Forests, citrus groves and cattle ranches once dominated the view along Interstate 95 through the Treasure Coast, interrupted only by an occasional billboard or exit sign. Now, huge warehouses, vast business parks and sprawling industrial developments dot the landscape along I-95 and Florida’s Turnpike.
Over 8 million square feet of new warehouses have risen since 2021, when COVID isolation sparked a rise in e-commerce . The parcels' 807 combined acres would nearly cover New York's Central Park — and that doesn't include the 329,000 square feet still being built and the unknown projects still being planned.
The warehouse and supply-chain logistics sectors may bring more jobs, tax revenue and economic diversity, but also potentially more dangerous traffic crashes, expensive wear-and-tear to roads, and irreparable loss of native wildlife and habitat. Plus, the jobs are typically low-paying in an area with skyrocketing housing prices .
The epicenter of industrial development is St. Lucie County, where:
In Martin County, the Newfield Workplace District is being built in Palm City. “Indian River County is next,” said Ken Krasnow , a vice chair at private real estate firm Colliers, which manages the Kings Logistics Center in Fort Pierce . Developers and landowners are in preliminary talks that will intensify next year, he said.
The industry descended on St. Lucie first because of its central location, abundant workforce, rapid population growth, and affordable land compared to South Florida, according to the Economic Development Council of St. Lucie County (EDC).
"St. Lucie County has strong labor fundamentals and offers direct access to major transportation routes, making it an easy decision to build in this high-growth market," said Avery Dorr , Stonemont’s vice president of development and acquisitions. Over 70% of Florida residents are within a three-hour drive, Krasnow said.
Many warehouses, including those built on spec and completed months ago, remain unoccupied however, with a 19% vacancy rate at the end of 2023, according to Colliers. That’s a "natural evolution," Krasnow said, as developers build new supply in advance of demand in fast-growing markets.
Many businesses are waiting for the economy to improve, said David Murphy , executive vice president of CBRE, a private real estate firm that manages the Turnpike 95 Distribution Center in Fort Pierce. Demand is expected to gather steam by the end of this year, experts and developers say.
Jobs and tax revenue
In retiree-heavy regions such as the Treasure Coast, industrial development is needed to create tax revenue to fund government services, said Martin County Commissioner Edward Ciampi .
"We are heavily reliant on residential much more than it should be," Ciampi said. "Industrial is a terrific tax base."
Ciampi estimated 3% more industrial development across the county would generate over $200 million.
Job creation has been modest though. Warehouses accounted for 300 of the 8,100 new jobs created across the Treasure Coast this year, according to CareerSource Research Coast . Companies have said their warehouses would employ anywhere from 200 to 500 people.
The average wage for warehouse jobs in Martin and St. Lucie is $26,830 for hand packers and packagers and $49,130 for heavy and tractor-trailer truck drivers, according to the Bureau of Labor Statistics . Compare that to Treasure Coast residents’ wages, which averaged over $53,000 in 2022, according to CareerSource Florida .
"To increase the size and improve the quality of a local economy, a community needs to create more primary industry jobs which pay a wage higher than the area average wage," a 2016 EDC report says.
Amazon, which still has not opened the Midway Business Park warehouse it built in 2022, pays about $16 an hour, or $33,280 annually. That below-average wage did not qualify it for Port St. Lucie tax incentives, said Elijah Wooten , the city’s economic development administrator.
Warehouse jobs can be a stepping stone for workers, but the area needs a more balanced economy, said EDC President Pete Tesch and Port St. Lucie Mayor Shannon Martin .
"A long-term goal of the city of Port St. Lucie is to support the growth of businesses and industries that provide higher-wage jobs," Martin said. "We recognize the importance of a balanced economy that includes not just logistics but also sectors like health care, technology and education."
Roads and environment
On I-95, the average daily truck traffic increased 31% in St. Lucie and 20% in Martin from 2018 to 2023, according to the Florida Department of Transportation. For trucks without trailers, the increase ranged from 45% to 67%.
Truck traffic will continue to increase as more warehouses are built and occupied. Four projects alone will add over 12,500 more trucks daily, according to the developers' traffic studies.
TCPalm requested the number of truck crashes on I-95 for the past five years to determine if there's been an increase, but the Florida Department of Highway Safety and Motor Vehicles said it did not have such specific data.
More diesel trucks could worsen air pollution, increasing the risk of respiratory and cancerous health issues, according to the Environmental Protection Agency . The exhaust contains such harmful pollutants as hydrocarbons, nitrogen oxides, carbon monoxide and particulate matter, the EPA says.
The EPA’s Air Quality Index for the Martin-St. Lucie area has been 19-127 since 2018, which is “good to moderate” for the general public, but “unhealthy for sensitive groups.”
Clearing oak, pine and palm forests near wetlands for buildings and parking lots can create heat islands, pollute stormwater runoff and destroy habitat for an array of animals such as birds, bobcats, deer and gopher tortoises.
Development can disturb eagle nests during nesting season, and “more traffic results in eagles being struck,” said Audubon of Florida EagleWatch Project Manager Shawnlei Breeding .
To offset environmental losses, developers should create “mini forests” with trees and waterbodies, said Conservation Alliance of St. Lucie County President Shari Anker .
“This is an opportunity for developers to do things in a more environmentally sound way,” she said “by taking into account the climate-altered reality.”
Treasure Coast warehouses
These are the 11 sites over 100,000 square feet that have been built, expanded or planned in the past five years:
- Square feet : 2.05 million (5.4 million at build-out)
- Acres : 400
- Location: Northwest of I-95 and Becker Road, Port St. Lucie
- Square feet : 1.42 million
- Acres : 270
- Location: Northwest of the turnpike and Southwest Martin Highway, Palm City
- Square feet : 1.36 million
- Acres : 103
- Location: Southwest of Orange Avenue and Kings Highway, Fort Pierce
- Square feet : 1.02 million
- Acres : 108
- Location: Southeast of Kings Highway and White Road, Fort Pierce
- Square feet : 658,000
- Acres : 65
- Location: Southeast of Orange Avenue and Kings Highway, Fort Pierce
- Square feet : 622,000
- Acres : 40
- Location: Northwest of I-95 and Becker Road, Port St. Lucie
- Square feet : 553,007
- Acres : 11
- Location: Northwest of Orange Avenue and Jenkins Road, Fort Pierce
- Square feet : 407,099
- Acres : 25
- Location: Gatlin/Tradition exit (north), I-95 (east), Becker Road (south), Southwest Village Parkway (west), Port St. Lucie
- Square feet : 356,900
- Acres : 33
- Location: In the triangle between I-95, West Midway Road and Glades Cut Off Road, Port St. Lucie
- Square feet : 211,547
- Acres : 13
- Location: Southwest of I-95 and Okeechobee Road, Fort Pierce
- Square feet : 150,000
- Acres : 10
- Location: Gatlin/Tradition exit (north), I-95 (east), Becker Road (south), Southwest Village Parkway (west), Port St. Lucie
Ananya Tiwari is a business reporter for TCPalm. You can reach her via email at ananya.tiwari@tcpalm.com or follow her work on Facebook , Twitter or X , and MuckRack .
This article originally appeared on Treasure Coast Newspapers: Warehouse boom: Do jobs, taxes, economic diversity outweigh roads, traffic, environment?
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