Martin County to issue RFP for Palm City redevelopment site with $3 million minimum bid

County staff told the Community Redevelopment Agency advisory board that an RFP to sell and redevelop a county-owned Palm City property will be sent to the streets once the Board of County Commissioners approves the RFP on its agenda.

Susan Corres of the Office of Community Development said the board will consider approving the RFP tomorrow; staff intends to release the solicitation soon after. Corres said the county will require a minimum proposal of $3,000,000; proposals below that threshold will be disqualified and proposals above that threshold will receive scoring points in the selection process.

Corres described the site: the county purchased roughly $4,000,000 worth of land last year that totals a little over 6 acres; about four of those acres are developable while the remainder is reserved for Public Works stormwater work tied to Danforth Creek. She said prior development concepts that the community opposed were revised and the RFP will include new design criteria, such as increasing setbacks beyond the corridor subdistrict zoning and capping building height at two stories even though existing code permits three.

Selection will be handled by a committee that scores proposals and forwards recommendations to the Board of County Commissioners, Corres said. If the board approves the RFP, staff said it could be released in a matter of weeks; after that point staff said they will be limited in discussing proposals until the selection process is complete.

Corres said the revised RFP aims to reflect community input collected through the Palm City NAC and that the selection criteria will reward proposals that align with the updated design expectations.