I have written several times about the Northpoint property. The Stuart News recently had an article about the city’s most current effort to develop this parcel. For more than a decade, the City of Stuart has been trying to find someone to lease the land and develop it. In the past, the city commission and staff have been trying to find a developer to build our vision of what should go there. That has proven to be a failing policy.        

Markets have a way of knowing what should and should not be done. If government tries to circumvent that most basic of principles, the result usually is nothing being accomplished. You can’t tell the private sector what is the best investment for their money. I believe the city has finally learned this lesson.

As a rule, I generally do not think government should buy property for the express purpose of leasing it to the non-governmental sector. If the property is not for a public purpose, development is best left to the private sector. There are instances when government should purchase property; for example, to promote redevelopment in a specific area. Any purchase should have well-reasoned goals that the city seeks to accomplish. The time that the property remains undeveloped should be for a minimal period.

The new Azul development will ultimately be one of those instances. From the time that the city closed on the property until the developer was chosen, the period was relatively short. The insistence that the project be based on market forces and not on a pre-conceived notion that the city had defined was, in my opinion, key. I would have preferred that the land be sold rather than leased, but the financial feasibility of the deal did not support this happening. Once this project is completed, it will spark redevelopment of that entire area. This is the main reason for the city’s purchase.

When Northpoint was acquired by Stuart, none of these principles were followed. The city was bedazzled and bewitched by its own desires and forgot about the market. Their ideas, while laudable, were not what private capital was willing to invest in to achieve. Using the city’s naiveté, would-be developers took a flyer and, for relatively little money, tied up the project for many years looking for capital.

The current insistence that the developer is required to demonstrate the wherewithal to complete whatever project it proposes to build has a much better chance of success. I am not certain that this particular parcel is developable. With its location and position next to the rail road tracks, it just may not be suitable for any private use at the present time. This is why government needs to be very careful about investing in real estate for a non-governmental use.

I was not on the city commission when either of the decisions to acquire the Triangle or Northpoint were made. I am fairly sure I would have voted to buy the Triangle piece. I don’t believe I would have voted for Northpoint. No amount of government insistence or desire will result in a hotel being built there. The only way would be for Stuart’s taxpayers to guarantee a bond to fund the construction of it. Tax money should never be used in this way. If private investment is afraid, then the chances for success, especially in a retail business i.e. a hotel, are doomed.

Government needs to stay out of the private real estate sector as much as possible. Individuals acting in their interests will result in economic benefit to our entire city’s prosperity. It is not up to Stuart’s commission or staff to impose their vision on what should be built. Our job is to provide the infrastructure and a readiness to work with the private sector.