Formulating a master development plan for 1,100 acres in the booming Tradition Commerce Center is a top priority for Port St. Lucie in the upcoming year, said City Manager Russ Blackburn.
Construction has been going full blast in the four-mile-long “Jobs Corridor” along Interstate 95 between Becker Road and Tradition Parkway, and major deals are in the works for Tradition’s two research institutes.
The city took title to the vacant land in the commerce center on June 28, 2018, after Tradition Land Company announced it was bailing out on $5.4 million in property taxes and assessments.
The Urban Land Institute provided the city an overview plan in November outlining how the agricultural tract known as Southern Grove could be developed into a vibrant business-oriented community.
The next step is for the city to hire a consultant to draw up a master plan to guide the development of 900 acres along the 2 1/2-mile stretch on I-95 from Becker Road north.
“How will this be a special place that achieves our goal of providing jobs for the city?” is a question the planning process will answer, Blackburn said.
“We kind of have a pretty good feel for the development pattern on the northern part of the property near the Florida Center for Bio-Sciences,” Blackburn said.
“But as we go to the middle part of the property and further south, that’s where we think it really helps us to have a master plan to get consensus as to what we want to see.”
The city faces $5.2 million in property taxes and assessments on the commerce center land for 2019-2020, Blackburn said. The carrying costs declined by $250,000 since last year because the city sold several parcels.
The city also anticipates spending $1 million next year to extend Tom Mackie Boulevard from City Electric Supply’s 40-acre site to the 40-acre tract to the south that Accel International is considering buying, Blackburn said.
The city has either sold or is negotiating to sell or lease a total of 170 acres on the north side of the commerce center, city records show.
The city determines the price for commerce center land on a case by case basis, taking into account how much a company plans to invest in its facilities, how many workers will be employed and how much they will be paid, Blackburn said.
The city is currently negotiating to sell a 40-acre site between Tom Mackie Boulevard and I-95 to Accel International, a Meriden, Connecticut-based wire and cable maker.
Accel International offered $1.7 million for the property, where it plans to build a 150,000-square-foot manufacturing and distribution center.
The city is also negotiating to sell a 10-acre site on Discovery Way, between Village Parkway and Tom Mackie Boulevard, to Oculus Surgical, an eye examination and surgery equipment manufacturer.
Oculus Surgical offered $849,680 for the property, where it plans to build a 50,000-square-foot manufacturing and distribution center. The company currently operates in a building in St. Lucie West Commerce Park.
In addition, the city is negotiating to lease a 25-acre site on Village Parkway to Somerset Career Academy Port St. Lucie, which plans to build a vocational-technical school for grades 6-12.
The city has already sold a 3-acre parcel on the northeast corner of Village Parkway and Discovery Way to a commercial developer for $450,000, records show.
The land was flipped to Tradition One LLC of Palm City, which plans to build a four-story hotel with 82 rooms and two 5,238 retail buildings, records show.
The city also sold a 7.6-acre site on Discovery Way next door to the Keiser University campus for $23,016 to a subsidiary of Keenan Development Group of Fort Lauderdale, which developed the campus, city records show. That deal that came with the 1,100 acres.
In addition, the city recently entered a joint venture with Tambone Companies of Palm Beach Gardens, who will market, sell and develop 84 acres south of Discovery Way along Tom Mackie Boulevard and Pete Hegener Drive.
Meanwhile, City Electric Supply has nearly completed building a 400,000-square-foot manufacturing and distribution center on Tom Mackie Boulevard, just south of the Keiser University campus.
The manufacturer of electrical equipment, tools and lighting invested $38 million in the new facility, where it plans to employ 50 workers, city records show.
City Electric Supply and affiliate TAMCO currently operate in three buildings in St. Lucie West Commerce Park. CES completed the purchase of the new site from Tradition Land Company for $2.2 million in July 2018, records show. It was the first manufacturing operation lured to the commerce center and set the stage for Oculus Surgical and Accel International. “Certainly, City Electric was a game-changer,” Blackburn said.
The two other major deals pending in Tradition involve the city-owned Florida Center for Bio-Sciences – the former Vaccine & Gene Therapy Institute Florida laboratory – and the Torrey Pines Institute for Molecular Studies.
The city is negotiating to transfer the vacant bio-sciences center at 9801 SW Discovery Way to Cleveland Clinic, which acquired nearby Tradition Medical Center on Jan. 1 as part of its takeover of Martin Health System.
Martin Health had already announced plans to develop a Neuroscience Center of Excellence next to the hospital at 10000 SW Innovation Way and a Cleveland Clinic official said the new facility is still in the works.
“Cleveland Clinic buying the hospital and increasing their presence in Port St. Lucie is a game-changer,” Blackburn said.
The city has also signed off on a pending deal for Florida International University’s Biomolecular Sciences Institute to take over the TPIMS lab at 11350 SW Village Parkway.
