Everything New & Coming Soon To Vero Beach, FL

Vero Beach is about to look completely different. I'm talking $250 million development on Old Blue on the Indian River. Luxury communities coming to town that are going to have a small format Publix in them and barrier island communities building out to be the last new builds for a community that remain on the barrier island. So, let's break down everything that's happening that should be on your radar for Vero Beach, Florida. I'm Sally Daley. I've helped over 300 families find their slice of paradise here in Vero Beach. It's important for you to know the data as well as what's happening that you need to know about because it could affect your decision making.

So whether you're trying to find your slice of paradise or you know you want to come to Vero and you're actively looking, this video is for you. Let's see where Vero is headed. The biggest project on everybody's radar is known as the three corners project. What the heck is that? Off our barrier island, there was an old blue power plant that's no longer producing power. It's been decommissioned. We call it Big Blue. Well, Big Blue sits on an enormous parcel of land on the Indian River owned by the city of Vero Beach.

So, the city of Vero Beach is saying now that we don't need that for electricity anymore, what's the future of this site to become? After lots of chats and community charettes, they did an RFP to developers to say, "What's your vision for what this could be?" There was a variety of ideas and they drilled down to a couple of finalists that are now potentially talking about working together to fashion a sensational new asset for everybody to enjoy. combination hotel, outside dining, marina that's going to be literally at the gateway to Vero as you're coming across one of the main bridges.

The question is, is it going to happen? How is it going to get funded? What's going to become of it? The city is not selling the land. So, right now, the plan is it would be a lease that would be developed. Some people say that was a swing and a miss because it jurers developers who don't want to pour a lot of money into land they don't own. But the people that responded to the RFP have exciting plans and they're fine with that business model. So where we are now is both parties are seeing can they work together to get a plan and can they get funding to develop what is going to be a very exciting project for all of Vero Beach.

Construction is slated to begin soon. So provided they get their funding and that's a big proviso by 2028 2029 the downtown Vero and the entry into Vero right off our main bridge will look dramatically different and we are going to have a worldclass multi-use multiszoning hotel marina restaurant scene to enhance the existing lifestyle in Bau Beach and there's residential news to know about too some exciting times times in Vero Beach on the barrier island. Some of our last parcels are getting built out. Sealass up on the northern part of the barrier island.

There's a beautiful GHO project. Shout out to them. They do great work. Beautiful oak canopy. Beautiful houses. All new houses instead of maybe you bought a new house in an older community where you might be the one new house set amongst ones that are older. Sealass is getting built out. And on the south beach part of the island, the southern part of the island, there's a couple of interesting projects along A1A where there's going to be three houses that are up already and almost completed. And then there's two on Club Drive which are going to offer walkable proximity to town.

So there are new projects happening in rifles areas on the barrier island. And on the mainland, there's exciting projects like the reserve at Grand Harbor, which is offering newer homes in Grand Harbor, which is so well regarded. A golf course community with a beautiful beach club membership completely optional. That's happening. And the homes are beautiful. Also being done by GHO. And then out west of town, there is a very large community being built with more of a wellness vibe to it that is in planning and zoning and just got its final site approval.

There's even luxury rentals happening along Indian River Boulevard. So just off the island. So there are a bevy of interesting residential projects that you should be aware of. And even a builder that we've often talked about but here to for has never been to Vero Toll Brothers. Yes, I said Toll Brothers are here now doing a small project along the northern US1 corridor in between Vero and Sebastian. So there's some exciting residential things to keep on your radar as well. Now let's talk about some up andcoming exciting projects to be on your radar for the future of all things educational and cultural.

Well, our beloved Vero Beach Museum of Art on our barrier island set inside Riverside Park has unveiled a very substantial, lovely, beautiful expansion to its existing facilities. It's going to continue to offer beautiful art exhibitions and education programs such as those they have with FAU and extended learning programs as well as programs for the kiddos. It's being funded right now. There are renderings out there that are sexy and sensational, but they befit existing building. It's a really exciting enhancement to one of our most beloved institutions in town. So, that's the Vero Beach Museum of Art expansion.

Number two, there's a very interesting school expansion. St. Edward's school is a gem for Vero Beach. Everybody loves it. My daughter went there. It was one of the reasons why we moved here. That said, choice is good. A several local Vero Beach folks came together and said, "We think there might be a need or a desire for another fine educational institution option. This one's being called Vero Classical I think is what it's being called and it is focusing on a curriculum that at its core is traditional arts and classical education strong valuebased education curriculum and they have done so well that they are already looking for land and have a master plan to build a brand new facility.

It's going to be a wonderful secondary option for those of you that look at St. Edwards and maybe sometimes it's full. It's going to be a wonderful option for folks that are willing and able to pay for a private school education for their kids. And they're doing so well. They intend to grow as the kiddos grow up through school. So their master plan right now, I think they have K through four or five and as the children age, they plan to expand the offerings and the long range plan is to be all the way K through 12.

So, we've done artistic, educational, sticks and balls. Everybody loves to play, especially in Florida in Vero where we're tucked just inside the tropics and we don't ever have any really hard winter. Well, there's an exciting new facility, Quail Valley Club, one of our most popular clubs, is doing a really interesting project out by the hospital just off the barrier island into the hospital district. They are doing pickle ball, padell, all things balls and sticks to expand their offering range and also hopefully will allow some people that are currently on the waiting list to open up and participate in the many amenities there.

That's a very exciting kind of mixeduse project. They're doing it in conjunction with doing homes at the back end and the amenities are going to be at the front end. There's even some night life, if you will, that is going to be happening. A bunch of local guys went together and they bought a recent restaurant that used to be a kind of a a wine bar with small plates. They have purchased it and they're redeveloping what's going to be called the Pelican Club and it's going to be a membersonly private social club, not unlike the private social club model that's going crazy all over the country.

