PORT ST. LUCIE — With the bad economy stalling major commercial projects that were supposed to carry the city through the housing market bust, officials are hoping President-elect Barack Obama’s proposed stimulus package might cushion the financial fall.

Taubman Centers Inc., which originally planned to open a regional mall in Tradition in 2012, likely won’t break ground on the project until 2011, Mayor Patricia Christensen said. The Tradition outlet mall also is on hold, along with half a dozen other commercial projects, including the retail development meant to create a downtown around the $25 million Civic Center opening today.

City officials touted these commercial projects as Port St. Lucie’s saving grace after the housing market crashed in 2005. Residential property taxes would go down, but business taxes would go up. Times would be tight, but the city would survive and residents would have new places to eat and shop.

Instead, Port St. Lucie — along with local governments across the United States — is finding its financial plans a mess during the economic crisis.

Officials are looking forward to Jan. 20, when newly inaugurated Obama might make good on the promise of a $500 billion economic stimulus package. Port St. Lucie wants to get a share of that cash for road and other building projects, such as the Floresta Drive widening.

“We’ve got plans and designs just sitting on a shelf,” Christensen said. “We could put people to work tomorrow.”

St. Lucie County officials also decided in November to work with area congressmen to lobby for local governments’ share of the stimulus package. Any federal cash the county secures likely would go to infrastructure projects such as the widening of Kings Highway and Midway Road.

Port St. Lucie already plans to use $13.5 million from the U.S. Department of Housing and Development to clean up some of the mess made by home foreclosures. City officials want to use the money to buy, fix and sell foreclosed homes as affordable housing.

Councilwoman Linda Bartz, who also is a banker, pointed to the housing plan as the kind of innovating thinking cities and counties are forced to do in the struggling economy.

“Really, this is a life-changing event,” Bartz said. “If you do what you’ve always done, you really will get what you’ve always gotten.”

By Hillary Copsey, TCPalm.com

Staff reporter Eric Pfahler contributed to this report.

This entry was posted on Monday, December 1st, 2008 at 10:52 am and is filed under Economy, St. Lucie County. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. You can leave a response, or trackback from your own site.