DEVELOPMENT
Pete Tesch, president of the Economic Development
Council of St. Lucie County, says prominent
national developers are becoming more aware of
the benefits of locating to the Treasure Coast.
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TCBusiness.com 7
hub for food services distributor Cheney
Brothers of West Palm Beach. Another
development that will encompass almost
250,000 square feet, code named Project
Senior, should break ground by September,
Greenwalt said.
“The explosion of e-commerce and
changes in logistics handling have created
a demand for large last-mile distribution
facilities,” Greenwalt noted. “These
require a large footprint. There’s no suitable
land anywhere else in South Florida.
Port St. Lucie is the closest to the Miami
and West Palm Beach markets.
“We’re working with several Fortune
500 companies and have their stamp of
approval.”
Greenwalt said Legacy Park should
encompass 5.4 million square feet of
commercial development at build-out. He
envisages the park as being fully committed
within 18 to 24 months.
MATURING ECONOMY
Tesch said the county has reached
a point of critical mass in terms of its
economy and demographics. It has a
maturing economy. Other development
drivers include an available and capable
workforce,Tesch said, but the availability
of large parcels of affordable commercially
zoned land is the real driving force. The
EDC report noted that St. Lucie County has
the lowest industrial land costs in southeastern
Florida — at $1.50 a square foot,
compared to $6.58 in Miami and $5.00 in
Palm Beach County.
“We’re getting a lot of inquiries,” Tesch
said. “I’ve never seen anything like it.
There’s a lot of intense interest in us.”
Tesch pointed out there also is a ballooning
manufacturing and warehousing
presence a little farther north of Legacy
Park within the Tradition Jobs Corridor,
a 4-mile-long strip of land alongside the
interstate.
Wire manufacturing company Accel
International up to 150,000 square feet
and precision optical manufacturer Oculus
Surgical also have relocated to the jobs
corridor, along with lighting fixture manufacturer
Tamco/City Electric.
“So, we have a lot of big-boxes in distribution,”
Tesch said, “but advanced manufacturing
is going to become more important
here.”
FORT PIERCE GROWTH
Further north, at the intersection of
I-95 and Florida’s Turnpike in western Fort
Pierce, Interstate Crossroads Business Park
has long been a top location for distribution
and warehousing. The park is partially
built out, but there are still 132 acres left to
develop, Tesch said.
“They have very competitive pricing
relative to Tradition,” he added. “It may be
that their time is coming.” >>
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