NEW SMYRNA BEACH, Fla. — New Smyrna Beach City Commissioners voted unanimously to move forward with the conditions for the sale of the Woman’s Club of New Smyrna at their Tuesday night meeting.

What You Need To Know

  • The Woman’s Club of New Smyrna, located at 403 Magnolia Street, was built in 1926, and is registered as a local historic site

  • After several years working towards restoring the building, the city found additional structural problems, and determined the repairs would be cost-prohibited for the city's budget

  • In an attempt to preserve the historic site, city commissioners voted unanimously to put the property out for sale. They will start accepting proposals from individuals or corporations interested in buying the historic building

  • The requirement of the sale is that buyers can't demolish the structure and they have to honor the historical integrity of the architecture

“The city obviously recognizes the historical importance of this structure in the community. Therefore, rather than just demolishing it and moving on with the vacant lot there, at least giving an opportunity for the community to step up,” New Smyrna Beach Assistant City Manager Ron Neibert said.

The Woman’s Club, located at 403 Magnolia Street, was built in 1926. The property is registered as a local historic site. The city started working towards the renovation of this historic building in May 2018. They estimated the initial cost of repairs was going to be approximately $1.5 million.

When construction started in June 2023, the city had to stop everything when they uncovered additional problems in the building, including issues with the foundation and windows, among other structural issues. Those problems raised the amount to fix it to more than $3 million, and the city determined they did not have the budget for it. In an attempt to save the building, commissioners moved to put the property up for sale.

“Unfortunately, through the process and the time that it took to get things done, the condition of it and the renovation costs went way above more than what the city could afford, given all the other demands we have on our budget,” Neibert said.

City commissioners instructed staff to create a Request For Proposals (RFP) listing the conditions for the sale. The City received two appraisals for the property from Pomeroy Appraisal of Edgewater ($394,000) and the Urban Group of Ft. Lauderdale ($455,000). The average of these two appraisals is $424,500, which is the recommended minimum bid proposed in the RFP.

The two conditions listed on the RFP were the following: “The requirement of the sale is that they can’t demolish the structure and that they honor the historical integrity of the architecture,” Neibert said.

During the meeting, some commissioners said they were surprised at the low value of the appraisals, and expressed concerns that they would not get any proposals to buy the property. In that case, they said they would reconsider the conditions listed on the sale.

New Smyrna Beach resident Jill Ascherl lives next door to the Woman’s Club. “Very close. I think less than 500 feet.” She says when she moved in May 2019, the property was still open for business.

“I had gone to events at the Woman’s Club, so it didn’t bother me knowing that there was going to be activity going on. It’s nice just to be able to go right next door and enjoy something, and I’ve done that in the past. I didn’t know it was going to close though, and then that was concerning to me,” Ascherl said.

When asked about what she would like to see happen with the building in the future, she said she would still like to see it restored. “I’m kind of torn because, obviously, I live in a historic hall myself, and the building next door is historic. So, it would be really nice to see it brought back to its original luster and have all the events go on again.”

But as a homeowner, Ascherl says living this close to a historic building has impacted her financially. “My homeowner’s insurance is affected by the proximity of the two buildings. So, if the building was torn down, they would have to build at a greater distance from my home, and that would probably bring my homeowner’s insurance down.”

Neibert said the bid will go out on Wednesday and any individual or company that’s interested would be able to submit a proposal to buy the historic building.

“Anybody who has the desire and the means to acquire and renovate is welcome to submit a proposal,” said Neibert.

Ascherl says she would love to see something done in the near future.

“I just enjoy being in this part of the area, in the historic district and close to walking distance to everything. And it would really be nice just to see the building come alive again,” she said.