🌅🏡 New Housing in Fort Pierce Approved

Good Morning, Sunland

It’s Wednesday!  And that means two things:
1️⃣ My weekly reminder to share this newsletter with just one friend
2️⃣ A big thank you for being here

Alright…

🌡️ Weather Update: A warm breeze, bright skies, and a mellow spring night

☀️ Day: High of 81°F | 🌤️ Sunshine and clouds mixed, with E winds at 10–20 mph.
🌙 Night: Low of 66°F | 🌙 A few clouds drifting through, with E winds at 10–15 mph.
🌅 Sunrise: 6:42 AM | 🌇 Sunset: 7:54 PM
🌘 Moonrise at 8:52 AM | Moonset at 11:38 PM
🎵 Sounds like: “Everybody Loves the Sunshine” by Roy Ayers 🌞💛

🏡 Main Squeeze
Fort Pierce Moves Forward on Workforce Housing

Workforce housing. A term that gets tossed around but is rarely clearly defined. So let’s clear it up: it’s generally meant for people earning around 60 to 100 percent of the area’s median income. Not quite affordable housing. Not luxury. Somewhere in between.

That’s the idea behind a new 14-lot single-family housing project just approved by the Fort Pierce City Commission. It’s tucked off Mohawk Avenue near North 25th Street, south of St. Lucie Boulevard. If you’ve ever driven toward Vero, chances are you’ve passed it.

The land is part of one of those weird puzzle-pieced areas — technically inside the city limits, but surrounded by county land. And that sparked some debate. Once you start building, you’ve got to figure out who’s picking up the trash, who’s handling sewer and water, and how roads will be maintained. So a pretty small project ends up requiring a lot of logistical work.

🚧 The Road:

Mohawk Avenue is in bad shape. Commissioners raised concerns about its condition and what would actually get fixed. The developer said they’ll be improving the stretch directly in front of the new homes and are working on a $535,000 bond to make that happen.

👷 Who It’s For:

The goal is to keep these homes in the $350K range — not cheap, but definitely under what we’re seeing across most of the city right now. Three-bedroom, two-bath, impact windows, metal roofs. Not bad. The idea is to build something decent, durable, and attainable for working families.

💬 Why It Matters:

Fort Pierce has been trying to find the balance between growth and affordability. Between beautification projects and real talk about who can afford to live here, this is one example of how that work actually shows up. Small? Sure. But it could signal more to come.

Want to weigh in on the future of housing in Fort Pierce?
📬 Leave your thoughts here.

🍊 Press Round
Gifford’s Growing, Murals Are Booming, and Joann’s is Folding

🏠 Gifford Making Some Moves

Speaking of housing, Gifford is stepping up. The old Gifford Gardens site will soon be home to 14 affordable houses priced around $200K. I’m not moving to Gifford, but the demand is real: over 200 applications have already rolled in. Read more

🎨 $50K Up for Grabs to Paint Sunrise Theatre Wall

Fort Pierce has been pouring love into murals lately, and now there’s a big one up for grabs. If you’ve got the vision, $50,000 is on the table to design a new mural on the back of the Sunrise Theatre. Go for it. Read more

🧵 Joann’s Fabric… We Know What’s Coming

One of the two Joann’s on the Treasure Coast just closed. Vero’s done. Jensen is next. Get your muslin cloth while you still can. 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.

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🫗 Refill 
Mets Fall Short, But Still Got Work to Do

Unfortunately, our guys took the L yesterdy. The final score was 1-3. We just couldn’t get our offense going. If you take a look at the box score you’d be hard pressed to crack a smile once you see how many times we struck out at the plate (…12 times). But hey, you can’t win em all.

With Marco Vargas and A.J. Ewing being promoted to the Brooklyn Cyclones (congrats to them btw), we gotta step up as a unit and make up for that loss offensively. We still have two more games left in this series though so we still have the opportunity to make those adjustments. I trust we will! Ya Gotta Believe! Peace yall!

Check the score here

🎉  Weekender
Your Frid, Sat, & Sun Gameplan

Friday, May 2

• 🎶 Friday Fest – Live music, food, and family fun at Marina Square in Fort Pierce. | 5:30 PM–8:30 PM | Free | Details

• 🎸 Food Trucks & Tributes – Eagles Revival – Eagles tribute concert with local food trucks at Tradition Square. | 5 PM–9 PM | Free | Details

• 🎟️ 2nd Annual Auction Gala: Enchanted Garden – A night of fundraising, food, and fellowship at Tradition Town Hall. | 6:30 PM | Free | Details

Saturday, May 3

• 🌮 Cinco de Mayo Weekend at Pepe’s Cantina – Live DJ, drink specials, and fiesta vibes all weekend long. | May 3–May 5 | Free | Details

Sunday, May 4

• 📚 April Book Club Meeting – Join Wanderlust Book Boutique’s monthly book chat in downtown Fort Pierce. | 10 AM | Free | Details

🗓️ Want more local events?

Check out the full, ever-growing list at events.sunland.news – your go-to for everything happening in and around St. Lucie County. If you have an event, send it to me here

💧 The Last Drop
3 Local Headlines for the Road!

1. 🍗 Chicken Salad Chick Coming to Tradition

   A new Chicken Salad Chick is opening in Port St. Lucie at The Landing in Tradition. No official opening date yet. See more

2. 🎭 Apply Now: E.N.D. IT Summer Theater Program

   Fort Pierce teens can apply now to join E.N.D. IT’s youth theater program. The final play premieres in August. Apply here

3. ⛽ Buc-ee’s Isn’t Just Coming to Fort Pierce

   You’ve heard about the giant Buc-ee’s headed to Indrio and I-95, but they’re also planning massive locations in Ocala and Tallahassee, with up to 120 pumps and 75,000 square feet of space. See the expansion plans

📸 This is Sunland
Photo for the Road!

See you tomorrow!
With Love, Ja’Min

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