VERO BEACH — Commercial renovations like the one underway at the Kemp’s building on Ocean Drive aren’t as dramatic as major new construction but they have wide-reaching impacts just the same. Owners, tenants, architects, contractors, and neighborhoods benefit when a building is updated and improved.
The 12,000-square-foot Kemp’s building a block north of Sexton Plaza is owned by Vero Beach investors Hamilton Arden and Steve Baily under the company name BAM Building Associates LLP and is managed by Vero Commercial Properties.
Besides Kemp’s Boutique and Shoe Salon, the other main tenant of the office and retail building is Norris and Company Real Estate.
Longtime Vero Beach architect Lynn Silkwood did the renovation design.
“The Ardens have had the idea in the drawer for a while,” he said. “We wanted to give the building more of a beach or island feel and give that corner a new look.”
“Other than routine maintenance and replacing some windows, the building had not been remodeled since it was built,” says Tony Della Porta, president of Della Porta Construction, the general contractor in charge of the job.
“We see a lot of owners who want to make their buildings more marketable to prospective tenants or keep current tenants happy by giving buildings a refreshed look. All the tenants I’ve spoken to really like the renovations.”
“It was time,” says Derek Arden, coowner of Vero Commercial Properties. “The building is fully leased, so we didn’t do it to attract new tenants, but it needed some attention. We wanted to upgrade it and bring it up to code for wind resistance.”
Della Porta and his sub-contractors replaced 11 bay windows and eight door-and-sidelight entries with impact resistant glass rated to withstand 140-mile-an-hour winds.
They also replaced the old-fashioned, French Quarter-like wrought iron railings on the balconies and stairs with new Bahamian-looking railings, repainted the building a beachy sea-foam green with white trim, and reconfigured what Della Porta calls the building’s iconic entrance.
That entrance, which faces the intersection of Acacia Road and Ocean Drive at an angle, was notable for its expansive glass wall that rose two stories to an elegant arch.
Maintaining the airy open look proved difficult because of new code requirements for glass openings put in place when the Miami Dade building code was adopted statewide in 2004.
To solve the structural problem, Silkwood designed and Della Porta poured a concrete beam and columns that divides the space into sections that match the dimensions of impact resistant windows manufactured by SMI, the supplier selected by the architect and window subcontractor Central Windows.
“We went with SMI windows in part to match the existing architectural elements,” says Jason Short, an engineer with Central Windows. “The main entrance was redesigned to keep the visual appeal while making it more functional at the same time.”
Derek Arden says the landscaping will be touched up when the construction work is finished.
“When we moved in two years ago, they said they were going to upgrade the building and it is nice to see them following through with it,” says Kemp’s Manager Meg Offutt.
Commercial building and renovation has been somewhat of a bright spot in the construction industry in 2011, according to Indian River County Building Division Director Jose Guanch.
Public records show there was a 20 percent increase in permits pulled for new commercial construction and a 10 percent increase in permits pulled for commercial remodeling in the first nine months of 2011 compared to the same period in 2010.
“There is some life in that part of the market,” says Silkwood, “You can do a little bit more now than you could a few years ago for the same amount of money.”
Silkwood said most commercial renovations are being done with private money, which avoids problems with banks that are still being very stingy with construction loans.
“It’s been sporadic, but there has been some good activity over the summer,” says Arden. “It seems like things are picking up.”
When asked if he has any other renovation plans in mind, Arden laughs. “I am always trying,” he says. “We are talking about the building on the northwest corner of Ocean and Beachland where Raymond James was. That is 3,000-square-foot space we would like to turn into retail if we find the right tenant.
“It was a brokerage office for very long time, but it would be a great, high-visibility location for retail. We would like to fix it up and put someone in there that will generate more traffic on the beach. We will rent to a good office tenant, of course, but we are willing to do some renovations to attract retail.”
