After languishing for years, the vacant three-parcel property on U.S. 1 where the defunct Press Journal building used to stand is being prepared for its next iteration – as the site of a storage facility, a carwash and a fast-food restaurant.
With the newspaper building demolished, “site work for the new development is under construction,” says Vero Beach Planning and Development Director Jason Jeffries. In January 2023, the city’s planning and zoning board approved a decidedly uninspired site plan for the 3.8-acre property between 18th Street and 18th Place. It includes a three-story, 72,642-square-foot self-storage facility; a 2,500-square-foot restaurant; and a 4,200-square-foot car wash.
The self-storage building will come hard on the heels of the massive CubeSmart Self Storage facility recently completed just around the corner on 20th Street, where it sits next to a restored historic home on land that many Vero residents wish had been used for more creative redevelopment.
Meanwhile, there are two big tunnel carwashes within a quarter mile, one a short distance south and one a short distance north on U.S. 1.
According to Jeffries, site plan modifications were approved on Sept. 18, and a building permit for the self-storage facility was applied for on Jan. 24. “A building permit for the carwash was applied for last December, and is currently under review,” Jeffries added.
“Modifications to the site plan for the carwash were applied for on Feb. 27 and also are under review by City Planning and Engineering.”
In 1996, the Schumann family, Press Journal founders and owners, sold the newspaper to Scripps. By 2015 Scripps had relocated the dramatically downsized newspaper’s staff, leaving the building on U.S. 1 empty. Bill Summers bought the property for $1.4 million, but it again sat dormant.
In December 2020, longtime island resident and auto aficionado Wayne Gould purchased the land and building with plans for a classic car museum similar to a car museum he has in Tulsa, Oklahoma. That project fizzled by early 2022 and a For Lease sign went up.
The property consists of a 2.03-acre piece, plus two smaller parcels that total 1.74 acres. In August 2023, the owner sold one of the smaller parcels that fronts on U.S. 1 to carwash company Busy Bee for $2,725,000.
The larger parcel on the west end was sold to SROA Capital on Nov. 30 for $3 million, according to public records. West Palm Beach-based SROA Capital describes itself as a “vertically integrated private equity real estate and technology platform focused on investing in self-storage,” which operates under the brand Storage Rentals of America.”
