The U.S. 1 site of the historic Hale Groves farm store – a picturesque fixture of Indian River County life for 70 years where tourists and locals alike sipped free cups of fresh-squeezed juice while stocking up on prime Indian River oranges and grapefruits – will be preserved in perpetuity as conservation land if the county commission approves the proposed purchase.

A contract signed by Hale family representative Susan Hale on Aug. 26 shows that the county has agreed to pay $2.54 million for the property that houses the now vanished Hale Groves farm store, packing house and groves.

The impending deal for 22 acres fronting on the highway and extending west toward the Indian River Lagoon, comes in tandem with the planned purchase of an 11.74-acre parcel that adjoins the Hale property to the north.

These two properties and two others, including a tract that will expand the Captain Forster Hammock Preserve on the barrier island, are set to be the first purchases in the $50-million Environmental Lands Acquisition Program overwhelmingly approved by voters in November 2022.

The Hale family was represented in the contract negotiations by its longtime broker Terry Torres, president of Bird Realty Group, Inc., while Gerard Yetming, executive vice president of Collier International in Miami, was the county’s broker.

Yetming also represented the county in the purposed purchase of the adjoining parcel, which is called the Durrance Place Property in county documents. The seller in that deal, Palm Bay Joan LLC, which bought the acreage for $250,000 in 2014, did not use a broker.

A contract signed by the seller on Sept. 10 shows a purchase price of $1,260,000, contingent on approval by the county commission.

The contract prices were based on two independent professional appraisals for each property intended to establish their fair value.

County officials say the two parcels will be managed as a single conservation property that likely will include a restored salt marsh, which will help purify stormwater before it enters the lagoon, access to the lagoon for canoes and kayaks via an existing drainage canal, and a trail through existing upland pine and palm hammocks.

The Hale Groves property already has a parking lot, so the county would not have to disturb environmentally sensitive land to create parking, restrooms or other entryway amenities, according to Beth Powell, director of the county’s Parks, Recreation and Conservation department. The land where the Hale Groves building once stood is zoned commercial, but most of the rest of the combined 33 acres is zoned multi-family residential, so the land would likely have been densely developed at some point, putting more pressure on the Indian River Lagoon.

County voters approved a $50 million bond issue in 2022 for purchasing environmentally sensitive land. The first bond was issued in June 2024 for $25 million, which must be spent by June 2027.

Properties can be nominated for purchase by county staff, environmental groups, individual landowners and members of the public. Both the Hale site and the Durrance site were nominated for the Environmental Lands Acquisition Program by a neighbor, Chrissy Trujillo, Powell said.

A panel composed of professionals with backgrounds in natural resources, planning, engineering, real estate and finance, plus volunteers from all five county districts meet monthly to review and rank nominated parcels.

The Hale Groves property and three other parcels where purchase contracts have been negotiated all were judged by the committee to align with the county’s goal of “acquiring environmentally significant lands to restore the Indian River Lagoon, protect water resources, wildlife habitat and natural areas, and construct public access improvements.”

After the contracts have been reviewed by the county’s bond counsel, commissioners will consider accepting and countersigning them at their Oct. 7 meeting.

After the contracts are signed, the county has 60 days in which to perform its due diligence, Powell said. Then, if everything checks out, the contracts go back to commissioners to be executed.

The Hale Groves store got its start as a small fruit stand opened in 1947 by World War II Navy veteran Steve Hale and his wife Polly Hale.

Success followed as the stand grew into a substantial grove store and packing house and Hale became the largest shipper of fruit gift baskets in Florida.

Hale opened several other retail outlets over the years, on the island and mainland, and thrived for many years during the golden age of Florida citrus up until 2006 when the fruit shipping business was sold to Indrio Brands – though the Hale family retained ownership of the property at 9300 U.S. 1.

The colorful old grove store stayed busy for a number of years after the acquisition, but eventually succumbed to a changing market for fresh fruit and the decline of the citrus industry brought on by greening.

The store closed in 2017, and Torres offered the building and land for sale or lease for the next five years, with the cavernous structure looking shabbier each year, succumbing to weather and time. He had a lot of lookers, but no one ever pulled the trigger and the former store and packing house was demolished in 2021, leaving just the land for sale.

Again, there were plenty of nibbles from prospective buyers but no deal until the county came calling.

The county will name the new conservation property after the famous citrus family, inserting this ironclad clause into the sales contract:

“Buyer acknowledges the Hale family’s longstanding contributions to Indian River County’s citrus industry and the historical significance of the Hale Packing House as a community fixture. In recognition of this heritage, Buyer agrees that the Hale family name will be incorporated into the public-facing identification of the property following acquisition, in a manner mutually agreed upon by Buyer and Seller, to honor and preserve the family’s legacy. This provision shall survive the closing of the transaction.”

Anyone who would like to nominate an environmentally significant property for preservation or learn more details about nominated or purchased parcels can go to: indian-river-county-elap-ircgis.hub.arcgis.com.

The next meeting of the ELAP panel is Oct. 21 at 5:30 p.m. at County Administration Building B, 1800 27th St., Vero Beach. The panel will be ranking the second and third round of nominations.