City officials and industry stakeholders are optimistic the Port St. Lucie Sports Club stadium will spur development at Walton & One.
Watch PSL mayor announce professional soccer teams and stadium
The stadium is to be built on a 6-acre site at the Walton & One development.
- The Port St. Lucie Sports Club stadium is set to be the centerpiece of Walton & One.
- The stadium is estimated to generate $117 million in employment and capital investment after its first operational year.
- Economic studies have shown a mixed relationship between sports complexes and economic growth.
PORT ST. LUCIE — Will a soccer stadium be the ball that gets the Walton & One development rolling?
The Port St. Lucie Sports Club stadium, a plan unveiled Oct. 13, is set to be the centerpiece of Walton & One, a planned mixed-use development spanning 46 acres near MidFlorida Credit Union Event Center.
“This partnership will serve as a catalyst for growth and opportunity across our city, St. Lucie County and the entire Treasure Coast region,” City Mayor Shannon Martin said Oct. 13, when the stadium was unveiled to the public.
City officials since 2001 have tried unsuccessfully to jump start a quasi-downtown at Walton Road and U.S. 1, the area now rebranded as Walton & One and formerly City Center. One previous developer defaulted on loans for the project because of the Great Recession. Another was charged with defrauding investors.
Estimated economic impact
The stadium, which would host professional United Soccer League games and recreational leagues, is estimated to generate up to more than $117 million in employment and capital investment after its first operational year, according to a 2024 forecast by the Economic Development Council of St. Lucie County.
At an estimated $50 million to build, construction of the stadium would have a one-time $79.2 million economic impact on the local economy, with $25.4 million of that being wages, according to forecasts.
When it’s up and running, the stadium would generate an annual $38.6 million impact on the local economy, resulting from 180 full-time positions at the stadium and 52 full-time team jobs, with average salaries of $39,245 and $59,810, respectively, according to the 2024 EDC projections.
The forecast, however, “does not reflect the project as it is moving forward right now,” EDC spokesperson Maureen Saltzer said in a statement. “The project has continued to develop and change.”
More-recent economic forecasts are under a confidentiality agreement between the city and developer, city spokesperson Scott Samples said.
The New York Mets’ spring training at Clover Park, by comparison, generates $30 million to $39 million annually for St. Lucie County, according to a 2023 economic-impact study. During that year, there was about $2.6 million from ticket revenue, $834,709 from merchandise sales and about $1.5 million from concessions and catering.
A magnet for Walton & One
The stadium would be a magnet for visitors to watch professional soccer games, play recreational soccer, stay in nearby hotels and dine at restaurants, said Rick Hatcher, CEO of Play Treasure Coast Sports Tourism, formerly the Treasure Coast Sports Commission.
“Looking at economic impact, it comes through so many avenues,” Hatcher said in an interview, referring to the stadium. “You get this step, and it’s going to lead to other development. It’s going to enhance that area around the stadium and the MidFlorida Event Center.”
A hotel would be the first component of Walton & One, said Jennifer Davis, director of the Port St. Lucie Community Redevelopment Agency.
In an artist’s rendering, stadium developer Ebenezer Holdings — an investment group consisting of Gustavo Suárez, Paulo Suárez and Agostina Galimberti — shows two condominium towers adjacent to the stadium. City officials said the rendering is conceptual only.
The city plans to reimburse the Ebenezer group up to $27.5 million using tax-increment financing. No existing taxpayer money would be used.
The city retains ownership of the land, while Ebenezer has the right to build the stadium and has the option to purchase the land in the future. The city, if it still owns the land, can regain full control of the stadium if Ebenezer does not fulfil its obligations, according to the city’s website.
The city and the Community Redevelopment Agency are pursuing additional private development within Walton & One, including residential and commercial projects, according to the website.
Economists give subsidized sporting a yellow card
Although publicly funded stadiums create a sense of civic pride, evidence is mixed on whether municipalities see a return on their investment by investing in sporting complexes, economists have found, especially for major league professional sports.
New stadiums are “as likely to reduce taxable sales as to increase them,” according to a 2008 study by the Southern Economic Association, which examined taxable sales in Florida from 1980-2005, a period that brought professional football, baseball, basketball and hockey teams to the state.
For Major League Soccer specifically, a 2015 study conducted by Kansas State University found no relationship between a successful sports stadium and local economic impact. Stadiums and their franchises had no significant impact on local employment or income, the study found.
“In most cases, stadiums do not provide a positive economic impact to the cities that subsidize them,” the study found. “This does not mean that all stadiums are economic disasters.”
Jack Randall is TCPalm’s economy and real estate reporter. You can reach him at jack.randall@tcpalm.com.
