Costco for PSL moving forward

Rendering of the Costco Depot planned for Legacy Park at Tradition.

PORT ST. LUCIE — Costco is one step closer to opening a retail store in Port St. Lucie after city officials approved the sale of land for the long-anticipated project in Southern Grove.

The city on March 9 finalized a $6 million deal to sell about 23 acres to Costco Wholesale Corp. for a proposed warehouse store and gas station east of Southwest 

Village Parkway and south of Southwest Marshall Parkway. The planned store would total about 170,000 square feet and would sit next to Costco’s large distribution depot already under construction in the area.

The project marks a major retail win for Port St. Lucie, where residents and city leaders have pushed for years to land a Costco location of their own. 

While no official opening date has been announced, city officials said some of the infrastructure needed to support the site is nearly complete. Jennifer Davis, director of the city’s Community Redevelopment Agency, told WQCS that road work serving the development was expected to wrap up by the end of March. She also said Costco has indicated its construction timeline can move quickly once vertical building begins.

The proposed store is expected to add to Costco’s growing footprint in Port St. Lucie, where the company’s 1.8 million-square-foot distribution depot is also taking shape. That facility is expected to serve Costco stores statewide and bring hundreds of jobs to the area, with one report estimating about 380 positions and others placing the total at more than 500 when the retail store and depot are considered together.

For Treasure Coast shoppers, the project could eventually mean a closer option than existing Costco locations in Stuart and farther north. For city leaders, it is another sign of continued commercial growth in Southern Grove, an area long targeted for jobs and large-scale development.