FORT PIERCE, Fla. — At least three locations — including competing proposals in Fort Pierce — have applied to become home of Brightline’s planned intermediate “Treasure Coast” station on its route between West Palm Beach and Orlando, the TC Palm newspaper reports.
Brightline announced in October that it was accepting proposals for a new station in St. Lucie or Martin counties [see “Brightline launches process to add station …,” Trains News Wire, Oct. 26, 2023]. Those proposals were due on Friday, Dec. 22. The company’s request for proposals said it anticipated selecting a station site in the first quarter of 2024, with permitting in 2025, construction beginning in 2026, and service starting in 2028.
A proposal from Stuart, Fla., calls for a $60 million downtown station, the TC Palm reports. The city, Martin County, and Brightline would share the cost, with the city and county contributing $45 million. The county would donate the site to the city, which would then lease it to Brigthline at $1 a year for 80 years. The city and county have begun seeking state and federal funding to offset the cost.
The 2.4-acre site, currently used as a parking lot, would be used for an approximately 9,000-square-foot station and a parking structure with 200 to 450 spaces.
The proposals in Fort Pierce come from the city and from a private developer, the newspaper reports.
The city’s proposal calls for a station on 2.37 acres on South Depot Drive — near the past site of a passenger station. It calls for the city to borrow $20 million to finance the project, which would include adding two floors to an existing parking garage. A city presentation is available here.
Also filing a proposal was Audubon Development, which is behind a $155 million downtown mixed-used project, Kings Landing. Audubon would build the station and charge Brightline $1 a year for its use, Audubon CEO Dale Matteson told the TC Palm; he declined to say state the cost to build the facility, which would also include a museum, a culinary school, 100 luxury apartments, and 465 parking spaces.
Brightline declined to say how many station proposals it had received by Friday’s deadline, the paper said.
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