In a first for America’s only private passenger rail service, plans for a train station in Stuart, Florida, have been derailed after officials revoked a deal, while a neighboring city is stepping up to the plate to host Brightline's latest station along the state's Treasure Coast.
The Stuart city commission voted this week to terminate its land-lease agreement with Brightline and the interlocal agreement with Martin County in a 3-2 vote. The move comes only a month after the city approved its initial agreement to lease the parcel at 500 Southeast Flagler Ave. and fund up to $30 million of what was estimated to be a $60 million station. As part of the agreement, Martin County was expected to provide an additional $15 million.
Brightline initially was expected to pay 50% of the cost of the station as part of a 2018 settlement between the company and Martin and St. Lucie counties that paved the way for the railroad’s Orlando extension and a future Treasure Coast station.
That requirement was dropped when the company selected Stuart as the site of its future Treasure Coast station. Commissioner Christopher Collins, who voted to terminate the deal, called it “a bad deal for taxpayers” during the vote late Monday evening.
Ben Porritt, Brightline’s senior vice president of corporate affairs, told CoStar News on a phone call that the company had never seen something like Stuart’s revocation. “We ran a transparent and open process ever since putting out the request for proposals” last year, Porritt said.
Brightline has often worked with local officials to help build the infrastructure its trains run on as well as its stations. As the company was gearing up to build its Aventura, Florida, station in Miami-Dade County, local officials struck a land-swap and development agreement in 2019 with Brightline, paying $76 million for the Aventura station.
The deal also included a stipulation that the new station would be designed to accommodate future commuter rail services, likely to be Tri-Rail, in what’s shaping up to be a separate multi-million-dollar deal with Miami-Dade officials. A similar agreement is also being considered with local officials in Orlando for a potential east-west commuter rail project that would allow Brightline to eventually connect to Tampa.
Brightline has also received billions of dollars in public funds from the federal government. The company secured a $3 billion grant from the Biden administration to help build Brightline West, connecting Las Vegas with the Los Angeles region, for the country's first true high-speed rail using newly ordered trains from Siemens Mobility.
Fort Pierce steps in
Officials with Martin County in Stuart still hope to salvage some kind of deal to bring a station to the area, but the city of Fort Pierce, 21 miles north of Stuart in St. Lucie County, is already saying they are open to hosting Brightline’s newest station.
The city had been considered one of the potential frontrunners for a station alongside Stuart, with both cities about midway between Miami and Orlando along Florida’s Treasure Coast, an area comprising St. Lucie, Martin and Indian River counties named after the wrecks of Spanish treasure ships discovered off the coast.
Fort Pierce Mayor Linda Hudson has said publicly that she is “interested” in Fort Pierce being selected for a station now that the location in Stuart seems to no longer be advancing. She hopes the Fort Pierce city commission will agree with the idea before moving forward.
Brightline's Porritt told CoStar News the company is looking to engage with all cities and counties in the region for a station, including Fort Pierce, saying, “There’s no question we’ll have conversations with them.”
Brightline has seen strong ridership growth even after the private rail service discontinued most of its South Florida commuter passes in favor of opening up space on its trains for its more lucrative Orlando route.
According to the company’s July report, ridership is up 41% across Florida, with total revenue increasing 246% since the same time last year. Total revenue per passenger was $67.25, a 146% increase year over year, the report said.