FORT PIERCE — A deadline tied to the King’s Landing redevelopment project has been missed, placing the development in default and prompting city officials to consider an amendment to keep the project moving forward.
The issue was discussed during a recent Fort Pierce Redevelopment Agency meeting, where representatives for developer Live Oak outlined the circumstances surrounding the delay.
Bill Ware, development manager for Live Oak, told the board the problem stems from a missed milestone tied to submitting hotel plans for review.
“I received notice of an alleged breach due to a missed milestone date contained in the Third Amendment Exhibit A, as prepared by our predecessor Audubon, specifically the scheduled date for submittal of the hotel vertical plans to the city for DPCR review was Feb. 25, 2026,” Ware said.
Ware then detailed the timeline s leading up to the missed deadline, including an approval that came shortly before the required submission date.
“I stated in my last quarterly update on January 14, 2026, that we were tracking the schedule, including in the final ordinance 20-025 Exhibit C, conditions of development as the governing document. The final approval by Marriott of a King’s Landing Tribute Hotel was received February 19, 2026. However, the Third Amendment Exhibit A schedule reflects a requirement for vertical plan submissions of the hotel on February 25, 2026,” he said.
City Attorney Sarah Hedges clarified that the missed deadline constitutes a default under the current agreement and warned that additional deadlines are imminent.
“Mr. Ware says 'alleged' default. There’s a default that has been missed. The timeline matters,” she said. “The tasks matter under the amendment. Ultimately, it’ll be your all’s decision whether you want to grant a future amendment. My understanding is that is the only default issue currently. The vertical DPCR approval is supposed to be finished currently by April 21, 2026. The next trigger date is the vertical permitting, the actual permit submission, which is April 22, the day thereafter.”
Despite the setback, Ware said the overall construction timeline for the hotel remains unchanged and asked the board to allow an updated schedule to be submitted.
“The good news here is that after consulting with main sale and consultants, we are still tracking to complete the hotel on July 11, 2028,” he said.
City commissioners expressed cautious support for revising the timeline, while emphasizing the importance of meeting future benchmarks.
“My concerns are if any of these milestones are missed, those completion dates will be missed,” Commissioner Michael Broderick said. “I think you’ve addressed the concern because you have made your submission. If there’s any other timelines in that third amendment that need to be adjusted, you’re going to have to incorporate into the fourth because candidly, I really don’t want to come back and have this discussion again.”
Mayor Linda Hudson said she understood the challenges involved in a complex development project, while also acknowledging the city’s need for accountability.
“You have a lot of moving parts, but you have a team that’s working on this all the time. I can understand how deadlines haven’t been met, and I can understand why we’re sensitive about not meeting deadlines. The fact of the matter is, I think that you deserve, and we deserve, for you to be able to come back with the new dates,” she said.
Commissioner Chris Dzadovsky said he would support an amendment but raised concerns about how risk is distributed between the city and the developer.
“The city conveyed the land, supports the entitlements, the city adjusts the comp plan and infrastructure, the city absorbs delay and risk. However, the developer keeps options open, brings new partners when needed, but faces no financial penalties,” he said.
Hedges urged the board to set a firm deadline for Live Oak to submit its proposed revisions so legal documents can be prepared in time for upcoming meetings.
“I would ask that this board impose a deadline to Mr. Ware for when he needs to have all of his requests to us, because we do need to draft that. This will have to come before the FPRA board as well as the city commission, because it is a three-party agreement,” she said. “If we have that by the end of this week [April 17], we can have that ready to go for you all for the May 11 and 18 agendas, I would suspect.”
The board agreed to allow Live Oak to submit a revised milestone schedule as part of a proposed fourth amendment, which is expected to be considered in May.
City Manager Richard Chess advised the developer to prioritize accuracy over speed as the updated plan is prepared.
The King’s Landing project, a $155 million development in downtown Fort Pierce, includes plans for a 140-room Marriott hotel along with residential units, restaurants and retail space along the waterfront.