The Sansone Group
One of the impediments in bringing higher-paying jobs to St. Lucie County had been the lack of the type of business parks and facilities many of these employers require. The Sansone Group, a nationally prominent industrial and commercial land developer, is helping change that.
The Sansone Group is investing millions of dollars to build out the infrastructure for the commerce park at Becker Road and Interstate 95, as well as building at least two “spec” buildings to house long-term industrial tenants looking for a location they don’t need to construct from the ground up.
Construction began in April 2021 for a FedEx Ground Regional Sortation Center, the first employer at Legacy Park at Tradition. The investment being made in the FedEx facility and equipment is about $44 million and the company committed to creating at least 450 jobs. FedEx job fairs attracted hundreds of local applicants when the facility opened in November 2021.
In addition, Cheney Brothers is currently building a $65 million facility and will employ more than 275 people at wages that are 145% of the county’s average pay.
The tax abatement program was a very important component in these two companies’ decisions to locate in St. Lucie County. Without the abatement, due mostly to the high Community Development District, Special Assessment District, and stormwater assessments due on Southern Grove properties, the overall project costs are not competitive with other options such as the nearby Jupiter Park of Commerce. And, until these properties change hands from city ownership to private ownership, it’s Port St. Lucie’s taxpayers who foot the bill for those assessments.
At build-out, Legacy Park will have 5.4 million square feet of Class A light industrial and distribution facilities and is expected to employ more than 2,500 people with a payroll exceeding $100 million but that can only happen if the costs are competitive. The tax abatement plays an important part in balancing out these costs.
Currently, the taxes and assessments being paid on these properties (by Port St, Lucie taxpayers) is $141,034.61, now that FedEx is complete, the taxes paid for just that one facility are many times in excess of that amount, even with the tax abatement.