Indecision keeps Port St. Lucie's Riverwalk plans open

By HILLARY COPSEY
Hooters flew the coop long ago. Still, the 15,000-square-foot Promenade building sits on the canal at Rivergate Park — beautiful, but empty.

Culpepper & Terpening is just weeks away from completing the Promenade — Riverwalk's only finished development and one that's been under construction for three years. But the developer still has not found a replacement for the "delightfully tacky, yet unrefined" restaurant originally slated to anchor the building.

Hooters dropped out in 2004, citing a disagreement about the two-story building's height. Last year, Bernie Kosar announced plans for a swanky steakhouse on the site overlooking the North Fork of the St. Lucie River. That also fell through.

"It's just not the time for that," said Butch Terpening, Kosar's partner and Promenade developer. "We had other things on our plate."

As hurricanes and other problems slowed construction on the Promenade, Terpening said he decided to concentrate on finishing the building before finding tenants.

"We haven't really tried to market the property," Terpening said. "Give me a month or two."
But some City Council members say Terpening's empty building and the lack of developer interest in the rest of Riverwalk are signs of problems with the decades-long proposal for an entertainment district on the river.

"I think the vision has been over-inflated," Councilwoman Michelle Berger said. "It isn't Riverwalk. It's River-Down-the-Way-a-Bit. ... We can't make the Riverwalk because we can't walk next to the river."

The sections of Riverwalk that have moved forward in recent months — roughly 45 acres south of Port St. Lucie Boulevard slated to become a hotel and retail center and a botanical garden — are actually next to the North Fork. The Promenade overlooks a boat-launching canal off the river.

The rest of Riverwalk, a meandering 16.5 acres of developable land along Midport Road, is screened from the North Fork by acres of protected mangroves. Even developers who have shown interest in the property say the project is a difficult one requiring complex negotiations for environmental permits.

With no developer for Riverwalk North and council members still debating the right use for the property, Councilman Jack Kelly said it is understandable potential tenants would balk at signing on for the Promenade.

"With the indecision, they don't know what's going in up the street from them," Kelly said.
Still, Kelly and Councilman Christopher Cooper are searching for tenants for the Promenade in hopes the project's success will kickstart the rest of Riverwalk.

"It's a fantastic location, two major crossroads in the city," Cooper said. "I think it would be one of the biggest attractors in the city, even bigger than City Center. You just need a vision that will spark the interest of the naysayers."