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“Persistence: firm or obstinate continuance in a course of action in spite of difficulty or
opposition”. — Oxford Dictionaries 

Way back in early 2016 an old friend and fishing buddy Scott Deal, founder of Maverick Boat Group invited me to a quiet lunch with a singular purpose in mind, to recruit my assistance in finding a building large enough and geographically close enough that he could expand his very crowded 77,764 SF Marine Manufacturing Facility into a new satellite operation. Deal was mindful that the improving economy was leading to boat orders that his Company Supplied Dealers were clamoring to fulfill, placing additional delivery pressure on an already stressed manufacturing line.
After investigating some 24+ Buildings and not an un-fair amount of what Deal would refer to as “Train Wrecks” over a period of 6 months, no existing facility proved to be suitable in both size, location and utility. As we came to determine, the initial acquisition tied to renovation and upgrades soon made it apparent that constructing a New Building would be justified, if not only from a cost perspective, but that of the specific Marine Industry Manufacturing Requirements specific to the larger outboard powered boats that Cobia, Hewes, Pathfinder & Maverick Boat Group Customers were asking for. Also of paramount importance to the Client was the need to “Keep the Location Local”, as the concerted effort at training and retention of their 276 person Skilled Treasure Coast Workforce was a key component of the intended expansion of their capabilities.
We examined at least seven sites and after careful investigation, placed under contract a well located 36 acre site within a mile of their existing Treasure Coast Airport Industrial Park Facility. Unique to the new property was the fact that it had been a sand-mine in its former life, (now appearing as overgrown lakefront property), with a few challenges including endangered species and on how to best position the new Building envisioned by Deal and his team. As the light industrial zoned site had been previously engineered for multiple smaller buildings and had to work around the constraints of the existing lake, the opportunity to fast-tract with Local and State-wide Jurisdictional Agencies with the assistance of a strong team of environmental, hydrogeology and geotechnical consultants, engineers and the St Lucie Economic Development Council permitted the Applicant to proceed with the project within a 7 month period, and with groundbreaking in January of 2018, Maverick Boats was off to a fast start and building Boats by July of that year.
The Maverick Boat Group expansion represents a $6.68 million capital investment in the local manufacturing project and will provide over 100 new jobs in the Fort Pierce Facility adding to their existing 276 person workforce, many of whom have been with the company in excess of 8 to 10 years.

During this time of Marine Industry Expansion, Pat Murphy and I listed and began to advertise a 79.46 acre Light Industrial Tract located south-east of the Treasure Coast International Airport. Although the subject site was well positioned on St Lucie Boulevard, with appropriate Zoning, preliminary approvals and Utilities, it was also home to several endangered and protected species, making future development less certain and difficult.
Fast forward to August of 2018, when Malibu Boats Inc. purchased Pursuit Yachts in Fort Pierce, just west of the 79 Acres.
Pursuit knew that the recently completed 45,000 SF expansion of their own facility located west of and adjacent to the vacant light industrial acreage was going to be insufficient for their future needs, and Malibu as the new Owner was going to need to expand the manufacturing capacity of Pursuit in line with their investment goals. In order to re-locate certain production tooling to Fort Pierce from Michigan where Pursuit had previously built some of its larger Yachts, they planned a new slate of manufacturing additions in support of their product line, so they worked to place the 79 Acres that we represented under contract. Early on we were able to work closely with Pursuits management and identify a team of consultants necessary to plan & facilitate their objectives, as well as garnering the assistance and support of the St Lucie Economic Development Council, the State of Florida and Saint Lucie County Commissioners.
Pursuit who owned 30 acres of vacant land adjacent to its existing facility already knew that it’s own company land held a colony (or several colonies) of Endangered and Federally Protected Florida Scrub Jay’s, so they along with their team of Environmental Consultants quickly developed a preservation plan and over a ten month period worked with local, federal and State Agencies to establish Saint Lucie County’s first Scrub Jay Mitigation and Protection Area, south of their existing facility. The Principals and Agency Partners then agreed to Dedicate this land in concert with the proposed expansion of Pursuit onto the new lands to the east, creating over 67.7 combined acres of dedicated Upland Preserves and over 9.2 acres of Lakes and retention areas.
As a result of this planned new development Pursuit will be permitted to construct a new 400,000 SF Manufacturing Facility on the balance of their combined 131 Acres which supports a capital investment of $18.5 million dollars and will not only enable it to retain 462 existing jobs but create 200 new jobs in conjunction with its planned expansion and growth.

