Port pushes forward with Cove redevelopment

The transformation of Port Canaveral's Cove district is officially underway.

Port commissioners on Thursday unanimously approved a team led by Sooner Investment Co. Inc. to develop the restaurant and entertainment area.

The 53-acre site would include new retailers, restaurants and still-to-be-determined entertainment venues, and would have a "portside village" theme. The idea is to "create a regional destination" for tourists and area residents, according to Matt Taylor, a consultant to the port on the project.

Sooner, which has offices in Melbourne and Oklahoma City, plans to invest $40 million to $50 million on buildings for the project, Taylor said. Additional construction by restaurants and of a proposed upscale hotel could boost total private investment to $60 million to $80 million.

Existing tenants at the Cove would not be displaced by the new development, Port Canaveral Chief Executive Officer John Walsh told commissioners.

Jason Steele, a real estate consultant for Sooner on the project, said Sooner has been working to get upscale tenants such as restaurants like The Capital Grille, Chart House, Joe's Stone Crab and Seasons 52; the outdoors company Cabela's; and Whole Foods.

"We think the demographics will attract these people," Steele said. "It's going to be the thing that brings North Brevard, Central Brevard and South Brevard together. This is going to be the cat's pajamas."

Steele, director of government relations for Smith & Associates, said potential entertainment attractions at the Cove include a zip line, a laser light show, an ocean club, concerts and art shows.

Five companies originally sought to be designated as developer of the project. Sooner Investment and Zilber Ltd. of Milwaukee emerged as the two finalists earlier this year.

Taylor said an analysis of the finalists by his firm and a panel of Port Canaveral officials found that Sooner was the clear-cut leader in such things as providing private equity to the project; having extensive retail and restaurant development experience; minimizing the port's financial risk; and having a plan that complements existing Cove tenants.

"Sooner just rose to the top," Port Commissioner Frank Sullivan said. "There was no comparison."

Sooner's initial design concepts also include a boardwalk area, a round-about with a fountain and a sheltered stop for proposed "trolley" service between the port and Cocoa Beach.

As Sooner begins making deals with tenants, port officials also will finalize the master development plan with the firm, which should be ready by next summer.

The general concept is that the port will provide the land, Sooner will develop the buildings, and they both will share in the profits.

The Cove area is just west of the site where the port's new Cruise Terminal 1 is being built. The geographic relationship between the Cove and the cruise terminal, which is scheduled to open in November, is likely to create additional business for restaurants, retailers, entertainment venues and the hotel.

Taylor called Thursday's commission action "a great milestone day," and said the project will help existing Cove tenants, as well by making the Cove a tourist destination.

The redevelopment will "raise all boats with the rising tide," said Taylor, who is national director of land use and market strategies for C&S Cos.

It took about one and a half years for the port to reach this step in the Cove redevelopment process, as it sought out community input.

"It has been a long time," Canaveral Port Authority Chairman Tom Weinberg said. "We wanted to get this one right."

Contact Berman at 321-242-3649 or dberman@floridatoday.com. Follow him on Twitter at @ByDaveBerman.