The developer of the LTC Ranch project plans to widen Midway Road to four lanes west of Interstate 95 by 2022 to pave the way for the construction of 4,000 residences.
Associated Real Estate Southwest also plans to develop 725,000 square feet of retail space on Midway and Glades Cutoff roads.
LTC Ranch is one of seven large projects under development west of I-95 where more than 40,000 homes and 16 million square feet of business space are planned in the next three decades.
The Port St. Lucie City Council approved an update to the LTC Ranch development order on May 28 so the four-decade-old project can move forward west of I-95.
“Our goal is to have all of the approvals in place and potentially start construction towards the end of next year,” Ivan Chosnek, the developer’s representative, said after the council vote.
“Our strategy right now is to start our development off at Midway, so that part will be improved from I-95 to our entry, hopefully in the first couple of years,” Chosnek said.
The new development order also separates the residential and retail components of the LTC Ranch project west of I-95 from the LTC Midway Industrial Park on 390 acres east of I-95.
The Kern Company of Coral Gables has developed 569,315 square feet of industrial space and 42,542 square feet of office space in the park since 2007.
A new north-south thoroughfare through the 2,055-acre property west of I-95 will connect Midway and Glades Cutoff roads, just northwest of Verano/PGA Village.
The developer is providing a 50-acre site at Glades Cutoff Road and the north-south thorough fare to the St. Lucie County School District for a new high school and a 113-acre tract to the city for park.
The parks site includes 50 acres of buildable land and a manmade lake, Anne Cox, the city’s assistant director of planning and zoning, told the council.
The LTC project was first approved in 1997 by the St. Lucie County Commission and was later annexed by Port St. Lucie in 2003.
The residential and retail side of the project became dormant during the Great Recession.
Associated Real Estate Southwest bought the 2,055-acre agricultural tract for $15.3 million in December 2017 and restarted the project.
The developer paid off the property’s $468,000 debt to the city for impact fees and started submitting applications to update the plans.
The project still needs city permits to start construction on the subdivision and county and state permits for the improvements to Midway Road, Chosnek said.
