🌅 🏗️ King's Landing Gets 180 Days

It's Wednesday! I'm super happy to be here. It's a long newsletter down below. So much has happened this week in our public meetings. Let's cut straight to it!

☀️ Day: High of 87°F | Intervals of clouds and sunshine with a thunderstorm, humid. Rip Current Statement in effect. Winds ENE at 10 mph. 87% chance of rain.
🌙 Night: Low of 76°F | Widely separated evening thunderstorms, otherwise partly cloudy. Winds ENE at 7 mph. 55% chance of rain.
🌅 Sunrise: 7:07 AM | 🌇 Sunset: 7:25 PM
🌙 Moonrise: 12:22 PM | 🌚 Moonset: 10:45 PM
🎶 Sounds like: "Is It a Crime" — Sade

We have been on this story for a while. Here is where it started. Here is the April default update. Here is the August $15 million ask. Monday was decision time. Watch the full meeting here 🏗️.

What happened: The Fort Pierce City Commission voted to give Live Oak Holdings Group 180 days to close the $15 million equity gap needed to finance the Marriott Tribute Hotel at King's Landing.

The biggest surprise of the night: Nobody on the commission fully realized that Audubon Development still legally owns the land. Live Oak has a purchase and sale agreement to buy it but the closing has not happened. One commissioner said out loud he thought Audubon was already out of it entirely.

What public comment sounded like 📋:

What the hotel developer said: Construction costs are up, interest rates moved the wrong way and Fort Pierce is a tertiary market with no comparable hotels to show lenders. The plan now is to go more local with investors who care about seeing the hotel happen in this community.

The motion nobody seconded: One commissioner read a full prepared motion to terminate the agreement, declare default and return King's Landing to the city. Silence. No second. He then voted for the extension.

What the city manager asked that nobody answered: What happens if they come back in six months without the money? Nobody had a clean answer.

What the new city attorney had to navigate: Camille Wallace, just days into the interim city attorney role, had to weigh in on defaults, reversionary clauses, the Audubon purchase and sale agreement and a proposed fourth amendment all at once. She was clear that every technical breach needs to be in writing. Silence on those issues carries real legal risk.

What was approved 📋:

What's next: City attorney has 30 days to draft the fourth amendment. After that Live Oak has 180 days to close the gap 📅.

💬 What do you think should happen with King's Landing? Tell us right here

Vero Beach granted Clearpath Services another 30 days to submit additional financial information for the Three Corners waterfront village project on the 38-acre city property at 17th and Indian River Boulevard. Once submitted, the city's consultant will analyze the numbers and both parties can have meaningful discussions on the 99-year lease terms before the October council meeting. Council member Linda Moore said she was starting to get concerned about the project stalling, while Vice Mayor Taylor Dingle emphasized the city needs to be firm and show it wants results.

👉 Read more (TCPalm subscription may be required)

Fort Pierce Police Department approved a five-year contract for upgraded body cameras, tasers and artificial intelligence tools worth just under $1 million per year. The cameras can translate nearly 200 languages in real time, allowing officers and residents who speak different languages to communicate directly in the field without waiting for an interpreter. Police Chief Chase Smith called the technology a force multiplier that helps the department do more with current staffing levels. The optional five-year renewal would cost $1,028,807 per year.

👉 Watch (Sunland News)

Indiantown approved a contract for Mike Giardino as interim village manager following the firing of Taryn Kryzda and the August 18 election that brought three new council members to office. Giardino will earn $163,900 and can leave with 30 days notice or be replaced with eight weeks severance if the council chooses another candidate. He indicated he plans to apply for the permanent position once an RFP process begins in February, giving the village six months to settle current affairs. Giardino was recently fired from his role as Stuart city manager.

👉 Read more (WQCS)

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