ?Ooops, I forgot about that one.?
Rummel also said St. Joe was retracting its donation of approximately 4000 acres of its land for the construction of a new Panama City airport. He said St. Joe will still push for a new bypass road connecting these acres to the 30a area. ?We would like a logging trail from these 4000 acres directly to camp creek lake, which will facilitate bringing high quality lumber to the world market. It will bring much needed jobs to the area, and the logging trucks will be of visual interest to tourists. It?s a win-win for everyone.?
Rummel hasn?t entirely left his Disney roots, however. He added that St. Joe is considering a paper and lumber themed adventure park that would take the place of the now defunct airport. ?We?ll have log rolling, a Paul Bunyan game, and so on. We?re still in the exploratory stages at this point, but once this is online we anticipate revenue growth of 30-40% annually.
St. Joe stock was up $12.45 in after hours trading on the news.
