A four-story hotel and two retail buildings will anchor the high-profile intersection of Village Parkway and Discovery Way in Tradition Commerce Center.
The long-awaited Oculus Surgical eye equipment manufacturing and office complex, a three-story building, will join the Discovery Plaza & Hotel on Discovery Way.
The Port St. Lucie City Council Monday approved site plans for the two major additions to Port St. Lucie’s burgeoning “jobs corridor” along Interstate 95. Discovery Hotel and Oculus Surgical are the first two projects being developed in Tradition Commerce Park on land being sold by Port St. Lucie.
The city acquired 1,200-plus acres on June 28, 2018, from Tradition Land Co. The city also inherited more than $5 million per year in annual assessments and taxes on the former citrus grove bounded roughly by Becker Road, Village Parkway, Discovery Way and I-95.
Mayor Greg Oravec said he was “unhappy” the proposed Oculus Surgical sale, which was first publicly disclosed in July 2018, had not yet closed.
“It’s really time to finish those items,” Oravec said.
“That’s been hanging out there a long time. Negotiations have stalled several times.”
City Manager Russ Blackburn said he negotiated a $150,000 credit with Oculus Surgical to pay for the additional fill needed for the 10-acre site on the southwest corner of Discovery Way and Tom Mackie Boulevard.
As a result, Blackburn said he anticipates presenting amendments to the purchase and sale agreement to the City Council by Nov. 12.
The contract the council approved Feb. 4 calls for Oculus Surgical to pay $849,680 for the property.
The site plan approved Monday calls for the construction of 52,525 square feet of manufacturing and office space in the first phase of the project. There would also be a 1,600 square foot watchman’s building.
The next two phases would add 78,480 square feet of manufacturing space, bringing the project size to 132,605 square feet.
Tradition community development officials should consider digging a drainage pond in the commerce center to provide fill for the other parcels the city is marketing, Oravec said.
Meanwhile, Tradition One LLC plans to build an 82-room hotel and 10,476-square-foot retail center on the northeast corner of Village Parkway and Discovery Way.
Port St. Lucie sold the three-acre site at for $450,000 on Feb. 26 to Capital Brands of Boynton Beach, which flipped the land the same day to Rajesh Patel, Tradition One’s principal, for $1,080,000, records show.
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