STUART, Fla. — The developer of a new Costco being built in Stuart provided WPTV with a tentative timeline of the project Friday.
"As promised, we're constructing the Costco – and the connector road between Kanner Highway and Willoughby Boulevard – before any other elements of the project," Tom Cosgriff, project manager for M&M Realty, told WPTV. "Accounting for the fact that every construction project is at the mercy of various weather factors, we hope to have the new Costco complete and ready for the public to enjoy in an estimated 18-month period."
Based on the timeline provided, the new Costco is expected to open in the summer of 2025.
M&M Realty also provided new renderings of the project, which sits on 49 acres of land east of Kanner Highway, about a block south of Martin County High School.
The project includes a 162,000-square-foot Costco store with 18 gas pumps, as well as 378 apartments, stores and restaurants.
But it's been met with opposition by some Stuart residents since the project was first proposed in 2021, citing traffic and environmental concerns.
Robin Cartwright filed a legal challenge to stop the project from moving forward that same year.
An administrative judge initially ruled in Cartwright's favor, saying the city "failed to consider the maximum development potential made available" by designating it a neighborhood special district.
"The [land-use] amendment is not supported by a professionally acceptable methodology that analyzes the availability of central water supply, wastewater services, and traffic impact on the level of service of Kanner Highway and adjacent roadways," Judge Francine M. Ffolkes said at the time.
But a state panel led by Gov. Ron DeSantis overrode the decision in January, saying the city had given the site a proper land-use designation.
Cartwright withdrew her latest appeal, and there is no ongoing litigation.
M&M Realty is moving forward with the project. Excavators were seen clearing the land at the site earlier this year.
"We issued a tree removal permit with some conditions, and we also issued the site work, which includes drainage and infrastructure," Stuart Development Director Jodi Kugler told WPTV in May.