ComReal’s John Lonardo has brokered the sale of the Vero Furniture Mart, a “Main Street” Historic Landmark at the northeast corner of 14th Ave. Main St. & 20th St. (Rt.60) Vero Beach, Florida. The City of Vero Beach celebrated its Centennial in 2019
The “Main Street” American Beaux Art Era building was designed by Frederick Trimble in the Spanish Mission revival style was built at the Intersection of then Osceola Blvd. and Seminole Ave by Farmer’s Bank in 1914. The bank failed in the Great Depression and thereafter was occupied by Indian River Citrus Bank. In 1983, the buildings were sold to The Vero Furniture Mart.
Daniel L. Lawing, Seller, sold the buildings to Grace Jackson, LLC, “Skip” Van Cel, Manager. (The entity name “Grace Jackson” comes from Mr. Van Cell’s two rescue dogs.) The buildings total 24,000 Square Feet on a 13,000 square foot corner land site with 230’ of street frontage in five buildings. It sold for $700,000.
The new ownership plans to restore the exterior of the buildings to display their original architectural features. Van Cel is looking to convert a portion of the ground floor space to “micro retail” bays of 300-500 square feet to offer artisans and online merchants an affordable brick-and-mortar presence in the vibrant Vero Beach “Main Street” downtown district.
Van Cell envisions his plans to include an art gallery and vintage furniture and clothing store catering to the local residents of Vero Beach. The second-floor spaces in the buildings will be redeveloped to take advantage of the varied mixed-use categories permitted within the “Downtown District” zoning. In addition, The Vero Furniture Mart (Lawing) plans to leaseback space at the building for a new furniture boutique and continue and extend its presence of over 45 years in The City of Vero Beach.
Daniel Giannuzzi of Duffy Realty represented the Buyer in the transaction. John Lonardo, CCIM, Broker for ComReal | Miami-Coral Gables, LLC represented the Seller. John Lonardo has a track record in the niche sale and lease of historic commercial buildings in the South Florida market.
He may be contacted at: jlonardo@comreal.com and 305.213.4050.
