Oculus Surgical called a groundbreaking ceremony for Thursday morning for a 50,000-square-foot manufacturing and distribution facility in Tradition Commerce Center that is expected to open in 2020.
The ophthalmic instrument manufacturer is charging ahead with its $7 million expansion plans after inking a deal to pay the city $849,680 for a 9.75-acre site on the southwest corner of Discovery Way and Tom Mackie Boulevard.
The City Council voted unanimously Monday to approve a purchase and sale agreement with Oculus Surgical. The price amounts to about $87,146 per acre.
The city acquired 1,160 acres in the commerce center along Interstate 95 last June and continued the longstanding efforts to promote business development.
Oculus Surgical intends to start construction in earnest soon after the sale closes in June, said Bob Zatarain, the company’s chief executive officer, after Monday’s unanimous council vote.
If everything goes smoothly, the new facility would open in the second half of 2020, Zatarain said. The company manufactures ophthalmic diagnostic and surgical instruments.
“We’ve already started the architect plans and are pretty well all the way through the architect plans,” Zatarain said. “We’re already starting to bring workers in. We believe very much in the training process of manufacturing-type people and engineers.”
City Manager Russ Blackburn told the council he gave Oculus Surgical a discount on the land price because the company is helping fulfill the city’s vision of creating jobs in the commerce center. “We felt like the price was fair,” Blackburn said.
The project will also benefit from a variety of city, county and state economic development subsidies because it envisions creating 50 new jobs with an average annual salary of $43,000 per year plus benefits, records show.
The government subsidies include breaks for 10 years on city and county property taxes as well as special assessment and community development district fees, city records show.
The company will receive a 100 percent abatement on city and county property taxes in each of its first five years of operation, city records show. The abatement will be 90 percent in the sixth year, 80 percent in the seventh year, 60 percent in the eighth year, 40 percent in the ninth year and 20 percent in the final year.
St. Lucie County will also chip in a $47,500 job grant and the state will provide a $250,000 targeted industry grant, city and county records show.
Oculus Surgical will move its 30-employee operation to its new facility from its headquarters at 562 NW Mercantile Place in St. Lucie West. The American arm of the German-based company set up shop in 2012.
“It’s important to note we’re in over 80 countries around the world and we’re going to establish this manufacturing facility here to manufacture specifically surgical products,” Zatarain told the council.
Mayor Gregory Oravec said the Oculus Surgical facility will continue the momentum of the economic development efforts in Tradition Commerce Center.
Oculus Surgical’s site is across Thomas Mackie Boulevard from the 400,000-square-foot manufacturing and distribution center under construction by City Electric Supply.
City Electric purchased its 38-acre site for $2.2 million, or $58,283 per acre, last July from Tradition Land Co.
The deal was negotiated before Tradition Land turned the commerce center over to the city last June to avoid $5 million in annual property taxes and assessments.
City Electric Supply, whose operation includes three buildings in St. Lucie West, is benefiting from a similar city, county and state economic development package as Oculus Surgical, records show.
The council has also agreed to sell three acres on the northeast corner of Discovery Way and Village Parkway for $450,000, or $150,000 per acre, to commercial developer Capital Brands of Boynton Beach. The sale is expected to close in mid-April.
The city also agreed to lease a 25-acre site in the commerce center off Village Parkway to Somerset Academy for a proposed charter Vocational-Technical Career Academy.
Blackburn said the prices for land in Tradition Commerce Center will vary depending on location, size and type of development proposed.
