If you see a caravan of classic luxury cars – or car carriers laden with vintage Porches and Ferraris – crossing the Wabasso bridge from the island to the mainland later this year, they will, almost certainly, be headed for MotorHaus 3.0, the latest luxury garage project from engineer Joe Schulke and builder Vic Lombardi.

After months of sitework and other preparation, the dynamic duo’s team erected nine solid concrete buildings totaling 92,000 square feet this month, starting on Feb. 2 and finishing early this week.

That dramatic display of construction power and expertise was preceded by months of logistics and sitework – and lots of sales.

There are 78 units in the 8- acre garage condo complex at 7420 U.S. 1, behind Chill and Grill. They range from 920 square feet to 1440 square feet, with preconstruction prices from $249,000 to $429,000. There’s also a single 48-foot by 48-foot, 2,300-square-foot super-unit on offer for $629,800.

By the time the precast concrete walls were swung into place by a 140-foot-high, 350-ton crane, 70 percent of the units were already sold. A single buyer snapped up an entire 12-unit building, which will be customized to create three 4,000 square-foot bays.

Most of the buyers come from the barrier island, including a number from Windsor and Orchid Island Golf & Beach Club, and Schulke says the largest units have been purchased almost exclusively by “car guys,” connoisseurs with large collections of rare and valuable cars.

That is the clientele that inspired the luxury garage trend back in 2019, when Lombardi, Schulke and several partners from Schulke’s engineering firm built AutoHaus, a 37-unit project on 12th Street near Dixie Highway.

When that project turned into a big success., Schulke and Lombardi followed up with Indian River MotorHaus, a 17-unit project at 4235 U.S. 1 that sold out before the foundation was poured.

With would-be buyers left over, the partners launched Indian River MotorHaus 2.0, a $25-million, 97-unit garage condo development on 41st Street, a few blocks west of U.S. 1.

Schulke and Lombardi are “car guys” themselves. They kept a 2.0 unit that they share where they have four corvettes from the 1970s – including one with an engine completely rebuilt by Schulke – along with a Dodge Viper and other cars on occasion.

“Some of the guys buying big units for their collections have single cars worth five times what all of ours are worth together,” says Lombardi.

Schulke says 22 car collectors have so far purchased units at 3.0, where large stock units can easily fit more than a dozen vehicles.

Besides wealthy car collectors, buyers include people who own Class A motor homes, expensive boats, fancy trucks and other “big boy toys” they don’t want exposed to salt air or vandalism at storage lots.

Regardless of what is stored, whether it’s his and hers matching Maseratis, oriental rugs or antique furniture – possessions will be safe within the fortress like buildings, which can withstand the fiercest storms. The fenced campus will bristle with security cameras while individual gate codes keep access tight.

The units have 12’ x 14’ or 14’ x 14’ impact resistant automatic garage doors and 20-foot-plus ceilings that provide space for optional car lifts and mezzanine levels to maximize space and functionality.

The precast 8-inch-thick concrete walls, which were poured and cured onsite, are heavily reinforced with an internal web of steel and rest on massive 16-inch by 36-inch footings 2.5 feet below grade. They are welded to steel plates embedded in the monolithic foundation/floor pads, which also rest on the big footings and are 15 inches thick at the edge where they abut the walls.

Job superintendent John Zuefle says it took 500 concrete trucks pouring 20 million pounds of liquid stone to complete the buildings, including foundations and walls.

Steel web/bar trusses designed by Schulke and fabricated in Fort Pierce to Lombardi’s specifications, lock the tops of the walls together and support the insulated metal roofs.

By any measure, these are solid buildings that will last for centuries, barring catastrophe or redevelopment. Despite their bunker-like structural strength, though, the buildings will also be attractive and architecturally impressive, designed in the same cool, minimalist Bauhaus style as the first two MotorHaus projects. 

And the finished units can easily be upgraded to serve as luxurious hangout spots where island car collectors, RV owners or boaters can spend time with friends or family turning wrenches or watching big games, while enjoying the sight of their corvettes, Grady Whites or multimillion-dollar motor homes.

