A 200-Acre Fort Pierce Site Went From Surf Park Plans to a Data Center Proposal. Here Is What the Delay Means

A rezoning request for roughly 200 acres at 10050 W. Midway Road in Fort Pierce, land previously approved for a residential area and surf park, is on hold after the city’s planning board tabled it to a date uncertain in September. The applicant, Willow Lakes, LLC, is seeking to rezone 174 acres from Planned Development to I-1 Light Industrial, with a data center contemplated, and 26 acres of road frontage to C-3 General Commercial. No end user, building size or power requirement has been disclosed.

What happened at the hearing

The application was tabled at the applicant’s request after a contentious meeting in which residents raised concerns about strain on water and power resources, limited job creation and health effects. The board then voted unanimously on two motions directing city staff to research the impacts of data centers and to recommend a new zoning category for them. The item is expected to return once that work is done and new public notices are issued. A subsequent official disposition had not been confirmed for this article.

Why a new zoning category matters

Most Florida codes treat a data center as a variety of light industrial or utility use. Creating a separate category would let Fort Pierce set specific standards for power, water, noise, setbacks and location, which could make approvals more predictable over time. In the short run, it adds a step, and land whose value depends on a data center use carries more uncertainty until the rules are written. Martin County, to the south, is moving in a similar direction, with a first hearing on October 13 on a temporary pause on large data center applications in its unincorporated area.

The market context

St. Lucie County has absorbed more new industrial development than any other county on the Treasure Coast, much of it large distribution space in Port St. Lucie and along I-95. Colliers puts Treasure Coast vacancy at about 12%, with roughly 1.3 million square feet still under construction. In that environment, 174 acres of conventional light industrial land would add to an already substantial supply. A data center would use the land very differently, consuming large amounts of power while employing relatively few people, which is part of why the proposal has drawn scrutiny.

What this means for you

If you own large acreage in St. Lucie County, value it on the uses the code clearly permits today, and treat a data center as a possibility that depends on rules not yet written and on power that must be confirmed in writing. If you are considering an industrial site near Midway Road, track this application, since a 174-acre rezoning would change the competitive landscape around it. If you are a conventional industrial tenant, the existing pipeline already gives you meaningful choice.

AXCESS Commercial follows these decisions for Treasure Coast owners and buyers, and leases, lists for sale and manages industrial land and buildings throughout St. Lucie County.

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