What’s ahead for Space Coast development? Everything from luxury homes to high-tech
Brevard has been on a building boom lately, a trend likely to continue in the coming year.
Development is expected to be robust in 2025, particularly in the residential sector, including single-family homes, apartment complexes and hotels.
Commercial and industrial projects also are proceeding throughout Brevard County, as are projects at the Space Coast’s colleges.
Port Canaveral CEO John Murray said he saw record amounts of lumber and plywood coming through the port’s cargo terminals in November and December — an indication that the housing industry is about to rebound in the second quarter of 2025.
“This is how things work in the global markets,” Murray said.
So what’s ahead for construction and development along the Space Coast in 2025? Here is a sample from throughout the county:
Residential projects in Palm Bay
A number of residential projects are underway in Palm Bay, as Brevard County’s most populous city adds to its current population of just over 140,000.
Palm Bay Deputy City Manager Joan Junkala-Brown said that there are 9,264 housing units within the city that have been approved and are under construction. Another 21,133 units are going through the review process.
Junkala-Brown said one of the big projects that has been approved is Cypress Bay West, near Babcock Street and Mara Loma Boulevard in southeast Palm Bay. It’s a three-phase project that is targeted to include 1,219 single-family homes and 124 townhome units. The single-family homes are being is being developed by D.R. Horton.
Another is the Palm Vista Everlands project, which has a mix of 854 single-family homes and 624 multifamily villas and townhomes, including some in age-restricted communities. The site is not far from St. Johns Heritage Parkway, north of Malabar Road, in northwest Palm Bay. There will be three subdivisions in which Lennar Homes is the developer.
Palm Bay high-tech expansion
Junkala-Brown said two high-tech companies are in the midst of large expansion projects in Palm Bay.
L3Harris Technologies has two major projects currently under construction at its Palm Bay campus.
L3Harris’ Project SAMT — an acronym for secure advanced manufacturing technology — currently is constructing a 105,000-square-foot facility. The project is projected to create about 100 jobs over three years, with private capital investment of $110 million, $80 million in manufacturing equipment, plus $11 million in business personal property.
L3Harris’ Project LEO — an acronym for low-earth orbit — is under construction as well, with a 93,000-square-foot facility. The company projects 101 new jobs over three years, with private capital investment of $70 million in building construction, plus $13.1 million in manufacturing equipment.
The projects received approval from the Palm Bay City Council for city property tax breaks over a 10-year period. The combined property tax breaks are worth an estimated $1.14 million a year during each of the first five years, with reduced tax breaks later on, Junkala-Brown said.
Another company to receive city property tax breaks was Rogue Valley Microdevices, an Oregon-based semiconductor company that is developing a facilty at 2301 Commerce Drive in Palm Bay, with a grand opening tentatively scheduled for mid-2025.
Rogue Valley is occupying and renovating an existing 50,000-square-foot facility, investing about $25 million in private capital for equipment and facility improvements. Rogue Valley projects an addition of at least 75 jobs over a three-year period.
Junkala-Brown said the Palm Bay City Council approved tax breaks for Rogue Valley over a seven-year period, with the incentive of nearly $570,000 a year during each of the first four years, with reduced tax breaks later on.
Striking a balance in Titusville
Titusville City Council member Sarah Stoeckel said one of the big residential projects underway in the city is The Shores at Tranquility, located north of the NASA Causeway, along the Indian River Lagoon shoreline.
This project is being built in phases, with Phase 1 consisting of 99 single-family homes, Phase 2 consisting of 104 single-family homes and Phase 3 consisting of 75 single-family homes. Additional phases are planned for the future, along with a marina and a town center on the site.
Stoeckel said residential developments like this one also help generate interest in national retail and restaurant companies locating in Titusville. An example is the planned Panera Bread restaurant, in a smaller “urban store” format, along State Road 50/Cheney Highway.
But Stoeckel cautions that Titusville must strike a balance between new residential development and commercial development, while also focusing on infrastructure improvements, and preserving wetlands and green space areas.
“Everything has to align perfectly, and everything has to have balance,” Stoeckel said.
Stoeckel said the City Council and Titusville’s Community Redevelopment Agency are working to devise plans to spur more development downtown, including shops, restaurants and service businesses.
Stoeckel — who has been a City Council member since 2016 — said city officials also must work to resolve the split among Titusville residents, some of whom want more development and others who want to keep the city’s “small-town feel.”
Separately, a developer is continuing his effort to transform the site of Titusville Mall (formerly known as Searstown Mall) along U.S. 1 into a multiuse complex. The developer is hoping to include a hotel, an apartment complex, an assisted-living faculty, retail space, restaurants, a medical complex and other offices on the site.
