Need some nails, lightbulbs, a hose or a hammer? After April, islanders will have to cross the bridge to the mainland to make those purchases. Orchid Island Hardware – the only hardware story anywhere along the 27-mile length of the barrier island and one of only a handful of independent hardware stores in Indian River County – is closing after six years in business.
The landlord, Hale Beachland LLC, put the building where the business is located on the market last year and extended the lease until September 2017, but store owner Christian Talmadge plans close her doors on April 30.
“We just wanted to get through another season,” said Talmadge, who will move her inventory and consolidate operations at her other store, Vero Beach Hardware, on Oslo Road
Talmadge considered purchasing the property in order to stay – but the numbers didn’t work. The asking price is $2.5 million, which would have meant a $30,000 monthly mortgage payment.
Instead of buying, she decided to shut down the business.
“It’s not a decision we made lightly,” she said, adding that, if an opportunity presents itself, she would consider reopening elsewhere on the island – but it would have to be the right amount of space at the right price.
“Rents over there [on the island] are outrageous,” she said.
Orchid Island Hardware had to jump through some city zoning hoops and deal with public opposition when it opened in 2011. Before it was approved, city rules did not allow hardware stores on the island.
Talmadge’s husband, John, works in real estate and went to bat for the store, convincing city leaders to permit it.
Talmadge said she’ll miss the customers and the relationships forged at the store. She says her staff know customers by name and know their shopping preferences and needs.
SLC Commercial broker Terry Torres, who is handling the sale of the property, said he’s not sure what type of business will move into the location – but he knows that there has not been any interest from other hardware stores.
“We’ve got a lot of interest in the property,” Torres said, adding that those who have inquired are keeping their proverbial cards close to the vest.
So what could move in? The zoning allows for a hotel, a bank or other financial institution, even a restaurant.
“Everyone wants to be on Ocean Drive due to the foot traffic,” Torres said. “This [location] isn’t too far out of the way.”
The 4,479-square-foot building at 615 Beachland Blvd., at the northeast corner of Beachland and Flamingo Drive, has both west- and eastbound vehicle access and more parking than typical properties on the street, making it conducive to a restaurant, according to Torres.
The hardware store is just one of three properties in the two-block stretch between Mockingbird Drive and A1A on the market – a fourth, the former PNC Bank building recently sold for more than $10 million. The buyer’s identity in that deal is being held in confidence for now, according to broker Carol Bush, also of SLC Commercial. The two-story building was built in 1985. PNC relocated in October 2016
Commercial real estate broker Billy Moss said having three properties up for sale on that stretch of Beachland is merely coincidence. Two have been on the market for quite a long time.
“The beach is experiencing the same wave of positive redevelopment” as U.S. 1, said Moss, adding that the Beachland properties have great visibility, access and high traffic counts.
Moss said he’ll miss the hardware store, as he enjoyed stopping in to pick up a few things without having to drive to the west end of Vero Beach to the big box stores.
“There’s just not a great demand,” Moss speculated, noting that retail business on the island is very seasonal.
New home construction is booming on the beach but contractors are not likely to go to a small hardware store for their purchases.
Derek Arden, of Avison Young, is the listed agent for another building across from the hardware store, formerly the office of Premier Estate Properties, which is on the market for $1.595 million. The two-story building at 622 Beachland is owned by Ralph Glaser Jr. and has 2,000 square feet of office space on the ground floor and a second floor that could be rented.
Arden said he’s seen “decent” activity at the site but no buyers yet.
Arden said Beachland has historically been known as the financial or legal district of the island, but it’s changing.
“I don’t necessarily see it that way,” he said, explaining that the west end of Beachland close to Ocean Dr. is more geared toward retail than anything else because of the visibility, signage opportunities and traffic counts.
Dan Downey, of Berkshire Hathaway Florida, represents the third building on Beachland for sale – a narrow yellow structure tucked between Wells Fargo and Raymond James Financial at 570 Beachland.
It’s a unique property in that there is access from both Beachland and Azalea Lane and it’s narrower along the Beachland side and wider on the Azalea frontage.
It is listed at $1.99 million. Zoned for office space, it was a doctor’s office in the 1980s, Downey said.
He suspects the building will eventually be sold and used for financial or legal services. Or it might become a restaurant. “That idea has been floated in the past,” Downey said.
As for the Orchid Island Hardware property, Talmadge hopes that a piece of history will remain. Before it was a hardware store, it was a Hale Groves fruit store and it continues to be draped in beautiful trees.
She said that if the next owner tears down the building, it’s her hope that whatever is built in its place preserves the trees and is of benefit to the people of the island.
“And I hope the people of the island welcome” the new tenants, she said.
