Kings Highway in Fort Pierce: When Relocation Costs More Than the Land

On the first segment of Kings Highway in Fort Pierce, FDOT has budgeted more to relocate what sits on the land than to buy the land itself. The department is rebuilding State Road 713 from a two-lane rural road into a four-lane suburban divided roadway with a median, sidewalks, and a shared-use path. The strip out front may appraise modestly. Moving a business off it does not.

Those are two separate claims, paid through two different systems, on two different clocks, and most owners learn about the second only after settling the first.

Is FDOT Still Acquiring Right-of-Way Along Kings Highway?

Yes, and FDOT’s own numbers say the moving bill is the bigger one. In the adopted five-year work program for July 1, 2026 through June 30, 2031, the segment from north of I-95 to north of Commercial Circle carries about $5.5 million to purchase right-of-way in fiscal year 2027, plus a separate relocation phase of roughly $7.7 million across fiscal years 2027, 2028, and 2030. FDOT’s status for that segment reads “right-of-way acquisition begun.”

On that segment the department has programmed about $2.2 million more to relocate what sits on the land than to buy the land.

The next segment north, Commercial Circle to north of St. Lucie Boulevard, carries about $8.2 million of right-of-way purchase in fiscal year 2027, with construction not scheduled before 2033. Right-of-way for the northernmost stretch, St. Lucie Boulevard to Indrio Road, sits in fiscal years 2030 and 2031.

The stretch from I-95 to Angle Road holds about $34 million of construction money in fiscal year 2027, and Angle Road to Commercial Circle about $54 million in fiscal year 2031. FDOT’s project page still lists a July 2026 letting, but as of this writing the project appears in no District Four or Central Office letting list and no contractor has been awarded. Owners who act before the design and acquisition schedule harden keep leverage that vanishes once a contractor mobilizes.

Jimerson Birr represents Florida property and business owners in condemnation matters brought by the state, counties, municipalities, and utilities. We research corridor projects at the work program item level, the same way we trace the right-of-way phase for other FDOT corridors, so you walk into the first meeting knowing how your project is funded and scheduled.

Why Relocation Can Cost More Than the Land FDOT Buys

A widening usually takes a narrow frontage strip that appraises low, while getting a business off that strip is a construction project. Site work, signage, permits, a replacement lease, equipment reinstallation, and downtime have nothing to do with the square footage in FDOT’s appraisal. What the move costs and what the program reimburses are different numbers.

What Does the Relocation Program Actually Pay?

Actual reasonable moving and related expenses are reimbursed without a dollar cap under the federal relocation rules at 49 C.F.R. Part 24, and both owner-occupants and tenants are entitled to them. That is the largest payment most displaced businesses receive.

The capped categories are where money runs out:

• Up to $33,200 to reestablish a small business at the new site. It will not fund construction of a new building, and will not buy capital assets or inventory.
• Up to $5,000 to search for a replacement site.
• Instead of claiming actual expenses, a fixed payment of $1,000 to $53,200 based on average annual net earnings.

No payment is made where the agency finds you already received a payment elsewhere with the same purpose and effect. A denied or underpaid claim is appealed to the agency, which must allow at least 60 days from written notice, then through Florida’s administrative process, never to the condemnation jury.

The gap between what a move actually costs and what the relocation agent will approve has to be recovered, if at all, in the condemnation case.

What Does the Condemnation Case Pay For?

By statute, the jury determines solely the value of the property taken, damages to the remainder on a partial taking, and, for mobile homes, reasonable removal or relocation expenses. Florida courts have held that moving costs are not part of constitutional full compensation; they reach a jury only as a measure of statutory business damages.

That leaves two claims worth developing, because neither carries a statutory ceiling.

• Severance damages, which measure what the taking did to the value of what you keep. Lost parking, a lost left turn, a truck route that no longer works, and a driveway or access change all live here. Cure costs are evidence of lost value, not a separate award.
• Business damages, a statutory claim for the probable damage the taking causes to an established business.

Widening projects also frequently include temporary construction easements over parking and loading areas, separately compensable and deserving their own scrutiny.

What Business Damages Can a Kings Highway Business Claim?

A business can recover probable business damages, but only if it clears every element, including a length-of-operation test that is commonly misstated. Under section 73.071, Florida Statutes, the claim requires:

1. A partial taking, not a total taking of the parcel.
2. A public condemnor, such as FDOT, a county, or a municipality, condemning a right-of-way.
3. The same party owning both the land taken and the business.
4. The business located on adjoining lands owned or held by that party.
5. The business established more than five years, for any taking on or after January 1, 2005.
6. The claim pleaded in the owner’s written defenses.

The older four-year threshold still circulates, but it applies only to pre-2005 takings.

The Deadline That Ends the Claim

Under section 73.015, Florida Statutes, a business owner intending to claim business damages must submit a good faith written offer to settle, with supporting business records, within 180 days of FDOT’s notice. Absent a showing of good faith justification, the court must strike a late claim. FDOT then has 120 days to accept, reject, or counter, and silence counts as a counteroffer of zero dollars.

Once the 180 days run, the claim survives only if a court accepts a good faith justification for the delay, a far worse position than filing on time. If a notice has reached your Kings Highway business, talk with our eminent domain team now.

Do Tenants Along the Corridor Have Their Own Claims?

Yes, and FDOT must make a good faith effort to notify business owners operating on the property, including lessees. A tenant’s right to reimbursement of moving expenses tracks an owner-occupant’s, and a leasehold interest can hold compensable value.

The commercial lease usually decides the fight. A condemnation clause can assign the whole award to the landlord, preserve the tenant’s claim, or say nothing useful. Read it before anyone signs.

What Should Kings Highway Owners Do Right Now?

Every step below is easier before suit is filed, because filing shifts leverage to the condemnor.

1. Calendar the 30-day window. FDOT must give you at least 30 days after the notice and written offer before filing suit. Neither that window nor the first offer is a ceiling.
2. Request the file in writing. The authority must produce the appraisal, the right-of-way maps, and the construction plans within 15 business days of your request. The maps show what is actually being taken, which is often not what the agent describes.
3. Preserve more than five years of records. Exactly five years of tax returns, balance sheets, and profit and loss statements will not clear the statute.
4. Read the order of taking if suit is filed. The quick-take procedure lets the department take title on deposit, and an owner who never requests a hearing waives that objection.
5. Watch for permanent damage without a taking. Construction that permanently redirects drainage or destroys reasonable access can support an inverse condemnation claim even where no parcel was condemned.

Who Pays for Your Lawyer and Your Accountant?

Florida’s condemnation statutes require the condemning authority to pay the owner’s reasonable attorney’s fees and costs, including a reasonable accountant’s fee where business damages are compensable. Fees are set by the court on the benefits achieved, meaning the difference between the final judgment or settlement and the agency’s last written offer before the owner retained counsel.

Because that baseline locks in when counsel is retained, the presuit negotiation phase is where the record gets built. Entitlement still depends on the outcome and the court’s determination, so talk with a lawyer early.

Talk With Jimerson Birr About Your Kings Highway Property

If FDOT has contacted you about property near Kings Highway in Fort Pierce, talk with counsel before responding to the offer.

Jimerson Birr represents Florida property owners, businesses, tenants, and developers in condemnation and compensation disputes. Our real estate development and construction and eminent domain teams read the offer, the right-of-way maps, the lease, and the relocation file together, because those files pay for different things.

Kings Highway is not the only acquisition in St. Lucie County. Owners here also track SFWMD takings in Martin and St. Lucie Counties, Turnpike widening, and District Four’s pipeline.