Port St. Lucie council approves first reading of stadium operating agreement for Walton and U.S. 1 site

Port St. Lucie City Council voted unanimously Oct. 20 to approve first reading of ordinance 25-67, which authorizes the mayor or her designee to execute a stadium operating agreement with the City of Port St. Lucie Community Redevelopment Agency (CRA) and Ebenezer Stadium Operations LLC for a 6,000-seat multiuse stadium on a portion of the Walton and U.S. 1 redevelopment site.

The agreement, presented at a special meeting, says the private developer will fund construction and must provide a $500,000 deposit within three days of executing the development and funding agreement, a 30-day inspection period, and a 365-day permit approval period. The developer is required to post a performance bond equal to 120 percent of the estimated total project cost; if construction is started but not finished, the city may call the bond to complete the stadium.

City staff and council members emphasized the project is privately financed. "The developer is fully responsible for funding the project," a city staff member said during the presentation. Council members also noted that CRA tax-increment financing (TIF) — not the city's general fund — is the only mechanism identified in the agreement for any future reimbursement to the developer.

Key financial and timing provisions in the operating and development agreements include an eligibility for TIF reimbursement of up to $27,500,000 over a 20-year period beginning the year after the stadium's certificate of occupancy, with an example annual reimbursement shown at about $1,375,000. The agreement conditions reimbursement on performance: if the developer never builds…