Deadlines OK, but Vero Beach City Council better get it right with Three Corners project

In late November, the Vero Beach City Council agreed to give Colliers, the real estate firm seeking developers for the Three Corners project, 45 more days (from Dec. 15 to Feb. 1) to obtain more development proposals.

It was a no-brainer due to newly interested developers and holiday schedules.

On Tuesday, the council is expected to get an update.

Two things it should make clear:

• There should be multiple proposals that include creative, useful ways to repurpose the retired power plant and/or one of the old water tanks on the site. Uniqueness and character are critical to making the three corners the city owns at Indian River Boulevard and 17th Street a top-notch destination.

• In this project, certain delays are to be expected, and accepted. Deadlines in major projects like this are imperfect.

Build something worthy of Vero Beach brand

Dodgertown golf controversy: What's with Vero Beach, Indian River selling park properties?

Andres Duany begins: Here's early glimpse at world-renowned planner's take on Vero Beach's Three Corners

Sentiment in January 2020: Urban planner knocks three corners plan 'out of park;' too bad we can't use it soon

Yes, it's possible: Is seeing believing? Ex-Vero Beach manager didn't envision power plant potential

This is, after all, the only time the city will take a prime piece of property, shutter power and sewer plants, have residents devise a vision for the future, have an economist say it's viable, get the vision passed at a referendum, then try to find a developer to execute the plan.

At 38 acres, much of it on the Indian River Lagoon, it is a once-in-a-lifetime opportunity that could take hundreds of millions of dollars in private investment to create a destination for residents and tourists alike.

If it’s not done right, it will be a disaster that cannot be fixed.

If done right, it could, as Mayor John Cotugno likes to say, enhance Vero Beach’s fine brand.

In other words, the more and better the developers that pitch proposals to the city, the better.

In 2020 after urban planner Andres Duany’s design was unveiled to a standing ovation, I reached out to hotel developer Richard Kessler, whose Plant Riverside District in Savannah, Georgia, showed preserving the Vero Beach power plant had potential.

Kessler Collection, power plant equate to 'Very Vero'

Vero Beach is not Savannah, but the bones of the Hibiscus City’s power plant, as Duany and others showed, would be a great attraction as part of a hotel, conference center, entertainment complex, etc.

Kessler’s company, the Kessler Collection, has turned former power and bottling plants, a funeral home, courthouse and other buildings into unique world-class destinations.

Getting an operator with Kessler's excellence here would be, as the old real estate slogan once said, “Very Vero.”

Back in 2020, Kessler told me he’d want an exclusive contract for a year to make the investment of time and money to review details of a potential project.

I don’t know whether he will try to work on the Three Corners. Colliers said last month it had 39 “current prospects,” including Kessler, and expected 12 to 14 to make a proposal to the city.

I hope those 12 to 14 are far better than what Colliers lured to the city after getting a contract in 2016 to sell the city’s former Dodgertown golf course.

Colliers, city couldn't connect on plans to develop old Dodgertown golf course

See Colliers presentation: Marketing company city hires for Three Corners project outlines its efforts

In 2017, the city opted not to sell the land to a developer who proposed 280 homes on 35 acres at 43^rd Avenue and 26^th Street.

An antsy city council in 2018 nearly sold it to a Lakeland developer as part of a mixed-use project. After heated debate, Indian River County bought it in 2019 for a park and parking area for what is now known as Major League Baseball’s Jackie Robinson Training Complex.

History shows prudence pays off.

After 15 years, Fort Pierce continues to patiently wait for walls to go up at the 7-acre site of its former power plant downtown. It took Fort Pierce multiple tries to get the developer it wanted.

That's OK. This is a marathon, not a sprint.

And while one council member has been focused his entire working life on meeting deadlines as an engineer, he and other council members have the luxury now of representing all of us — as owners.

All of us want something on the site as soon as possible.

In the Three Corners case, it would make sense to delay by weeks or months to get the best prospects to yield the best projects, company reputations, financial ability, likelihood of success.

We don't want schlock. We want the best we can have, something commensurate with the reputation Vero Beach has built in its 105 years of existence. Half good is no good.

After all, the city's reputation will be on the line.

This column reflects the opinion of Laurence Reisman. Contact him via email at larry.reisman@tcpalm.com, phone at 772-978-2223, Facebook.com/larryreisman or Twitter @LaurenceReisman.

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This article originally appeared on Treasure Coast Newspapers: Dodgertown folly shows importance of prudence, Vero Beach brand, vision