A new $310 million factory could improve St. Lucie’s jobs market, though budgetary and pollution risks stand in its way.
County Commissioners unanimously approved Project Orchid to set up shop in unincorporated St. Lucie Aug. 19. This allowed for the construction of a new heavy manufacturing facility in rural land between Interstate 95 and Orange Avenue.
Project Orchid is the codename of an as-yet-unidentified South American window and aluminum manufacturer with an office in Miami. They will be able to build a St. Lucie plant with approximately $310 million of county money, documents say.
The new factory will be situated on 1.3 million square feet of land just south of an I-95 overpass. A $170 million investment would go toward building the plant itself with the remaining $140 million going “toward equipment,” said St. Lucie Planning & Development Director Ben Balcer, AICP.
St. Lucie stipulated that Project Orchid hire 1,005 workers over the next eight years. The agreement requires the manufacturer to meet yearly hiring quotas giving work that pays at least $28.48 per hour, or “116 percent” of the average county wage.
The company will have to hire 80 workers in each of its first two years. The quotas will rise to 120 jobs for each of the next two years; 150 each in years five through seven; and 155 in year eight.
The county organized this quota through a Job Growth Investment Program (JGIG) established Feb. 17. Through the program, St. Lucie can award Project Orchid up to a cumulative $2.01 million over all eight years. If the firm fails to meet “85 percent” of their yearly quota, they will forfeit the award.
Construction on the Project Orchid plant itself would generate approximately 852 jobs and $207 million in labor output, Balcer estimated. The manufacturers themselves could possibly generate as many as 1,953 jobs and produce nearly $559 million in output over the coming decade.
“The project is significant because of both projected capital investment and overall job creation,” Balcer said before the commission. He reiterated the job quota remained the same as their timeline changed from five years to eight in discussions since February.
The factory would also be fully exempt from property taxes for the first five years of operation, said Balcer. These would decrease to 90 percent by year six before declining another 5 percent each subsequent year before the decade ends.
Project Orchid would take up residence in a work corridor still recovering from Hurricane Milton, which unleashed a tornado there nearly two years earlier. Other factories and warehouses have since either been rebuilt or demolished.
Looking for a new factory there was a topic Commissioner Larry Leet aired after Balcer’s presentation. He addressed scrutiny he and the board faced when discussing potential candidates for job growth subsidies.
“We don’t let them just come in and take our money,” Leet said. “This year, I think we’ve had to stop three different companies from getting the mitigation. So, it is monitored by us. We are upping the ante for them coming in.”
Added Leet: “They do have to qualify, and there’s an incentive to try and be competitive with the other communities in the area. Since that time, we have (restricted) the incentive and made it better for the constituents. It’s not a free ride coming in, but an incentive for job growth.”
Commissioner James Clasby foretold of some friction with the plan. “I look at everything through the lens of Amendment 3 at this point,” he said of impending legislation on the ballot. State Amendment 3, were it to pass by a 60 percent vote in November, would raise property tax cuts significantly.
That could also lead to the county enduring a “catastrophic reduction in revenue,” added Clasby, that would leave St. Lucie in arrears toward the 10-year Project Orchid deal. “What’s the legal ramifications for that? Can they sue us? Do we have to pay them?”
“We wouldn’t have the money all up front,” said interim County Administrator Mayte Santamaria to Clasby. “We’d have to budget it year-by-year.”
There could also be potential environmental concerns as the project builds out in unused rural land. The manufacturer has already faced opposition toward building a plant in the Southern U.S., specifically near Atlanta. At least three Change.org petitions gathered a combined 3,308 signatures since March to oppose a factory in Jefferson, Ga. The public outcry caused Project Orchid to withdraw setting up a 158-acre facility there by July 21, according to Jefferson city records. None of the petitioners replied to requests for comment.
The County Commission last approved Project Orchid establishing a St. Lucie Plant 4-0 May 19. Commissioner Cathy Townsend was absent.