Margaritaville project in Melbourne
Melbourne Mayor Paul Alfrey said he expects construction of the Compass Landing by Margaritaville resort project to be moving forward in 2025, after experiencing some economic roadblocks that delayed construction.
“This has been a long road, but, as the financial climate has improved for the developer, construction can begin again,” Alfrey said. “It has been a bumpy road for Margaritaville.”
Compass Landing by Margaritaville is planned for 4.6-acre riverfront site just south of Cherry Street on U.S. 1. Plans for the tropical-themed Melbourne Margaritaville include a seven-story hotel facing the Indian River Lagoon; a two-story restaurant building with 400 seats; a 221-slip marina; a 14,000-square-foot lawn with stage for concerts and events; a four-level parking garage; and a public boardwalk.
Melbourne-based Certified General Contractors was selected as the general contractor for the project.
“We’re super-excited about it,” Certified General Contractors Vice President Corey Runte said. “Everything is moving forward,” with construction expected to begin in March or April on the two-year project. Pre-construction work already is underway.
Apartment community at former Sears site
Runte’s company also is working on a 240-unt apartment community in Melbourne at the former site of a Sears department store, near the intersection NASA Boulevard and Babcock Street.
Runte said construction is underway on the $58 million project, called Midtown Melbourne, with completion scheduled for early-2027.
The former Sears itself will be repurposed and renovated into a self-storage facility. The remainder of the site will be redeveloped into the luxury apartment community, with eight buildings, four stories tall.
Among the amenities at Midtown Melbourne will be a clubhouse, resident garages, a pool, a dog park and green space.
More than $7 million in site upgrades will be invested toward stormwater, infrastructure and other upgrades.
The developer is Inlet Property Co. and the management firm will be Madison Communities, with Certified General Contractors as the civil engineer.
West Viera residential development
Construction is continuing at a strong pace in West Viera, one of the faster-growing areas of the county.
Here are details on some of the residential projects from Eva Rey, senior vice president of community management and communications for The Viera Co.:
Aripeka: This is a 260-units, gated “eco-community,” which Rey notes has “wooden gates, natural landscape, and lakes framed by majestic live oaks and mature sable palms.”
“These features speak to a focused and deliberate effort made to work with the existing land, rather than clearing it and replanting.” Rey said. “Our development team drew lot lines that preserved natural areas, realigned roads, created landscape islands and preserved native habitats.”
Future amenities will include a clubhouse, a playground, an outdoor pavilion and trails.
Crossmolina: Enhanced designs for a total of 314 single-family homes, of which 154 are attached duplex villas, are in this Viera Builders neighborhood. Amenities include a central pool, shade canopies, a playground and benches.
Farallon Fields: This is Viera Builders’ latest community, with new lot sizes in a gated section of the neighborhood being releasing for sale soon. The area has a broad variety of home designs, with a total of 576 units. Amenities at Farallon Fields include a community pool and pavilion, a playground with a tot lot and open recreation spaces.
Hotel projects from Cape Canaveral to Palm Bay
In addition to the Margaritaville complex in Melbourne, there are a number of other hotel projects in the pipeline along the Space Coast. That includes eight hotels with a total of 948 rooms projected to open in 2025, according to Space Coast Office of Tourism Executive Director Peter Cranis.
Here is a rundown, with their potential opening month — although construction timelines often are pushed back:
- Melbourne: Fairfield Inn & Suites Melbourne, 85 rooms, January.
- Melbourne: Springhill Suites Melbourne-Palm Bay, 128 rooms, January.
- Viera: Homewood Suites Viera-Melbourne, 131 rooms, February.
- Cape Canaveral: Hyatt Place Cape Canaveral, 150 rooms, March.
- Viera: Hilton Garden Inn Viera, 208 rooms, June.
- Cape Canaveral: Hilton Garden Inn Cape Canaveral, 156 rooms, November.
- Palm Bay: Motel 6, 45 rooms, December.
- Palm Bay: Studio 6, 45 rooms, December.
EFSC Center for Innovative Technology Education
Construction is proceeding at Eastern Florida State College‘s Melbourne campus on a new Center for Innovative Technology Education for the training of high-tech workers.
The $20 million facility is scheduled to open next August, with programs that can lead to bachelor degrees, associate degrees and college certificates.
EFSC President Jim Richey said the complex would “set a high standard in Central Florida to meet the surging workforce demands for local business and industry. As such, it will be a critical component in creating jobs and helping ensure the continued economic growth of the Space Coast.”
The 31,500-square-foot building will feature labs that can be configured to provide students with access to software used by high-tech employers, simulation labs and collaboration areas where students can work together to solve problems in real time.
The center will support students in various programs, including…
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