ST. LUCIE COUNTY — After facing months of delays, the highly anticipated Buc-ee’s travel center planned near Interstate 95 in St. Lucie County is beginning to move forward, county officials said.
“So the developer that is handling the Buc-ee’s project has submitted all their permits and plans to the county. Staff is still reviewing them but so far everything looks to be in order with what the original approval process was through the Board of County Commissioners,” said County Communications Director Erick Gill.
Gill said progress slowed earlier this year due to the number of approvals required from various state and regional agencies.
“There are multiple agencies involved in this permitting process. It isn’t just the Board of County Commissioners. There are state permits, there’s water management permits, there are fueling stations, underground storage tanks are all permitted through the state not at the local level. There are also improvements that are going to be made to the intersections there on 95 which again is the Florida Department of Transportation,” he said.
Ben Balcer, Planning and Development Services Director, said coordination with the Florida Department of Transportation has been essential to keep the project compliant and ensure traffic safety.
“There’s a ton of pass-by traffic from I-95. The state and FDOT are obviously involved with their interstate on and off ramps there and they want to make sure that everything flows and functions right. So there’s a lot of engineering that goes into it after you get your preliminary approval,” Balcer said.
The developers have now closed on the 35-acre site and begun applying for the necessary permits.
“They have submitted for a building permit, they have closed on the property so they actually own the entirety of the site. So it is moving forward, albeit a little bit slow, but as you can tell, there’s a lot that goes into developing a site of this scale,” Balcer said.
He added that more visible progress could come soon.
“I could foresee potentially them receiving site plan approval by the end of the year. It’s really a business decision for Buc-ee’s on when they want to move forward. We’re doing what we can in order to move the project forward,” he said.
The new Buc-ee’s will span 76,000 square feet and feature 120 gas pumps, along with fuel, food, and retail services for travelers and residents.
County planning documents note that the development includes several major infrastructure upgrades, including extending and widening Coble Road, adding a new roundabout near the site entrance, and expanding road capacity near the I-95 interchange.
Balcer said the company’s construction manager expects the project to take between 18 and 24 months after breaking ground.
“I had our county building official reach out to their construction manager this week just to get an estimated time frame and I know that Buc-ee’s representatives have discussed anywhere from 18 to 24 months. The construction manager actually said for something of this scale, he’s thinking that he can get it done in 18 to 20 months, but they like to have that flex time depending on when they get in there start doing earthwork. If they uncover something they want to have a couple month window,” Balcer said.
The project also required special approval for a 100-foot-tall sign, which underwent environmental review to address potential light and wildlife impacts.