City, Audubon Development file proposals for a Brightline station in Fort Pierce
FORT PIERCE — The city and a major downtown developer have submitted proposals to host a Brightline station here, two days after the city of Stuart and Martin County filed a joint bid for a station in downtown Stuart.
Fort Pierce and Audubon Development — which is building the $155 million King's Landing project downtown —both met Brightline's 5 p.m. Friday deadline.
According to its proposal, Fort Pierce would borrow $20 million to build the station on 2.37 acres along South Depot Drive, running behind the Sunrise Theatre and along the tracks between Orange Avenue and the county-owned parking garage. That includes $6 million to add two floors to the garage at South Second Street and Boston Avenue, officials said.
"I'm excited about it," said Fort Pierce Mayor Linda Hudson Friday evening after the submission. "I'm excited about the location, the promenade ...."
The site is close to the location of an earlier train station, Hudson said.
"It's just perfect," she added.
Like Stuart and Martin County, Fort Pierce would look for grants to offset its $20 million cost, Hudson said.
Estimated cost of the joint proposal by Stuart and Martin County is $60 million.
Wrench in the works?
The city owns all of the proposed site except for one parcel, Hudson said. It's unclear if that could jeopardize the city's plans.
Brightline initially said only proposals from current property owners and those that have property under contract would be considered.
But, Hudson said, "We have a willing seller" of the unowned parcel.
Included in Fort Pierce's 103-page proposal is a letter from property owner Irving Matthews, affirming his willingness to negotiate sale of his land to the city.
Unlike the Stuart City and Martin County commissions, the Fort Pierce City Commission did not vote on the station proposal before submitting it. The commission would vote only if Brightline chooses Fort Pierce, officials said.
Audubon Development's plan
Audubon Development, which recently broke ground on the King's Landing mixed-use project, would build the project and charge Brightline $1 per year, president and CEO Dale Matteson said.
He declined, however, to say how much the station would cost.
The station would be on 2 acres west of Second Street, adjacent to King's Landing.
"But it's more than a train stop," Matteson said.
It would include an aspect of Indian River State College's culinary school, a museum, 100 luxury apartments and 465 parking spaces, Matteson said.
Proposals and timeline for development
Brightline officials declined to say how many proposals met Friday's 5 p.m. deadline.
More: Fort Pierce officials want Brightline now, but passed on an earlier deal to get a station
More: Martin County, Stuart officially submit application for Brightline station in downtown Stuart
Brightline is expected to make a choice, or trim the list of applicants, in the first quarter of next year. It may negotiate with more than one applicant.
Construction would start in 2026 and a station would open in 2028, officials have said.
Keith Burbank is a watchdog reporter for TCPalm, usually covering Martin County. He can be reached at keith.burbank@tcpalm.com.
This article originally appeared on Treasure Coast Newspapers: Brightline gets bids for rail stop in Fort Pierce from city, developer
