Developer of medical offices to buy 6-acre parcel in Tradition

A Tampa developer offered the city $1.6 million for a 6-acre lot in Tradition Commerce Center where it plans to erect a 60,000-square-foot medical office and retail building.

The Port St. Lucie City Council Monday authorized City Manager Russ Blackburn to sign a purchase and sale agreement with Brightwork Acquisitions for the lot on the southeast corner of Village Parkway and Discovery Way.

Brightwork Acquisitions will immediately make a $10,000 down payment and have a 75-day due diligence period to back out of the deal, the agreement says.

The deal was arranged by Tambone Companies of Palm Beach Gardens, which partnered with the city to market 84 acres of city-owned land in Tradition Commerce Center. Tambone Companies and the city will split the proceeds after covering closing costs, records show.

If the sale goes through, the city will save about $29,000 in annual carrying costs on the land, including property taxes and assessments, records show.

Brightwork Acquisitions focuses on developing medical and retail buildings, Ross Kirchman, a partner, told the council.

“We’re very bullish on Tradition and what’s going on with Cleveland Clinic,” Kirchman said. “Their plans here are just tremendous for the medical demand that will create as well as the residential growth.”

Brightwork Acquisitions wants to build multi-story medical buildings, but so far the market has not absorbed those, Kirchman said. “There is some other medical in the market that is multi story that has some vacancy,” Kirchman said. “We’re going to monitor that. Ideally, we’d like to do some multi-story.”

Mayor Greg Oravec has repeatedly said he wants to see multi-story buildings in the commerce center along Interstate 95 between Becker Road and Tradition Parkway.

“We already have preliminary interest from medical groups so we have to build something on Day One,” Kirchman said after the meeting. “It will most likely be a phased project.”