Short one this week, since all eyes are on Isaias. As of this morning, it's an 80 mph hurricane expected to make landfall late Friday or early Saturday. Mexico Beach is under a Hurricane Warning; SJB, Beacon Hill, and WindMark are under a Tropical Storm Warning, and the whole coast is under a Storm Surge Warning. Don’t even mention that Saturday is the Hurricane Michael anniversary. Please let me know if any of y’all need me to secure your stuff. As for the market, we had 5 new listings hitting the MB/SJB/WMB market, 5 properties going under contract (plus 1 back on the market after a contract fell through), 7 price reductions, and 6 sales closing. Those sales totaled $15,135,500, and Toucan's is $12 million of it. Let's dive into this week's sales.
Toucan's On The Beach
All of you must know this one by now. Toucan's Restaurant closed at $12,000,000 this week. The ICF building is brand new, literally just finished by Crucible, with 16,857 total square feet and 12,109 heated and cooled. The sale covers four parcels on 1.04 acres: the two Gulf-front lots it sits on plus the two parking lots across 98. There is more of an update below in the Area Updates.
434 Windmark Way
Windmark's highest-priced sale of the year is now this 4BR/4.5BA home in Phase 1 with first-tier views and over 3,438 square. The 2015-built home has four garages, a detached guest house, an elevator, and a whole-house generator, and closed at $410/sqft. They originally listed at $1,690,000 in April, came down to $1,574,900, and eventually closed at $1,410,000 after 161 days on the market. This is another example of just making the offer. Once a real offer showed up, the deal was made.
204 Pond Cypress CV
Staying in WindMark, a 2022 DR Horton 5BR/3BA in WindMark North sold for $663,000 after 552 days on the market. It first listed in March 2025 at $925,000 and closed at 88.5% of its last list price of $749,000, a total of $262,000 below where it started. That's $261.54 a foot for 2,535 square feet, sold furnished in the AE zone. This marks the 9th resale in WindMark North over the past 3 months, which is the most in a 3-month stretch for the neighborhood.
151 Beach St
Hanging around the same general area, this 3BR/2BA home closed at $495,000, 99.2% of its $499,000 list price after 64 days. It originally listed at $549,000 in June, and the seller paid $10,000 toward the buyer's closing costs. The house is small at 1,100 square feet, but has a great floor plan and sits on a 41x240 lot in the AE zone; it comes with a private heated saltwater pool, a fenced yard, room for a boat, and deeded access to the Bay. It sold furnished to a conventional buyer. At $450 a foot, it carried the highest price per square foot of any home this week.
224 Cowries St
In Beacon Hill, a 2BR/2.5BA beach house on a corner lot 2 blocks from the beach sold for $460,000 cash after 127 days. Listed in May at $499,000 and they reduced once before finding a buyer who closed at 96.9% of list. Built in 2005, 1,240 square feet, $370.97 a foot, X flood zone, no HOA. One thing worth noting is that it is on septic. The home was a vacation rental before selling, and judging by the buyer’s LLC, it looks like it will be staying a vacation rental.
103 Gulf Terrace Ln
The lone lot sale this week was a corner lot at the entrance to the Highlands in St. Joe Beach. It's 67x208, about 0.31 acres, X flood zone, without water and sewer taps. Listed in July at $120,000, reduced to $115,000, and sold for $107,500 cash after 61 days, which is 93.5% of list and $346,774 per acre. Nothing out of the ordinary here. An X zone interior lot, priced a little high to start, and it sold once the seller got close.
Area Info/Updates
Commercial Commercial Commercial!!!
This was a big week for commercial development in Mexico Beach. As you saw above, Toucans closed this week for $12,000,000 and is officially ready for use. They got their Certificate of Occupancy last week, and the new owners took ownership on Tuesday. While they are not open just yet, it looked as if they were holding some sort of training this week, and all of the furniture is there. It looks phenomenal, and we cannot wait to see it! I would be on the lookout for a late October/Early November opening. 98 was blessed to represent the sellers on this deal.
Another project that was presented this week was the Mexico Beach Shops. On October 5th, this development went before the Planning and Zoning Board in Mexico Beach. The project is located at 1100 Hwy 98, which is the site of the Former Sharon’s Cafe, and features over 4000 of square feet. What makes this interesting is that it is one main shop, which is proposed to be 3471 sqft with 4 additional retail/restaurant suites out front that are 180 sqft each, with a common main space. Looking over the Compatibility Analysis, it seems to follow all the LDC regulations.
Lastly, it looks like the Grocery Store has really ramped up the work. They have had people there every single day for the last few weeks and supposedly were hindered early on only because there was a delay in an important piece. The building is actually starting to look far more like a building and less like a box, and we are all for it.
There is a lot to be happy about in the Commercial Sector of Mexico Beach, and while it has taken a long time, it is good to see some projects coming to fruition.
That’s all for this week’s market update. Thanks for reading!