Compound Redevelopment Action Plan (April 2025)

In November 2024, the City kick-off a land revitalization study, focusing on Port Malabar Unit #53 of "the compound", funded by the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) Land Use Revitalization Technical Assistance Program. The study will result in a report that will serve as a next-steps action plan to encourage catalytic moves that will stimulate economic growth of “the compound”. The Technical Assistance provided by EPA Region 4 is valued at $100,000, with no match required by the City, and was a result of a nomination by East Central Florida Regional Planning Council (RPC). This study will complement and building upon the Compound Existing Land Use Analysis conducted by the RPC and adopted by Palm Bay City Council on April 4, 2024.

• Compound Redevelopment Action Plan
• Attachment 1: Project Kick-Off Webinar
• Attachment 2: Financial Analysis Phase 1
• Attachment 3: Financial Analysis Phase 2
• Attachment 4: Financial Analysis Phase 3
• Attachment 5: Financial Analysis Phase 4
• Attachment 6: Commercial Real Estate Market Assessment
• Attachment 7: Final Webinar / Presentation

Brownfields Assessment Grant

The compound has been named as a priority site in a $1.5 million brownfields assessment grant awarded to the Resilient Corridors Coalition, led by the East Central Florida Regional Planning Council (RPC). In May 2024, the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) announced more than $300 million in Brownfields Multipurpose, Assessment, and Cleanup Grants awarded across the nation. The East Central Florida Regional Planning Council (RPC) received a $1.5 million Brownfields Assessment Grant to be used community-wide over the course of four years. The grant will be administered by the East Central Florida Resilient Corridors Coalition (Coalition), which includes the cities of Kissimmee, Apopka, and an area of south Melbourne – with RPC as the lead agency. Brownfields grant funding can serve as a vital economic development tool to foster redevelopment and reuse of key commercial and industrial sites in communities where there is real or perceived contamination. Grant funds can be used to conduct Phase I and Phase II Environmental Site Assessments on identified sites, the cost of which can be a barrier for certain development opportunities.

The priority site is an area of Palm Bay referred to as “the compound”, which remains undeveloped as a result of a pre-platted community by General Development Corporation - pre-dating the incorporation of the City of Palm Bay. The compound is comprised of Port Malabar Units #51, 52, and 53 spanning approximately 2,492 acres in southwest Palm Bay and containing 4,978 parcels - largely quarter-acre single-family residential lots having 2,755 unique private property owners across the world. Basic infrastructure installed by General Development Corporation, which includes approximately 200 miles of now-aging roads, stormwater ditches, outfalls, canals, and headwalls. There is no existing water, sewer, or electrical infrastructure within "the compound".

At the start of the 2025 calendar year, the City will bring forth a Memorandum of Understanding between the RPC and the City of Palm Bay to formalize the partnership and use of the grant funds. The RPC will kick off grant deliverables, including community engagement opportunities, identification of parcels, collaboration with property owners, site assessments, and other eligible activities. The City welcomes the public to visit www.pbfl.org/brownfields for more information as updates become available.

Located in the southwestern area of Palm Bay, the area known as the Compound is an undeveloped area of approximately 2,942 acres. The area is a former General Development Corporation (GDC) site, with development that began in the 1980s. When GDC went bankrupt in 1991, development stalled and the land that makes up The Compound was liquidated. The Compound remains largely undeveloped aside from the roughly 200 miles of roadway, and basic stormwater infrastructure such as ditches, outfalls, canals, and headwalls installed by GDC.

Today, the area known as the Compound is mostly privately owned and zoned for residential use, although the City of Palm Bay owns the paved roadways. Of the area’s 2,942 total acres, only 278.4 acres are City-owned with several parcels being future right-of-way for roads, stormwater, or future parks. Aside from the city, there are over 2,700 unique owners in the Compound, thus creating a barrier for an organization to assemble large tracts of contiguous acres for development. 

Another challenge presented in developing the Compound is the lack of utilities in this area. There is a lack of water, sewer, and electricity in this area and the lines will need to be brought in, which creates another barrier of cost to bring in utilities and the entire area is located in a flood zone.

View map of area known as "The Compound".