ST. LUCIE COUNTY — County commissioners voted 4-0 to move forward with Project Orchid, a proposed 1.4 million-square-foot manufacturing facility expected to bring hundreds of millions in investment, about 1,000 jobs and a large aluminum foundry to St. Lucie County.
Commissioner Cathy Townsend was absent from the vote.
The project, proposed by an undisclosed company headquartered in Miami, includes a fully enclosed manufacturing operation, a 27,000-square-foot two-story office building and a 76,200-square-foot metal foundry as part of a glass window manufacturing plant, according to county agenda documents.
Patti Tobin, project manager with HJA Design Studio, described the scale and purpose of the development during the meeting.
“It’s designing this facility to serve its customer in the southeast,” Tobin said. “It’s a modern, fully enclosed manufacturing operation using advanced technology. And as Kori Benton mentioned, it’s 1.4 million square feet, fully integrated.”
County staff said the project would also include infrastructure improvements surrounding the site, including new turn lanes at Orange Avenue and Rock Road and road widening.
Supporters of the project emphasized the anticipated economic impact, including wages and tax revenue tied to the facility.
“There’s a thousand jobs paying over minimum county wages and it’s a $53 million annual payroll and over $1 million in ad valorem taxes,” Tobin said.
Commissioners also discussed concerns related to construction impacts, noise and emissions from the foundry operation.
Project representatives said construction activities would be limited to standard business hours and that operational impacts would largely be contained within the facility itself.
Yanique Virgo, a designer working with Foundry Commercial, said sound mitigation was built into both the equipment and building design.
“With regards to sound, everything is contained within the building,” Virgo said. “So either through dampening on the equipment itself or through the building itself would help with the sound.”
Virgo also addressed questions about emissions and air quality controls tied to the foundry.
“There is a quite intense filtration system,” she said. “So once the furnace is operating, there’s additional sort of a fume treatment system. So by the time we’re exhausting from the foundry, it’s a clean product.”
Commission Chair Jamie Fowler requested that air quality testing information be shared with commissioners before production begins and throughout the life of the facility.
Virgo said the reporting is already required through state environmental regulations.
“Every year when we do our annual and semi-annual reporting, we have to maintain our base threshold. So that’s for the life of the facility,” Virgo said. “Sharing those records with you when we submit to FDEP, we can absolutely do that.”
Commissioner James Clasby praised the project’s potential economic impact and wage levels during the discussion.
“The sheer number of jobs that it’s going to produce and the average wage, most of the people that will be working here will be making more than teachers in St. Lucie County,” Clasby said.
According to Virgo, production at the facility would gradually increase during the first five years after opening. Operations would initially run during standard business hours before eventually transitioning to continuous 24-hour production.