PORT ST. LUCIE — The Government Finance Corporation Board members here approved a $6 million purchase and sale agreement March 9 that will realize a years-long community goal of wooing Costco to Port St. Lucie and place the city in a select group of 13 other communities around the United States to boast both a Costco retail store and a Costco distribution center.

In 2019, while The Costco Corp. was struggling with Martin County and Stuart over its desire to build a location there, Port St. Lucie Mayor Gregory Oravec dangled a carrot in front of the company, offering it free land in Southern Grove to do so. While the company continued on and ultimately built a Stuart store, its officials did decide to locate a 1.8 million-square-foot Depot – or regional distribution center – in Tradition that is slated for completion this month.

Community Redevelopment Agency Director Jennifer Davis formally announced the addition of a retail store during the recent GFC meeting, whose Board is composed of City Council members.

“For your consideration is the purchase and sale agreement between the GFC and Costco Wholesale Corporation for 22.8 acres in Southern Grove near the southeast corner of the future Marshall Parkway and Southwest Village Parkway,” she said. “The purchase and sale agreement provides for a purchase price of $6 million or $6.04 per square foot, [and] there is a $300,000 deposit. The permitted use is for up to 170,000 square feet of retail use as a wholesale and retail general merchandise facility. The inspection period is 90 days with a 270-day development approval period.”

That P&S agreement includes some specific requirements on the part of the city as well.

“The GFC must cause, at its sole cost and expense, the construction and extension of Marshall Parkway so that a certificate of occupancy could be issued,” she added. “We also have to provide confirmation to the buyer about the utilities, water and sewer adjacent available for hookup and provide approximately 40,000 cubic yards of fill dirt that is acceptable to the buyer.”

President Shannon Martin briefly interrupted Davis’ presentation to pose a clarification question.

“Where are we at with Marshall Parkway?” she asked.

“We are almost to second lift of asphalt, so at this point, the road can be driven on,” Davis replied. “We anticipate that will be complete by the end of March. They’re working on the landscaping as well, but that’s not necessary for the road to be complete.”

“With regard to the fill, it’s already onsite, correct?” President Martin continued.

In response, Davis pointed out that the fill dirt was already been on the property for the last two years during the Costco negotiations.

“We memorialized that as part of the agreement,” she explained. “We expect some of that has been disturbed a little bit with the construction of the adjacent roadway. Once we get into the agreement, our team will make sure that the sufficient amount of fill to meet the agreement is available. If this was not something we were providing to them, we would have to haul this dirt off of the property, which would incur a cost.”

That explanation prompted additional clarification by Vice-President Jolien Caraballo,

“This is not out of the ordinary for this deal,” she said. “Almost every parcel we’ve sold in Southern Grove has had something similar to this.”

Davis agreed.

“That’s definitely not a first for us,” she said. “We have provided fill on other transactions. We’ve had roadway connections that needed to be done on others, and utilities are typically a standard caveat.”

Board Member David Pickett then expressed his gratitude that Davis and Caraballo had broached the topic.

“I just want to thank both of you for bringing this up,” he said. “As Jennifer was talking, I was making notes to make sure the key points were reviewed so that they didn’t get misconstrued. Marshall Parkway is just about done, the fill dirt’s there [and] everything you’re talking about is already in the works. It’s not something we’re giving away because it’s already there.”

Davis, in turn, addressed the requirements imposed upon the city by the P&S agreement.

“Specifically within a one-mile radius of the project, the city or the CRA would be restricted from selling any property that we own now or in the future to any of these entities,” she explained. “These would be Sam’s, BJ’s, any other retail grocery or delivery service, alcoholic beverage retail or Wal-Mart, carwash, fueling stations or tire installation.”

President Martin wrapped up the presentation with some closing remarks and a reference to a Etta James tune that the city’s elected officials have referenced and/or sung in the past.

“We should be singing At last for this, she said. “We’re super excited, and I know our residents are very, very excited. When the agenda came out last week, within minutes it was all over social media about Costco. I think there was some confusion to about whether it was actually the retail store versus the depot, but here we are. Now we are getting that retail store that we’ve been waiting so long for.”

Councilman Anthony Bonna recalled the 2019 effort that he admitted was before his election to the Board.

“I remember watching the Roll out the Red Carpet video offering them free land,” he said. “It shows how far Port St. Lucie has come. People finally recognize what we are, and this is a big day. We were fighting for Costco to come here and now they’re paying for their land and that’s a beautiful thing.”

The GFC Board then voted unanimously to approve the P&S agreement.