Hobe Sound focus of new development push

The ride on Bridge Road from Jupiter Island to I-95 is just over eight miles. If you’ve taken that ride recently, you may have noticed a number of yellow Martin County proposed development signs. How many exactly? There are eight. That averages out to one development sign per mile.

If, instead of driving up the ramp to I-95, you continue just a bit further and look to your left after you go under the Florida Turnpike, you’ll see one more.
That last sign represents the beginning of the process to bring something that is quite unusual to Martin County – a Development of Regional Impact (DRI) known as “Hobe Grove.”

According to the state Department of Community Affairs a DRI is “... any development which, because of its character, magnitude, or location would have a substantial effect upon the health, safety, or welfare of citizens of more than one county.” Developments of Regional Impact are often described as large-scale developments that are likely to have regional effects beyond the local government jurisdiction in which they are located. They are anticipated to significantly impact local and or regional infrastructure, such as roadways, sewer systems and potable water.

In the mid 1990’s, Mobil Land Development Company proposed the SeaWind project to be located on the west side of U.S. just north of Hobe Sound. It included approximately 7,500 housing units along with commercial space. The project was rejected in its original form. More recently, in June of 2009, a DRI proposal for Indiantown that was expected to generate 2,250 housing units, 150,000 square feet of commercial space, a school/civic center site and parks was abandoned by its developers.

Martin County’s newest DRI, “Hobe Grove,” took its first steps in the development process on February 16 when it met with the Treasure Coast Regional Planning Council (TCRPC) for a pre-application conference.

The 2,832 acres of citrus groves that make up the proposed development is owned by the Vero Beach based Becker family, and it has been in citrus production under the Becker family since 1983.

The proposal that is being put forth for Hobe Grove includes 4,300 housing units, 3.9 million square feet of space that can accommodate research facilities, offices, and educational institutions. It includes 650,000 square feet of retail/commercial space in a town center. Since the land is located outside Martin County’s urban service district, the plan calls for the project to have its own stand-alone urban service district.

Much of the property surrounding the Hobe Grove acreage is publicly purchased conservation – environmental land. It includes portions of the taxpayer-funded purchases made under the Save our Rivers program and the Atlantic Ridge purchase.

Project officials compared the project, in both size and its live/work design, to Tradition in St. Lucie County and Abacoa in Palm Beach County.
By comparison with areas of Martin County, the proposed 4,300 homes for Hobe Grove make it just about half the size of the City of Stuart, which has 8,777 living units.

At the TCRPC meeting, it was announced that two large companies and two major universities have expressed interest in the project. However, officials for Hobe Grove said the names of the companies and the educational institutions could not be released at this time.

According to Tom Hurley, a Becker grandson and current CEO of the family’s business enterprise, the effects of the 2004 hurricanes and subsequent bouts of citrus canker and greening disease have reduced production.

“If you look at the groves, you’ll see dead trees,” Mr. Hurley said. “After the hurricanes and diseases we needed to come up with something else for the property. I am sure that you all know of Governor’s Scott’s push to bring businesses and economic development to Florida. We want to be in a position to have a competitive site to fit the needs of the governor’s recruiting efforts, and to take advantage of the state monies that will be available.”

Hobe Grove has already put together a development team that is led by Sasaki Associates, an urban planning group based in Boston.

Mr. Hurley is hoping that the project will begin the early stages of construction sometime in 2012. But, he envisions that complete build out would not occur until 2031.

“Houses will come later,” Mr. Hurley said. “The first phases of the project would concentrate on building the institutions that would bring jobs. Once the jobs are here then we would begin work on the housing for the people who have those jobs.”

A summary of the TCRPC pre-application meeting will be available to the public by mid March. After a second application meeting and the actual submittal of a DRI application, the TCRPC will make a recommendation to the Martin County Board of County Commissioners and the project will begin making its way through the Martin County development process.

In addition to Hobe Grove and the other developments proposed on Bridge Road, several commercial developments are planned on U.S.1 in the Hobe Sound area.