Refresh, Renew, Restore

Cocoa Beach: REFRESH, RENEW, RESTORE

The Old Petro Plumbing Building

Cocoa Beach Refresh, Renew, Restore is a series of articles which feature buildings and places around Cocoa Beach that are reinventing themselves in different ways to add to the character of this great little town. In return, these renovations are helping to keep our little slice of paradise the perfect place to live, work, and play.

Last month, we introduced you to the first feature in this series. We spotlighted the new Downtown Parking Garage that is slated to be open in early summer. This month, we take you on a journey through the renourishment of the old Petro Plumbing building.

The before of the front of the building!

We all remember the yellow Petro Plumbing building on the southbound side of A1A in Cocoa Beach. Petro Plumbing moved to Merritt Island and put this iconic building up for sale. When the forsale sign went up, Rick and Andrea Bastien started the ball rolling on their new labor of love! Rick was recently retired and looking for a project; boy did he find one! This was the couple’s first venture into any kind of remodeling or construction, but they had a vision and the dedication to see the job to completion.

In late May of 2017, the Bastiens closed on the property, and by December of the same year, they were well underway transforming the old commercial warehouse building into the beautifully rejuvenated mixed-use structure of today. The updated location was set to host businesses on the bottom floor and two living units on the top floor.

The entire structure was gutted and fitted with custom-built steel beams and trusses in order to support the new second floor. The fact that the building was being constructed as a mixed-use building brought about its own set of challenges such as internal firewalls and a special fire sprinkler system on every level including the attic. Of course, like always happens with any well-laid plan, delays occurred sending a ripple effect through the entire construction process since many times one project had to be completed before the next one could begin.

Before construction was completed, Rick and Andrea obtained tenants for the first floor commercial areas of the building. Oasis Shaved Ice and Infinity Yoga and Ayurveda jumped on board to utilize the brand-new space! With tenants signed for the new areas, the focus became getting the first floor completed as quickly as possible. Both businesses opened on March 1, 2018— only four short months after construction started.

With the first floor complete, focus could be turned back to the upstairs apartments which are used for BNB/short-term rentals. Rick buckled down and focused on the construction while Andrea turned her attention to outfitting the units for a perfect get-a-way in Cocoa Beach. Facebook Marketplace, Craigslist and estate sales became weekend rituals as Andrea began filling their home’s garage with furniture, decorations, and other necessities for a rental home.

September 1, 2018, the date the Bastiens received a certificate of occupancy for the second-floor units, must have seemed like a national holiday to them. Months of planning, organizing and hard work had finally come to an end for them, and for Cocoa Beach, we have a beautifully rejuvenated iconic building enhancing our community. To take a closer look at the new vacation rental units, check out their website at cocoabeachvacay.com.

The finished upstairs BNB/short-term rental units.

A Thank You From Rick Bastien

I would like to mention a few local people who were very instrumental in the building completion.

—Tim & Mike Mangin, owners of American Custom Restoration, Cocoa Beach. They did the complete demolition and build-out of both floors & the massive deck in the back. They did most of the construction work and did an awesome job.

—Jim & Laura Emory, owners of Keystone Engineering, Cocoa Beach. Our initial partners who helped get us started and provided us with the excellent architectural drawings and advice.

—Bob Hoog, owner of Hoog Electrical Corp. of Cape Canaveral.

—Tech Systems Roofing & Waterproofing, Inc. of Melbourne. Installed the new roof and painted the building.

—Matt Wagy, owner of Matt Wagy Services, Inc. of Cocoa Beach. Installed all of the carpentry, finished and detailed work in all four units, including all cabinetry, doors, molding, second story flooring and all custom woodwork items.

—Barrett Custom Fabrication of Melbourne completed the custom railings & Bahama shutters.

Our two commercial tenants, Stephanie and John with Infinity Yoga and Ayurveda and Vicki Tyner with Oasis Shaved Ice, are long-time Cocoa Beach residents and business owners. Like us, they saw the potential of the building’s character and location to enhance their own downtown businesses.