Top officials from Vero Beach, Sebastian, Fellsmere and Indian River County appeared at a symposium at the Indian River Mall last Monday to talk about future real estate development in the county.
One of the topics keyed off a question from the moderator, who asked each speaker what projects coming up in the next several years they are most excited about, that will most “enhance the quality of life of residents.”
Vero Beach Mayor Robert Brackett spoke first on the topic.
“I think you all know what I am going to say,” he said. “If I didn’t say it, you all would probably run me out of here!
“The Three Corners riverfront project is the biggest thing that is happening in Vero and the biggest thing that is going to happen for many years to come,” Brackett said, referring to a large mixed-use project with shops, restaurants, docks, a hotel and public recreation space that is planned for the site of the city’s decommissioned power plant on the shore of the Indian River Lagoon. “It will enhance the lives of our residents and be a destination where people will come and spend the weekend and bring lots of resources and value to our city.”
“It is hard to believe,” he added, “but there is only one riverfront restaurant in Vero Beach where you can go to get a bite to eat or have glass of wine with your spouse. The Riverside Café is it.
“The lagoon is one of Vero’s greatest assets and we don’t take advantage of it. Unless you belong to a private club you can’t go and have a meal by the water unless you go to Riverside.
“Three Corners, which will have multiple restaurants, is a great opportunity for Vero Beach.”
Speaking next, Sebastian Mayor Jim Hill said he wished he could move to Vero Beach to vote yes on the referendum coming up in November to authorize the Three Corners project. “That is very exciting news and I can promise you it will be utilized by people from Sebastian.”
He went on to talk enthusiastically about upcoming improvements to his own city’s “working waterfront,” a riverside stretch of restaurants, bars and marine businesses that he helped revive during his more than two decades on the city council and as mayor.
“We have something coming up at the old Hurricane Harbor building,” he said. “It is somewhat controversial now, though it really shouldn’t be. That building is 100 years old and was built in five phases and the construction techniques were different than they are today. It really isn’t habitable right now.
“Over the next three to five years, that building is probably going to come down. We might save a portion for historical purposes, but a new building will be going in that will have a working waterfront museum, an eatery, a wedding destination spot and a lot of other cool things happening right in the middle of our waterfront.
“I think the purchase of the waterfront [and its rehab] really is what spurred development [and business success] along Sebastian’s riverfront.”
Hill said he’s equally excited about Sebastian’s planned 2,000-acre Graves Brothers annexation, which will add 20 percent to the city’s size and provide many development opportunities.
Hill said the annexation, which is opposed by a number of environmental groups, would be good for Sebastian and the county in part because the whole tract will be master-planned – integrating market-rate and workforce housing, commercial, industrial and recreation – instead of having the area built out piecemeal by multiple developers with no overview of lifestyle and sustainability.
Fellsmere City Manager Mark Mathes said he is excited about a number of upcoming subdivisions and civic improvements in his city, including the redevelopment of what he called “the Broadway Corridor” in downtown Fellsmere and a planned historic train village adjacent to downtown that will include a station, jail, businesses and other structures and activities intended draw visitors and give them a sense of what life was like in Fellsmere early in the 20th century.
He also mentioned an upcoming extension of the Trans-Florida Central Railroad Trail into downtown Fellsmere and beyond it to eco-tourism attractions west of town. The trail, which crosses I-95 on an ornate bridge just north of Route 512, eventually will connect downtown Fellsmere with downtown Sebastian.
Indian River County Community Development Director Phil Matson said he was excited about several large apartment complexes being built along Route 60 that will provide new housing and by several incoming businesses that will create good-paying jobs, including a big distiller and a high-tech defense contractor,
He also talked about things Indian River County is doing to provide or make way for more workforce housing, including making it easier to subdivide lots or build secondary dwellings, or back houses, on existing lots.
The panel was presented mainly for the benefit of realtors by White Glove Moving & Storage and moderated by the company’s director of marketing, Anna Valencia Tillery, who asked the right questions to elicit loads of interesting information from the panelists.