The units come pre-plumbed for bathrooms with showers and kitchenettes, with electrical hookups for RVs. Air conditioning, Wi-Fi and backup power are all available.

“We had a lot of guys at our prior project, MotorHaus 2.0, who spent hundreds of thousands of dollars decking their units out into deluxe man caves with mezzanines, bars and kitchenettes,” Lombardi told Vero Beach 32963.

Schulke expects up to 45 percent of the units at 3.0 to be customized with luxury features. Owners can contract with the partners for upgrades or hire their own contractors and tradesmen.

The latest MotorHaus location is just 1.2 miles south of the Wabasso Causeway, a location the partners picked to attract customers from north island communities. “The Wabasso bridge serves Windsor, Orchid and John’s Island,” said Schulke.

“At 2.0, we had a number of customers who told us that they wished the project was closer to their north island homes. They said if we built one close to the Wabasso bridge, they would sell their 2.0 unit and buy a unit in the new development.”

That has since happened, with resales at 2.0 fetching as much as $100,000 more than they sold for new a few years ago, bolstering Schulke’s sales pitch to new buyers – the garage condos aren’t just built for Armageddon, they also increase in value, making a nice addition to personal balance sheets.

Another big benefit to owning a MotorHaus unit – especially if the unit is customized – is that both structural strength and luxurious fittings make them perfect hurricane shelters for people as well as possessions. While others are fleeing north on I-95, looking for hotel reservations in Orlando or Atlanta, owners will be able to rendezvous with family and close friends in the safety of their concrete condo, whether plush or bare, confident that the lights will be on and food and drink at hand.

The triangular project site includes a large conservation area with a pond at the tapered end, which ups the cool factor further, adding an ecological sheen to the community.

“We moved 400 trees to preserve them and make a nice, parklike section at the southern end,” Schulke says.

The partners have discovered a lucrative, previously untapped niche in the Vero Beach property market and maximized it on a large scale – with 230 units complete or underway so far – and their success has drawn national attention.

“Haggarty, the insurance company that insures exotic cars, contacted us while we were working on 2.0,” Lombardi says. “They wanted to talk with us about taking the concept national, but we were so busy we didn’t follow up with them.”

Haggarty insures 1.8 million classic cars, supercars and other exotic vehicles, according to its website – which would fill a lot of garages.

“I have had numerous calls from developers wanting to partner with us or hire us as consultants for luxury garage projects,” Schulke says.

So far, the partners have resisted the urge to take their concept to other markets, either on their own or with partners.

Both men are juggling multiple projects in their busy professional careers. Schulke says his firm, Schulke, Bittle & Stoddard, took on more than 150 new engineering and land-planning projects in 2025 – and that was on top of hundreds of existing projects the company continues to shepherd through multi-year design, permitting and building processes. Meanwhile, Lombardi has multiple $10-million-and-up custom home projects on the island in planning or construction phases.

“We will have four underway this spring,” Lombardi says of Waters Edge Estates, his blue-chip 32963 custom home and spec building business.

“If we were to do this in Stuart or Orlando, we would have to hire a local engineer to oversee it,” Schulke says. “Here, we are close to the project site and can fit the extra work into our schedules, but we would not be able to constantly drive back and forth to Orlando with everything we have going here.”

Here, too, the partners have a reliable team of subcontractors that has stayed with them through all three MotorHaus projects and become expert in the specialized tilt-up construction process. Here they know the ins and outs of the county land-planning and permitting process and personnel and have an ideal showroom close at hand.

Preconstruction buyers can easily be shown the completed project and finished units at 2.0 just a couple of miles away if they need extra convincing.

“Joe does most of the sales,” Lombardi says. “In Orlando, we would have to hire a broker, which would be five percent right out the door.”

As for a potential MotorHaus 4.0 in Indian River County, the partners say they have not decided yet.

“I’ll know this summer,” Schulke says. “If this sells out quickly and there is still demand – if I keep getting phone calls from people who want to buy – then yes, there will probably be a 4.0. But it depends on the land, too. It isn’t easy to find parcels big enough with the right zoning that are close to the island.”

In the meantime, Lombardi and Schulke expect to complete MotorHaus 3.0 by September, with owners moving their prize possessions into their units in October.