🌅 🏡 848 More Homes Approved West of PSL

Good Morning, Sunland

It’s Monday!

“Fam, I ain’t even know there was a Dominican food truck in the Fort.”

That is the text I got from my friend Darius after he tried out Play Sunland last week. I mentioned it on Friday’s newsletter, kind of a soft launch, but I want to officially invite more of you to check it out and give me feedback.

Play Sunland is an idea I have been dreaming about for a long time. I just want to make simple tools for people in St. Lucie County to actually use St. Lucie County better. If you have been here long enough, you might remember when I had the “What Should I Do?” game! That will be coming back soon and eventually tied into Play Sunland too. The first tool live right now is a food quiz to help you find something new to eat. It is not perfect yet, but the goal is to keep building out more tools from here.

If you have a minute, take the quiz at play.sunlandnews.com and then hit reply to let me know what you think. A few of you have already sent some great feedback and I will be responding to those this week. Thank you for trying it. If you have not yet, give it a spin. Alrght…

🎉 Shoutout Sireé: Huge thank you to Desi and her brand Sireé for featuring Sunland News on their Artist Spotlight page. Please check it out along with the other amazing artists featured. I love everything Desi is doing with Sireé and hope to have a Sunland News collab in the future! It celebrates Black and Brown culture with beautiful keychains like Abuela’s pilón, hair picks, and dominoes. Show them some love sireeofficial.com.

🌡️ Weather Update
Bright skies, warm breeze, and a slight evening chance of rain

☀️ Day: High of 84°F | 🌤️ Morning clouds clearing to mostly sunny skies.
🌙 Night: Low of 70°F | 🌥️ Partly cloudy with a stray shower or thunderstorm possible.
🌅 Sunrise: 6:44 AM | 🌇 Sunset: 7:53 PM
🌔 Moonrise at 7:05 AM | Moonset at 9:17 PM
🎵 Sounds like: “Shining Star” by Earth, Wind & Fire ✨🌟

🏡 Main Squeeze
848 More Homes Approved for Oak Ridge Ranches

Alright, so I am doing something for Mondays where we take a quick look at some of the major approvals, denials, and moves happening across St. Lucie County. Civil stuff. Land stuff. The decisions that shape the future of the county whether we realize it or not.

This week, we start with the big one: another 848 homes were just approved for the Oak Ridge Ranches development out west of Port St. Lucie. That was a unanimous vote by the County Commission on April 22.

👀 Quick breakdown: The latest addition is called Panorama at Solaeris. It is a planned 279-acre gated community and it is one of 11 neighborhoods that will eventually make up the full Oak Ridge Ranches project.

With this new pod approved, that brings the total number of units okayed so far to 6,016 out of a planned 8,600. Eight thousand, six hundred. Yes, you read that right.

And it is not just houses.

There are plans for:

• About 400,000 square feet of commercial and retail space

• About 250,000 square feet for a major medical center

• At least 400 units set aside for workforce housing

💬 My quick take:

The west side of PSL is building up at a crazy rate. I do wonder what the average price for these homes will end up being. Some estimates floating around put it in the $375,000 to $425,000 range according to Realtor.com, but with everything going on in the market, who really knows.

Still, between the new homes, the shops, and the promised medical center, west PSL is on its way to becoming its own little city within a city.

👉 Want to dig into the full story? Check it out here.
📝 What do you think? Too much building? Smart move for the future? Drop your thoughts here!

🍊 Press Round
Money Moves, Water Flows, and Historic Saves

💰 Whistleblower Calls Out Fort Pierce Over INC Lease

After sparking criminal charges against a former city manager, a local whistleblower is now demanding Fort Pierce claw back over $100,000 from a nonprofit accused of violating its lease at the old Means Court property. Read more

🚰 PSL’s Wastewater

Worried about how Port St. Lucie is handling all the growth? City leaders say don’t be. A recent tour showed the wastewater system is more than ready and expansion plans are already rolling. Read more

🏚️ House of Refuge $1.7M for Restoration

After a heated debate, Martin County commissioners approved a $1.7 million rescue plan for the historic Gilbert’s Bar House of Refuge just ahead of its 150th anniversary. Read more

Join the Mission and support Sunland News and help fuel the goal of delivering smarter, faster very, very local news that keeps you informed on what’s unfolding here.

💡 Why it matters: Your support allows me to keep St. Lucie County informed and engaged through the daily Sunland News newsletter—and sets the stage for tackling bigger, in-depth reporting projects in the near future.

🎁 What’s in it for you: Exclusive updates, behind-the-scenes insights, and other perks as we grow (bookstore and otherwise) this community together.

👉 Check it out here!

🍾 Refill
Mets Wrap Up Series, Head to Palm Beach ⚾

I’m really excited about this. My good friend Darius—a proud Mets fan from Queens who grew up in PSL—is helping us cover the St. Lucie Mets this season. This is the first edition of what we hope will be regular updates. You can read his first report below!

The St. Lucie Mets took a loss yesterday at Clover Park against the Daytona Tortugas. They managed to grab four wins in the six-game series, so it’s not all bad!

Our guys are still 2nd in FSL East. We’re just one game behind the Palm Beach Cardinals, who we’ll be playing at their field tomorrow.

Let’s Go Mets!

Check the full box score here

🎉 This Week Around Town: Your Monday–Friday Gameplan

Monday, April 28

• 🌅 Sunset Yoga at The Gardens – Relax and recharge with a sunset yoga session at Port St. Lucie Botanical Gardens. | 7 PM–8 PM | $10 Non-Members, Free for Members | Details

Tuesday, April 29

• 🤝 Business Networking Event at IRSC – Connect with local entrepreneurs at the biggest networking night yet at IRSC Pruitt Campus. | 6 PM–9 PM | $10 at the door (Cash Only) | Details

Wednesday, April 30

• 🎶 Sounds of Soul: A Tribute to Motown and Beyond – Celebrate the legendary sounds of Motown with a high-energy tribute at The Lyric Theatre. | 7 PM | Paid | Details

Thursday, May 1

• 🛍️ Spring Stuart Stroll – Sip, sample, and stroll through Downtown Stuart with local shops, bites, and shopping spree giveaways. | 4:30 PM–8:30 PM | $15–$20 | Details

Friday, May 2

• 🎟️ 2nd Annual Auction Gala: Enchanted Garden – Fundraising gala with fine dining, live entertainment, and auctions supporting CCA students. | 6:30 PM | Details Here

If you have an event, send it to me here
Want more events? Go here

💧 The Last Drop
Big Openings, Big Dreams, Big Questions

1. 🎨 Highwaymen Movie Coming to Fort Pierce

   Meet the cast, artists, and producers behind The Highwaymen Movie at the gallery grand opening on April 26. Details here

2. 🛒 Costco Finally Opens in Stuart

   After a decade of delays, Stuart’s Costco opened April 25—with 1,000 people waiting before sunrise! See the scenes

3. 🚄 Brightline Project Faces Federal Funding Hurdles

   Federal cuts could complicate Martin County’s $60M Brightline station project. Officials say they’re still optimistic. Read more

📸 This is Sunland: ✌️ Before I go

By the way, somebody responded to Friday’s email and said they really loved my old-school music picks I drop in the weather section sometimes. I just wanted to say thank you for that. It meant a lot. It also just reminded me how much I appreciate the way this newsletter has grown. There is something here for everybody.

• Some people come in, check the weather and the Press Round, and keep it moving.

• Some people dig into the main story.

• Some people just want to see what events are happening.

  And honestly, that is how it should be. I appreciate you all more than you know.

See you tomorrow!
With Love, Ja’Min

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