FLORIDA/GOSHEN—The Wonderbar on Goshen’s Market Street has seen better days, but to Robert Knebel, the new owner of the three-story, brick building, it couldn’t be more perfect.
Knebel, a Warwick resident, is a general contractor and real estate investor who has flipped several buildings in the Village of Florida, including his own office on North Main Street.
He got into real estate because, as he put it, “there’s no retirement for a guy in construction.” He buys old properties at a low price, fixes them up, and then eventually recoups the costs through rent.
Walking down Florida’s Main Street he points to the four buildings he has invested in and all the changes he has made. He has increased the property value of the village so much, he said, there are no more affordable properties left to buy.
“To the point where I went to the next guy that has a dilapidated building and I asked him if he would sell it, and he goes, ‘Sell it? You just doubled the price of my building,’” he said.
Seeing no more potential for development in Florida, he has set his sights on Goshen because of its historical charm and potential for economic growth, especially once the Government Center opens.
“I think that Goshen is a gem,” he said. “It’s a diamond in the rough that needs to be polished.”
The other determining factor in his investments is the attitude of local government towards investment.
