Potential Brightline station sites in St.Lucie, Martin are getting some buzz. Check them out

Speculation has run rampant since even before Brightline announced last month it was officially beginning its search for a site — in Martin or St. Lucie county — for a train station on the Treasure Coast.

Some members of the public and developers have insisted the location already is a done deal.

"It's coming to Fort Pierce," Boardwalk on the Inlet developer Sandy Woods said at a September community meeting. "And remember, you heard it here first."

"It will be the county that has the most money, which is Martin County. These plans were in place a long time ago. Martin County fairgrounds is location/parking at flea market," Hunter Simons, of Palm City, said in an Oct. 26 Facebook comment, reacting to TCPalm's exclusive report that Brightline had begun its search.

As for Brightline itself, CEO Michael Reininger said in an October exclusive interview that no site has been chosen.

In addition to city- and county-backed applications, Brightline is open to applications from private landowners who meet its criteria. Frank Strazzulla, a Realtor with Coldwell Banker Paradise, indicated to TCPalm last week that at least one client is interested in applying.

Reininger said the company will take applications from any property owner who qualifies before it evaluates sites on the pros and cons of each.

"The whole point of the process is to open the process to creative thinking and any number of opportunities that might exist that we may not think about on our own," Reininger said.

More: Brightline launches search for Treasure Coast station site in Martin, St. Lucie

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With that in mind, what are some of the most discussed locations for a Brightline station?

King's Landing, Fort Pierce

A large multi-use development in downtown Fort Pierce, on land that was once sought by Brightline itself, could be the site of a future station.

King's Landing developer Dale Matteson, president and CEO of Audobon Development, said in an interview last month that he has been involved in meetings with Brightline and city officials.

"We had the Brightline executives in town and toured them around. Not just me, but the city of Fort Pierce, the head of Indian River State College, his team and then my company," Matteson said, indicating the meeting took place in late September or early October. "Those three entities are really joining forces to try and lure Brightline into choosing Fort Pierce instead of someplace else."

King's Landing would work for Brightline, Matteson said, because the railroad already considered developing the property before the city chose Audobon in a competitive process.

Reininger said he did not know "the specifics of the meeting" Matteson referred to, but did not deny it took place.

"We've had people, myself included, in and around the area, just doing general surveying of potential opportunities," Reininger said. "We've done it in person, we've done it on Google Earth, to study the area in its entirety."

Near the Sunrise Theatre, Fort Pierce

Another rumored location, which Matteson said also was looked at during the meeting, is a parking garage near the Sunrise Theatre.

This location would be more centrally located within downtown.

"There's another parcel that's a little further south of me that's by the Sunrise Theatre, and hence it has immediate access to US 1, and that's a good location too. Each one has their pluses and minuses," Matteson said.

King's Landing, with its luxury apartments, hotel and retail offerings, is getting built either way, Matteson said, so he would be happy with either location, as long as the station ends up in Fort Pierce.

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East Coast Lumber and Supply, Stuart

While many have floated the idea of a station in downtown Stuart, Brightline's criteria leaves that area with limited options.

Due in part to the St. Lucie River railroad bridge, which may eventually be replaced, Reininger said any station would need to be along the track south of Colorado Avenue. That leaves out most of downtown, including a location in front of Stuart City Hall that some had pointed to.

"There's a track geometry problem that creates a ... point where a station or platform could go," Reininger said.

To illustrate where a station could go in downtown, Reininger referenced another proposed location, a lumberyard just south of where the tracks meet Colorado.

"There's a lumberyard there along the railroad tracks just south of that," Reininger said. "It's right in there that the track configurations would free up and we could start to fit in a platform or a station."

Martin County Fairgrounds

Another site that has been the subject of intense speculation is the Martin County Fairgrounds.

For more than six decades, the county fair has been held at the fairgrounds on Dixie Highway.

However, the fair has been planning since at least 2019 to relocate to a new, larger fairgrounds in western Martin County. Fundraising difficulties and impacts of the COVID-19 pandemic have held up that move, however.

If the land were to become available, it would seem to meet Brightline's requirements.

Port St. Lucie?

Some also have asked why Brightline would not consider the state's sixth-largest city, Port St. Lucie.

Brightline operates along the Florida East Coast Railway corridor. Those tracks touch Port St. Lucie at only two locations on the far eastern side of the city, both of which are bounded by Savannas Preserve State Park, and neither would seem to meet Brightline's criteria.

Wicker Perlis is TCPalm's Watchdog Reporter for St. Lucie County. You can reach him at wicker.perlis@tcpalm.com and 504-331-0516.

This article originally appeared on Treasure Coast Newspapers: See the latest on possible Brightline Treasure Coast station spots