ST. LUCIE COUNTY — Further details emerged about the Costco distribution depot here in Port St. Lucie as county commissioners voted Tuesday on tax breaks to help bring the company to Southern Grove.
The city on Monday approved a $16 million land sale and similar tax incentives as the project — code-named Project Everest — was revealed to be the Costco facility that will relocate from West Palm Beach.
Commissioners unanimously approved tax breaks Tuesday identical to those passed by the city. In years one through five, the company would be exempt from all ad valorem county taxes. In the sixth year that exemption drops to 90%, then to 80% in year seven, 60% in year eight, 40% in year nine and 20% in year 10.
The county also agreed to give Costco a five-year grant of $2,100 per new employee. The city gave an additional $3,500-per-new-job impact and mobility fee waiver.
235 employees in first year
The promised hiring schedule — which the company will be required to meet to not risk losing those incentives — was revealed by county staff. In the first year after opening, Costco will hire 235 full-time employees. It will then add 15 employees in both years three and four. Groundbreaking is expected in the next six months and be complete about a year later, Jennifer Davis, director of the city Community Redevelopment Agency, said Monday.
Negotiations were led primarily by the Economic Development Council of St. Lucie County, said County Attorney Daniel McIntyre. The Economic Development Council, city and county had kept the eventual occupant of nearly 200 acres along Interstate 95 a closely held secret, as state law allows for major economic development projects, until earlier this week.
The average wage for the 265 full-time employees at the depot, $55,350 plus benefits, will be about 121% higher than the county-wide average, Wes McCurry, senior vice president of the EDC, said Tuesday.
McCurry and Commission Chair Cathy Townsend thanked county voters for approving referendums that fund economic-development work.
"You voted for this to happen within our county," Townsend said.
Local incentives are critical
The state does not provide many of the same benefits as other states, so local support is vital, McCurry said.
"That is truly important because the economic-development landscape is very competitive. A lot of states offer incentives that, frankly, our state — at a state level — does not offer, so economic development in our area is truly a local effort," McCurry said.
Incentives such as those given to Costco should be seen as an investment, Commissioner Chris Dzadovsky said.
"We are not about giving cash giveaways," Dzadovsky said. "This is about when we give an incentive that there is a return on that investment, and they're required to meet those requirements."
Project is nearly 200 acres
About 133 acres of the site, was purchased by JDN Enterprises, a company affiliated with Sansone Group. Sansone had already purchased an adjacent property from the city in 2022. That land had previously been set aside for another code-named project, Project Apron. However, city officials have indicated that Project Apron will no longer be built there. The 133 acres will be combined with Project Apron to create the approximately 192-acre Project Everest lot, the largest in the city's Southern Grove "jobs corridor."
All of this will be just phase one of the Costco facility, according to a news release sent Wednesday by the EDC.
"The global company’s Port St. Lucie depot will ultimately include two facilities totaling 1.87 million square feet and employing more than 500," according to the release.
The first phase consists of a 595,000-square-foot cold and dry storage facility. The second phase includes a 1 milllion-square-foot dry goods distribution center. There are also two future expansion areas of 60,000 square feet for cold storage and 147,500 square feet for dry storage included in plans submitted to the city.
More:Costco in Port St. Lucie? Here are five things to know about the distribution depot
More:Costco plans to move distribution center to Port St. Lucie from West Palm Beach
Conversations about bringing the Costco depot to Southern Grove began in August, said Jeff Greenwalt, national director of industrial development for Sansone.
"I called Jennifer Davis and said, 'Hey, we have an opportunity, but we need to move very quickly,'" Greenwalt said.
The project moving from West Palm Beach marks a growing trend, according to Commissioner Larry Leet. As companies look to locate between Central and South Florida, Port St. Lucie becomes a natural choice, he argued.
"The airport has been known as the gateway to the Bahamas, and now the city is becoming known as the gateway to South Florida," Leet said.
Wicker Perlis is TCPalm's Watchdog Reporter for St. Lucie County. You can reach him at wicker.perlis@tcpalm.com.