We are proud to have been part of the Lead brokerage selected to assist in both the representation of the Land but also in helping to identify the Team of Professional Consultants and Agency Partners necessary to bring this project and others to fruition and support the expansion of local Jobs to the Community.

About Philip Strazzulla
Philip P. Strazzulla is one of the established members of the Coldwell Banker
Commercial Paradise Realtors’ Team in the Fort Pierce Office. Mr.
Strazzulla is a third-generation Treasure Coast resident who attended local
Schools, The University of Florida & Florida Atlantic University graduating with
a Bachelor’s in Business Administration & Real Estate. Mr. Strazzulla has over
twenty-nine years of combined Land Development, Project Management,
Community Development and Commercial Real Estate Experience within various
private, agri-business and corporate real estate endeavors. He will assist in
any property search, site information and documentation requirements in
finding the appropriate real estate investment. He has experience as a Citrus
Grower and Rancher for over 7,600 acres of Corporate Family Holdings. Mr.
Strazzulla assisted in the development and sale of company owned lands,
including Commercial Shopping Centers, Golf and Country Clubs, (Wycliffe,
Stonebridge, Sundial) Residential Communities, and planned Municipal
Community Districts in 4 Florida Counties. He has focused on Treasure Coast
Residential and Commercial Real Estate Projects over the past 29 years and
has completed over 520 sales and leases in excess of $450 Million in
transactions during his commercial real estate career. Mr. Strazzulla has past
board affiliations with the Saint Lucie County Farm Bureau, Indian River Citrus
League, USDA Citrus Administrative Committee, SFWMD Ag Advisory
Committee, FDOC Research Advisory committee and Indian River Housing
Authority. He holds memberships in the Regional Beaches and South Florida
Realtors MLS Systems as well as reciprocal affiliations with the Realtors
Association of Indian River County, Coldwell Banker Commercial and the
National Association of Realtors.

About Coldwell Banker Commercial Paradise
Coldwell Banker Commercial Paradise is the premier provider of commercial real estate
solutions on Florida’s East Central Coast. Formed by the merger of commercial real estate
scions, Ed Schlitt and Hoyt C. Murphy, CBC Paradise has been serving the real estate needs of
clients since 1950. CBC Paradise is an industry expert in commercial real estate sales and
leasing for all property types including retail, multi-family, industrial, investment, office and
land.  As a full-service commercial organization, CBC Paradise offers an array of services
including sales, leasing, property management and investment consulting. CBC Paradise is the
only full service commercial real estate company on Florida’s Treasure and Space Coast offering
long-standing in-depth local experience combined with the global reach of Coldwell Banker
Commercial. For more information, visit: CBCommercialParadise.com.

About Coldwell Banker Commercial Affiliates

Coldwell Banker Commercial ® is a registered trademark licensed to Coldwell Banker Real
Estate Corporation. Since 1906, the Coldwell Banker Commercial brand has been a premier
provider of real estate, recognized globally as a company that puts the client first while
delivering individual, distinctly different service. Coldwell Banker Commercial affiliates cover
territory throughout North America, South America, Europe, Africa, Asia and Australia.
Coldwell Banker Commercial is an industry leader in providing commercial real estate
solutions that serve the needs of tenants, landlords, sellers and buyers in the leasing,
acquisition, disposition and management of all property types. Each office is independently
owned and operated. For more information, visit: www.cbcworldwide.com.