Port St. Lucie's long-planned professional soccer stadium received final site-plan approval Monday, and city officials say construction on the 6,000-seat venue could be underway before the end of 2026. The City Council gave final approval to the stadium site plan at its Nov. 9 meeting, setting the stage for a project that has been years in the making along U.S. 1.
Council Signs Off on Site Plan Months Before Construction Target
The approval, confirmed by city officials, clears the path for ground to be broken on roughly six acres of city-owned land at Walton Road and U.S. 1, part of the broader Walton & One development, according to TCPalm. The stadium site sits adjacent to the MidFlorida Events Center, placing the future venue inside an existing entertainment corridor rather than an untouched parcel. Jennifer Davis, the city's director of community and economic development and its liaison to the soccer club, said the team is pushing hard to meet an end-of-year construction target. “They're trying to break ground before the end of the year,” Davis said, according to the same report.
City officials have described the project's price tag as falling somewhere between $50 million and $80 million, a range that has shifted over the past year of public discussion. A report from WQCS pegged the cost at $55 million in November 2025, while a separate TCPalm report from October 2025 said the estimate had since climbed to about $80 million. More recent coverage has settled on the broader $50 million-to-$80 million range, underscoring how much the numbers have moved as the plan has evolved.
Funding Keeps Taxpayers Off the Hook, Officials Say
Financing for the stadium is expected to come from a mix of team money and up to $27.5 million in tax-increment financing, the same TCPalm report states, with officials saying the arrangement would not touch existing taxpayer dollars and would not leave the city financially liable if the project were to fail. Separate reporting from WPTV described a $27 million reimbursement structure paid out over 20 years, subject to annual approval. A filing reviewed by Redevelopment.net indicates the operating agreement names the city's Community Redevelopment Agency tax-increment financing as the sole mechanism for any future reimbursement, rather than the city's general fund. That same filing shows the developer must post a performance bond equal to 120 percent of the estimated project cost, giving the city a financial backstop if construction starts but is never finished.
The club itself, not the city, is responsible for planning, execution and construction of the project, officials have said, and Port St. Lucie has held continuing meetings with the club's owners as details have been worked out. The City Council is also expected to meet with the city's Community Redevelopment Agency to finalize additional elements of the deal.
Club Targets 2027 Kickoff, Stadium Opening Pushed to 2028
Even with construction potentially starting within weeks, the club could begin playing games as soon as March 2027 using a temporary home pitch while the permanent stadium is finished, according to the TCPalm report. The stadium itself is scheduled to open in early 2028 — a later timeline than a 2025 WQCS report had suggested, when the venue was described as slated for a 2027 opening. The club has not identified where that temporary pitch would be located.
Port St. Lucie Soccer Club previously unveiled renderings of the planned 6,000-seat stadium, which is designed for use beyond matchdays. The club is owned by a founding group that includes Gustavo Suárez, Paulo Suárez and Agostina Galimberti, Argentinian sports entrepreneurs and business people. Once it begins play, the club would become the city's second professional sports team, joining the St. Lucie Mets.
The team plans to compete in USL League One, the third tier of the U.S. professional soccer pyramid, below USL Championship and ahead of USL League Two in the league structure. The United Soccer League also operates a women's side of the sport through its Super League, which began play in 2024 and competes directly with the National Women's Soccer League, as well as the W League. Port St. Lucie's club has said it plans to field its own women's team alongside the men's side.
The club is already accepting ticket deposits for the 2027 season, with season tickets starting at $180.
