The Magic Beach Motel, located just minutes from the water in Vilano Beach, has been featured in several TV shows since it opened the better part of a century ago. | Noah Hertz, Jacksonville Today
Published on August 5, 2025 at 5:39 pm
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The iconic Magic Beach Motel in Vilano Beach apparently will be torn down after all.
The County Cultural Resource Review Board ruled against the demolition in June, but St. Johns County reversed the decision Tuesday.
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The about-face came after the attorney for developer Rick Johnston, Joseph Van Rooy, argued that the earlier ruling was not binding.
According to St. Johns County, the 74-year-old building is close enough to the beach that its maintenance is governed by Florida’s Resiliency and Safe Structures Act. Because of that law, the county’s official word is that it is prohibited from restricting or preventing the demolition.
The state does not recognize the Magic Beach Motel as a historic resource, but St. Johns County has recognized it as a cultural resource. The Florida Trust for Historic Preservation also recently acknowledged the Magic Beach Motel as an endangered historic resource.
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The motel has appeared in several TV shows and, most recently, the award-winning film No Sleep Till.
Due to its local significance, developer Johnston had to propose alternatives to demolishing the building, which the Cultural Resource Review Board found lacking.
But St. Johns County agreed with his attorney’s argument that Johnston did not need the board’s support to move forward with demolition.
Johnston is expected to replace the historic motel with condos and businesses.
The building’s replacement, Van Rooy told county commissioners, will pay homage to the motel and be built in the art deco style, incorporating “components of the Magic Beach” like the concrete flamingos on the building. He said a “tribute wall” also will show the evolution from the building’s initial construction in 1951 to present day.
Johnston and the building’s current owner, Tejal Patel, have declined several requests by Jacksonville Today for comment. Van Rooy told Jacksonville Today Tuesday that he had no comment.
Work to bring down the motel is expected to start later this year.
Editor’s note: This story was updated Aug. 6, 2025, to clarify that it was not the St. Johns County Commission that OK’d the Magic Beach Motel’s demolition, but the county’s staff that acknowledged the developer’s right under Florida law to demolish the building.
