Fort Pierce to change direction on developing surplus property, "It's not happening"

FORT PIERCE — City officials are revamping their strategy on surplus property, with an eye towards developing more affordable housing.

In a meeting earlier this month, commissioners and City Manager Nick Mimms said the system they have used for selling off vacant city-owned property to developers simply has not been working.

"I believe the (desired) outcome was all about infill development and creating sustainable neighborhoods in the core of our city. It's not happening," Mimms told commissioners. "We don't have any vertical construction, so I believe we need to pivot a little bit. We need to look in another direction."

No vertical construction in the last three years

According to a staff presentation, the city has sold 15 properties since 2021. Of the eight sold in 2021, three have laid a concrete foundation in order to meet city deadlines, and one is in progress of laying its foundation. None of them, nor any of the seven sold in the last six months, have seen vertical construction.

The city has 44 other developable properties under its control, including properties owned by the Fort Pierce Redevelopment Authority. The new direction would be for selling those properties.

Two options for future surplus lots

Mimms and staff presented two options for that new direction. First, the city could simply sell the properties to the highest bidder. Second, the city could build on the properties before selling them to buyers.

Both plans came with pros and cons, Mayor Linda Hudson said. With the first plan, she saw a low burden for city staff, but a risk that nothing would be built. With the second plan, construction was guaranteed, but it could be a heavy lift for staff.

City getting into the construction business?

Commissioner Michael Broderick said he is hesitant to get the city into the construction business, but he sees no other path forward.

"I am not a huge fan of government getting into construction, and things of that nature," Broderick said. "However, in this instance, I'm coming down on the side of government becoming involved because the private sector has failed."

Sticking with the status quo is not an option, Broderick said.

"I agree that the program has obviously failed. Let's call it for what it is, and I think everybody's acknowledging that," Broderick said.

Commissioner Jeremiah Johnson could not bring himself to support option two. One of his primary concerns was the city getting saddled with an unsold property. He pointed to the fact that developers have not been eager to build on the properties the city has sold to them.

"I don't know what's the driving force behind it not being developed, and so I'm struggling with the idea that we then create a product that I'm not sure the market is going to embrace, and I'm worried about that," Johnson said.

Somewhere in the middle sat Commissioner Arnold Gaines, who said he did not want to commit to building on all of the surplus properties, but that he would like to see it tried with at least one to start.

"Let's see what one house would do," Gaines said. "If a house is built by us at the right price, somebody is going to get that house. I'm not that worried about us being stuck with a house. That's just me."

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Taking a trial run

Ultimately, Broderick, Gaines and Hudson voiced support for starting construction on one house as a trial run. Johnson said he still could not support it but said it would be "an interesting experiment."

Mimms said that was enough to give his staff guidance to move forward.

"We'll move forward with option one. Try one for option two, but the remainder will be option one and we'll press ahead," Mimms said.

If success is seen in the one house built under option two, those lots for sale under option one could be taken off the market in order for homes to be constructed, Mimms indicated.

Wicker Perlis is TCPalm's Watchdog Reporter for St. Lucie County. You can reach him at wicker.perlis@tcpalm.com and 504-331-0516.

This article originally appeared on Treasure Coast Newspapers: City decides to try building affordable housing, starting with one home