ClearBlue Holdings, the company hoping to turn 38 acres of city-owned waterfront property at the foot of the 17th Street Bridge into a mixed-use development, has asked for 30 more days to negotiate the deal – their third such request.

Council members reluctantly agreed at their Sept. 8 meeting, despite being told that ClearBlue still had not provided key financing information. This latest extension expires Oct. 12.

Prior to that meeting, Vero Beach City Manager Monte Falls was prepared to read the riot act to ClearBlue. In a sternly worded email dated Sept. 1, Falls chastised the company for failing to provide key elements necessary to the discussion – a revised concept plan, revised construction schedule, a business pro forma and other documents showing the company has a sufficient financing plan in place.

In addition, ClearBlue's attempt to file a fictitious name, ClearBlue Holdings LLC, with the Florida Department of State Division of Corporations was rejected for some reason. In the email, Falls gave them until Sept. 11 to provide the missing items.

At the Sept. 8 meeting, Falls told council members that ClearBlue had come up with most of the documents he requested, but that the financial disclosures were still outstanding. On Monday, he informed Vero Beach 32963 that the outstanding information has since been received.

A check of SunBiz.org shows that the filing for ClearBlue Holdings LLC is still listed as "rejected." However, a separate filing for ClearBlue Holdings VB1 LLC appears to have been accepted and is active, which Falls said satisfies the city.

"ClearBlue has invested an enormous amount of time and effort into this, as the city has, as well," Falls told council members on Sept. 8. "I think we all have the same goal – we want to see a positive outcome and something that's beneficial to them. I'm hopeful that we're getting closer to the finish line."

The current development team includes Clearpath Services, one of the developers that originally bid on the project in 2021. After it was discovered that the winning bidder had sent emails to city officials in violation of the Request for Proposal (RFP) rules, the city canceled the project.

Clearpath rebid the project last year and the city selected the group even though they lacked sufficient funding. So Clearpath joined with Madison Marquette, the financers behind a proposal from another development group that vied for the contract in the first selection round. That group was called The Blue. They and Clearpath formed ClearBlue.

City staff began conducting weekly meetings with the ClearBlue team after March 11, which is when the original 120-day negotiation period began. When it looked like an agreement would not be reached within that timeframe, the city extended the negotiation period by 30 days.

On Aug. 11, the day the first extension was set to expire, city council members approved a second 30-day extension. The council granted ClearBlue a third extension at the Sept. 8 meeting.

Falls said the city will go forward with the weekly online negotiations, as well as some in-person meetings.

Some council members and many residents have grown impatient at the pace of progress on the city's marquee project, which would give Vero Beach an exciting riverfront dining, shopping and lodging district for the first time.

"There's got to be progress made," said council member Linda Moore at the Sept. 8 meeting. "It can't be just spinning our wheels. And I mean, we all read the paper. We all know what's going on in Fort Pierce, and none of us want to be Fort Pierce."

Moore was referring to the City of Fort Pierce's ongoing negotiations with developers of King's Landing, a similar mixed-use waterfront redevelopment project proposed for the site of that city's former municipal power plant. Plans for King's Landing stalled after the original developer bowed out and then a new developer stalled construction and asked the city for additional funding to finish the project.

Randy Lloyd, a principle of Clearpath Services and ClearBlue Holdings, told council members, "I can assure you that there's nobody that remains as excited about this project as our team. We meet internally as a team weekly. This is a complex deal. To do a long-term lease and a long-term development agreement, it's not a 10-page document. It's an extensive document."

Lloyd said the team's subcommittees have been examining the environmental requirements and permitting for the marina portion of the project. He said that ClearBlue has also completed a hotel market study.

"The team is committed to the project and we're going to do whatever it takes to get it to the finish line," Lloyd said.

Falls said there were rumors circulating that ClearBlue wanted to purchase the property outright to help secure financing, but those rumors are untrue. Selling the property would violate the city's charter, he said.

The charter would allow the city to sell the portion of the site west of Indian River Boulevard that once was leased by the U.S. Post Office, but there has been no discussion about doing so, Falls said.

Plans call for the city to lease the property to ClearBlue for 99 years. In turn, the development team has agreed to create a vibrant, nautical Florida-themed waterfront district with a hotel, marina, restaurants, shops and numerous amenities open to the public.

The property is the longtime site of the city's "Big Blue" power plant, which closed in 2015, and the still functioning city sewer plant, which is slated for demolition in 2028.