Watersound Town Center Is Outgrowing the Neighborhood That Built It

Watersound Town Center now has about 170,000 square feet of shops, restaurants, services and offices, and it is about 98% leased. St. Joe plans to grow it to about 400,000 square feet. Construction has started on a new building that will hold an Anthropologie with its own wedding-gown shop, and a second building is expected to break ground before the end of 2026. If you live in Watersound Origins, Camp Creek or Origins Crossings, this is still the place for groceries, coffee and pizza night. Under the current plan, though, it will be more than twice its size, and the developer's own announcements say who the extra space is meant for.

The errand run came first

The center's roots are easy to see in its directory. The everyday anchors are Publix Supermarket and Publix Liquors. Close by are Starbucks, Jersey Mike's Subs, Marco's Pizza, Scout Sports Tavern, Friends 30A Burger Bar, Sweet Henrietta's, Nigel's Bananas, Village Market at Watersound Town Center and Ambrosia Prime Seafood & Steaks. That is the mix you would expect for the people who live just behind the entrance. In June, St. Joe counted more than 1,700 finished homes, townhomes and apartments across Watersound Origins, Watersound Camp Creek and Watersound Origins Crossings, with more homesites still being developed.

The 2026 openings tell a different story. Nearly every store announced this year is a national or regional apparel or lifestyle brand.

What opened this year, in order

Here are the store openings from St. Joe's two 2026 announcements:

1. By June 30, 2026: FP Movement, Hemline, Monkee's and Sunset Shoes & Lifestyles were open. So were Jersey Mike's Subs, the fitness studio Lagree 30A, a Fischer Homes office and showroom, and Art-of-Fact(s), a shop selling home décor, gifts and art.
2. August 20, 2026: St. Joe announced that Johnnie-O, the men's and boys' apparel brand, had opened, as promised in June.
3. Same release: J.McLaughlin showed up on the center's list of retailers alongside FP Movement, Hemline, Monkee's and Sunset Shoes & Lifestyles. WJHG's August 24 report named the same group of shops.
4. Also announced August 20: Anthropologie signed a lease for a store of about 9,000 square feet.

The size figure changed between the two releases as well. The June announcement listed the center at about 160,000 square feet. The August announcement said about 170,000. The center stayed about 98% leased in both, so the new space is filling as fast as it is built.

The bridal shop shows who the next building is for

The Anthropologie store will include Anthropologie Weddings, a bridal shop that the company offers only at select stores around the country. Brides can book appointments with wedding stylists and shop gowns, bridesmaid dresses, shoes and accessories.

St. Joe explained the choice in plain terms. In the August 20 announcement, Rebecca Waters, St. Joe's Director of Commercial Sales and Leasing, said:

"Given the strength of the destination wedding business throughout the 30A trade area, we believe the addition of Anthropologie Weddings to the brand's signature retail offerings will be especially well received and a terrific complement to the market."

The demand St. Joe points to there is the whole 30A wedding market, not the homes behind the center. A few lines later, Waters describes the center as "a destination for the broader 30A community and its visitors." In June, St. Joe said the national brands were "deliberate in their site selection process." It also said two more buildings were planned "to meet growing demand from other national apparel brand stores."

None of this replaces the Publix run. The growth is coming on top of it, and St. Joe says it is aimed at shoppers from well beyond Watersound.

A building now, another before year-end

Here is where the expansion stands as of early October 2026:

The other tenants in the Anthropologie building have not been named. The June release did say the extra buildings were planned for national apparel brands. St. Joe's July 29 report for the second quarter also listed Watersound Town Center among the company's commercial leasing priorities. For people who live nearby, that means a construction site at the center for the rest of this year, and probably a second one once the next building starts.

The Pavilion is where locals and visitors share the space

The center's busiest public space is The Pavilion at 85 Origins Main St. This fall it hosts the free First Friday Fall Concert Series. Music runs from 6 to 8 p.m., and food is sold on site. The Pink Stones played September 4, and The Mammals played with an Art Bazaar on October 2. The rest of the fall calendar is below, including two events the center lists inside the Origins neighborhood.

You can find the concert series on the Cultural Arts Alliance, and the Town Center keeps its own events calendar. The Friday concerts are free and open to the public, so a first-Friday evening will draw people from the Origins streets as well as shoppers from across 30A. If St. Joe's leasing plan holds, that mix should grow as each new building opens. Porch Fest and RUN WATERSOUND take place on the neighborhood's own streets.

The center has also listed Winter Wonder Watersound as rescheduled, with no new date yet. Check the events page before planning a December evening around it.

A town center that more than doubles changes things for the people living next to it, from traffic at the entrance to how close you live to a national retail strip. If you're wondering how the 400,000-square-foot plan could affect your street in Watersound Origins, Camp Creek or Origins Crossings, Abbott Martin Group follows every phase of the build. Call us and we'll walk you through what's under construction and what's coming next. Discover Your Emerald Coast Home.