Maturities of Debt (Parenthetical) (Detail) (Defeased Debt, USD $) In Thousands, unless otherwise specified	Sep. 30, 2012	Dec. 31, 2011
Defeased Debt
Extinguishment of Debt [Line Items]
Defeased debt, secured and paid by pledged treasury securities	$ 21,690	$ 23,299

Pledged Financial Instruments Not Separately Reported Securitized Loans Pledged For Securitized Debt

No definition available.

Name:	joe_PledgedFinancialInstrumentsNotSeparatelyReportedSecuritizedLoansPledgedForSecuritizedDebt
Namespace Prefix:	joe_
Data Type:	xbrli:monetaryItemType
Balance Type:	credit
Period Type:	instant