It’s back to the drawing board for Port St. Lucie’s efforts to develop a restaurant overlooking the St. Lucie River on the southern end of the Riverwalk extension.
The City Council Monday directed City Manager Russ Blackburn to figure out how to develop a waterfront restaurant in the city park under construction on Westmoreland Boulevard.
The council also asked Blackburn to hire a project manager to oversee the development of a “showcase park” alongside the city’s Botanical Gardens featuring a historic village and a state-of-the-art playground.
The council members put the burden for developing the park and restaurant on Blackburn after talks collapsed with the lone restaurateur to respond to the city’s call for bids.
“I already feel like we’ve been at it for three years and we should have greater progress,” said Mayor Greg Oravec. “We’ve had some starts and stops with the project. It’s been a circuitous path.”
In addition, the council asked Blackburn to try to enlist the city’s retail and restaurant consultant to contact restaurant operators about what it would take for them to consider setting up shop on the Riverwalk.
Councilwoman Jolien Caraballo suggested “doing a restaurant-developer invite to come to the site because I believe a large issue is people don’t know it’s there.”
The waterfront restaurant is a key component in the city’s plans to develop a park on 20 acres on Westmoreland Boulevard, south of Port St. Lucie Boulevard. The goal is to create a destination that will attract people from throughout the city and neighboring communities.
Salty4Eleven LLC, operators of the Original Tiki Bar and Cobb’s Landing in downtown Fort Pierce, bailed out of talks to build, lease and operate the Riverwalk restaurant because the deal was “too expensive.”
“At this time, they do not feel that it would make financial sense for them to move forward with this project, unless the city would be willing to construct the building,” said W. Lee Dobbins, a lawyer representing Salty4Eleven, in a March 11 letter to the city. “My client would provide a more standard buildout (furniture, fixtures and equipment) for the restaurant.” It would cost about $2.6 million to build the restaurant, Dobbins said. That doesn’t include additional costs to truck in fill for the foundation and pay impact fees to local governments.
Salty4Eleven pays rent to the City of Fort Pierce for the Original Tiki Bar and Cobb’s Landing based on a percentage of their sales, Dobbins said.
But Blackburn said the city wants to lease the ground to a partner that would build and operate the restaurant.
Salty4Eleven responded to the city’s solicitation on Sept. 30, 2018, exactly 10 months after the responses were due, city records show.
It was the only response to the city’s Oct. 31, 2017 letter of interest seeking bids and proposals to build, lease and operate a waterfront park in “a showcase park” on the banks of the St. Lucie River.
Salty4Eleven’s principals are Donna Qvarnstrom-Burke and Diego Larroude, state records show.
The city is in the process of hiring an architect to design the riverfront park and playground, city records show.
The goal is to develop “an amazing multi-purpose family park (that will) reflect the natural elements of the adjacent preserve, the beauty of the adjacent North Fork of the St. Lucie River, and adjacent historical structures.”
The historic village will center on the Peacock House and Peacock Lodge, which have been relocated to the Westmoreland Boulevard site and will be renovated in several years. The park plans also include a boardwalk stage, an event lawn, restrooms, kayak launches and boat docks.
The city is seeking bids for the construction of the Riverwalk Boardwalk extension from Bridge Plaza south to the park on Westmoreland Boulevard, Blackburn said. Construction on the $3 million project is expected to start in June.
Next year the city will complete the missing link in the Riverwalk beneath Port St. Lucie Boulevard and connect the Veterans Memorial Park to the Westmoreland Boulevard park.