Another interesting and super fun thing that again serves to help as our population gets younger and younger here in Vero Beach, more and more activities to service that age range. There's even an interesting kind of collab going on over by a wonderful micro brewery that we have and it's over in the warehouse district over by the airport and they're going to be doing kind of an open call where it's like a warehouse feeling with different food truck stations permanently inconced live music. So there is lots going on on the social scene as well.

So let's talk about commercial real estate for a minute. A lot of us are now buying online and so it leaves the question of what do we do with all these commercial buildings. This is a conundrum that's facing communities all over the United States. Well, we have some interesting dynamics going on in Vero Beach. There's a very savvy guy named Mike Rector. Shout out to him who was a visionary. He saw a beautiful old diesel power plant in Vero Beach, a beautiful brick building, and said, "This is a cool space and I can envision it." A lot of people were afraid of it cuz it had some EPA issues attached to it.

Mike said, "I'll buy it for a dollar. I'll do the cleanup on my dime and I'm going to make it into a very dynamic micro brewery." And that he's done. We now have what's called American Icon Micro Brewery. I think it's been around for 10 or 15 years. And it's so beautiful and so much fun and such an instant institution that Mike then said, "I want to take the same vision and help other parts of Vero Beach in its commercial area." So, he's taken on parts of our commercial corridor along US1 South where Hurricane Wings is.

Shout out to that whole area. It looks beautiful. It looks better than it did. I'm sure it's helped him rent for more than it did. and it's all a visual and visible sign of progress in Vero Beach. It's super exciting and a shout out to him for having the vision to do it. So, the question becomes, what of retail? Our downtown area along the old downtown area along 14th Avenue has long since figured out that it needs to be specialty retail, art galleries, restaurants with outside dining, and it's now a vibrant scene.

The 14th Avenue vibe on the mainland is fabulous. Once a month they have a stroll the first Saturday of the month where the galleries stay open. It's a really great vibe and a really great mix of ages and people. Super fun. So that retail corridor has it kind of sorted out and it's figured out what to do to succeed. The challenge comes in traditional bricks and mortar attached stores, not like Meisner open air. Shout out to our mini mener which is known as the village beach shops on the barrier island.

The McLaclin's Joan and her husband bought that shopping plaza brought it up to the current level where it needed to be visually brought in a really beautiful mix of merchants and it is now like our mini meer park and it's fabulous. So what does that leave? Well that leaves frankly our traditional mall that back in the 80s and 90s were the bees knees. Everybody went to the mall. It was just a thing. Many of them have shuttered many of the stores in there. The question is what is really the future of that space and what is now the highest and best use of that space.

And I guess that's a way of saying stay tuned. The tricky part is the out parcels. Those department stores, most of them own their spaces. So you may talk about redeveloping the inside. What do we need? Do we need flexible workspace? Do we need rental apartments? Do we need senior living housing or a mix of all of the above? It has to be contemplated in the context of merchants that maybe own their real estate and it's not the same person that owns them all. So that's a to be continued and that's something that's vexing communities all over the country, but we'll figure it out.

Vero always does and eventually it'll get sorted out into something that is what the community needs. So stay tuned. So what does all of this development mean for you if Vero Beach is on your radar? Whether it's residential, commercial, or educational and institutional things that are happening and sports and fun things to do for recreation. Well, a couple of things. One, it's going to continue to support an infrastructure that now appeals to a wider range of buyers than it did in the past. You know, people used to think Vero Beach was Zero Beach, and it's not anymore.

The average age, since we've been here over 20 years, gets younger and younger and younger, and some of these new offerings are there to support everybody, including a a younger buyer. Number two, redevelopment of things like our mall, whatever that's going to be, and having the big blue on the barrier island just off the mainland, whatever that's going to be a hotel. There's more there. There's more offerings for residential areas to buy. So, it gives you as a buyer more flexibility. flexibility in where you want to live and maybe what you have to pay because some of these new communities are able to offer incentives that private sellers cannot.

So quite often if you're coming to town and you're saying, "I want to spend my time out at those new pedel courts. I don't want to have to worry about my yard work, etc." Well, some of these new communities could be really interesting options for you. And builders, as you probably know, have the ability to offer incentives for purchases that a lot of John Q public as a private seller cannot offer. So, it's going to give you more variety and what to do when you're here, places to live. Good, good, good.

All better for you if Vero Beach is on your radar. And if you're a seller in Vero Beach, what does all this good news mean for you? It is great news. There's more reason for folks to consider Vero Beach. That said, talk to your trusted real estate advisor or DM me. Happy to talk to you. Understand the lay of the land. Think like a buyer. I'm coming to town. I've got a specific amount of money that I want or can spend on a house. What are my options? They might not all be on the multiple list.

They might be in new communities that never appear on the multiple list, but you need to know about cuz they could be your competition. What are the kind of things you can do to make your house look as new as possible and offer incentives? Like maybe offering a dollar amount to buy down a rate for an interest rate reduction for your buyer if they want a mortgage. Think like your buyer and say make it easy to say yes to you if you're thinking about selling your house in Vero Beach. So the bottom line is there's changes happening as there always are in Vero Beach.

But again, the good news is it's to appeal to a really broad range of ages and ranges of interests and lots of different areas from cultural to educational to housing to commercial. And again, it's all happening in the context of the overlay of low density, height restricted to make sure it doesn't go crazy town. So, it's all good, but it's all going to affect where the market is going. So, whether you're a buyer or a seller, if Vero's on your radar and you want to be in the loop about what's going on that could affect you, subscribe to get the latest news as I publish it.

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