Madi Rum, the St. Augustine maker of vanilla-spiced rum, has filed plans for a 6-acre distillery-and-restaurant complex at the northeast corner of State Road 207 and Deerpark Boulevard, roughly a half-mile south of the I-95 interchange. The development, pitched as a destination experience called Deerpark Garden, would pair production space with a tasting room, retail and a two-story restaurant. The proposal comes from the local restaurateurs behind Prohibition Kitchen and other St. Augustine businesses, aiming to turn a highway corner into a full-blown rum attraction.
County application materials describe roughly a 43,000-square-foot complex that would include a distillery, tasting room, retail space, a restaurant and a bakery, as well as greenhouses and outdoor nature areas, according to St. Johns Citizen. The distillery structure itself is shown at about 9,644 square feet and the filing says production would be indoors with odor and noise controls plus stormwater protections.
Madagascar Motif And Site Features
Site plans include a central pond with an ornamental plane that echoes Madi Rum's bottle artwork, plus a "Green House Madagascar Experience," a vanilla orchard greenhouse, sugarcane plots, cactus fields, cabanas and a tortoise area, as reported by the Jax Daily Record. That reporting also breaks down individual building footprints, showing an 11,000-square-foot restaurant, a 10,000-square-foot distillery and a 10,000-square-foot bakery on the site map. It reads less like an industrial plant and more like a rum-themed playground with a strong Madagascar twist.
Where The Plan Stands Now
The project was placed on the St. Johns County Planning & Zoning agenda for the May 7 meeting as "SUPMAJ 2026-02 Deerpark Garden," opening the proposal to formal county review. That packet asks the applicants to submit a wetland delineation report, an Environmental Resource Permit from the St. Johns River Water Management District, and revised parking and drainage plans before moving toward any final approvals. In other words, the concept art is there, but the regulatory homework is still in progress.
Jobs, Tourism And The Pitch
In the application, the developers say Deerpark Garden would create local jobs, attract tourism and help diversify the county's economy; similar language appears in the paperwork filed with the county. WhatNow summarized those claims from the submitted documents, which frame the project as both an economic driver and a new stop on the region's hospitality circuit.
About The Company
Madi Rum built its reputation on Madagascar-infused vanilla rum, and the brand says each bottle is flavored with hand-selected vanilla beans sourced from Madagascar, per Madi Rum. The business is registered in Florida as MADI RUM LLC and state filings list Shane and Travis Sheltra among the managers, per the Florida Sunbiz record. The Deerpark Garden proposal would effectively give the label a high-profile home base right off the interstate.
Permits And Approvals To Watch
Before any distillation begins the project will need federal and state permissions: a federal Distilled Spirits Plant permit from the Alcohol and Tobacco Tax and Trade Bureau and a state distillery/manufacturer license from Florida's Division of Alcoholic Beverages and Tobacco, in addition to county special-use approvals. Both agencies lay out bonding, labeling and operational rules that will shape how Madi Rum can produce, package and sell spirits on site.
Developers have told local reporters the buildout could take more than two years, though they said a more aggressive timeline is desirable, per reporting in the Jax Daily Record. County staff reviews, public hearings and any required permits in the months ahead will determine whether Deerpark Garden moves from drawings to dirt.
