Viera, Florida: Brevard's New City

History and Highlights of Viera

Viera was formed by the Viera Company, which is a subsidiary of A. Duda and Sons. Ground broke for the new community on August 4th, 1989, the name Viera meaning “faith” and derived from the Slovak language in honor of Andrew Duda, who emigrated from what is now Slovakia during 1912. Beginning in 1990, the property beside I-95, owned by the Duda family, was turned into the Cocoa Ranch; a new town using the land for a multitude of different opportunities, such as housing, offices, industrial and medical parks, as well as shopping centers and recreational facilities. A total of 622.7 acres have been donated by the Duda family to various organizations.

In 1990 the DRI, or the Viera Development of Regional Impact, was approved for approximately 3,000 acres that made up Viera East. Construction then began in 1992 on what would eventually become Viera East. The expansion of a 6,000-acre land was approved in 1995 by Brevard County as a Substantial Deviation to the initial DRI. In 2006, an application was created for the Substantial Deviation #2 and eventually approved in planning the final community expansion. Said 11,567-acre land expansion includes 5,112 acres of land set aside for protective land, conservation areas, open space, and parks.

The 44,000-acre River Lakes Conservation region consists of the 5,112-acre Viera Wilderness Park and the 14,000-acre Cocoa Ranch, which was purchased and possessed by the St. John's River Water Management District in the time of 1999. More real estate is to be turned into parks, areas of preservation, and open space. This is in hopes it will raise the actively managed protected land in Viera above 50 percent. With the quick development of Viera came the Harry T. and Harriette V. Moore Justice Center and the Brevard County Public School Board.

Attractions