Historic storefront building

[Thomolli]

We are looking for a place to move our business and during my search I found an old storefront building built in 1900. It has been vacant for about 5 years and the inside was gutted and turned into 2 apartments. There is none of the original character left inside but outside is a different story.

Here are some photos of the outside now.



and here it is in 1907.


I am in love with this building! I am not sure why...it is just calling to me and for $3K, yes that is right $3000 dollars, how can one go wrong? Why so cheap? It now belongs to the city. It was foreclosed on by Wells Fargo in 2011 and left to blight the neighborhood it is in. The city had to board it, cut the grass, clean up debris from illegal dumping and finally the city had enough and foreclosed on Wells Fargo and took the building from them. It was just added to the vacant and abandoned building list that the city has for sale. It is appraised at $54k.

The inside isn't too bad. $5-7k and the upstairs apartment could be liveable again and the rent from that could help pay for the downstairs renovations.

The neighborhood is in the beginning throes of gentrification so I believe it would be a great investment. Zoning prohibits our current business from going in there

But what to put there that will succeed? The building lies in what the city calls a 'food desert' and I was thinking about a green grocers or co-op market. The city is offering grants to do just that but DH thinks I am nuts.

Am I nuts? Would anyone try this? What would you put there?

Holli

[Neighmond]

If you can make the numbers work that would be sweet! IT looks like the fascia needs some love on the front. Is it landlocked or easily accessible by car? Why is your business prohibited? Can you get a variance? Lots of .gov horse sh-- regulation to open a grocer, can you jump their hoops and still make it pay?

More pics?

Cheers!
Chaz

[Mick_VT]

It's gorgeous! I wonder if you could get a variance, especially if you proposed to put two businesses in there - one in the storefront and one upstairs / behind?

I cant speak to what business might work - a grocery or general store would need a good deal of passing trade, something more speciality might draw from a wider area and cause people to seek you out. The restorationist in me says it would be great fun to see it open as a saloon again (grin) but probably not practical or possible.

If you could do the 2 business thing then perhaps you could make the storefront a leasable unit - and aloow somebody else to come up with what to put in there.

[Bungalove]

Don't know what business to recommend but make sure there aren't lead paint and/or asbestos abatement issues before you buy. Those can really run into money.

Best of luck!

[Don M]

I like it; what is your business?

[Casey]

I would put my organ restoration business on the ground floor (those high ceilings!) and live upstairs. I would love to get into a space like this. Rig a small loading dock at the back, if the site permits it.
Casey

[Thomolli]

We own an historic window restoration business. We also manufacture wooden storm windows and do a bit of trim carpentry. The city considers that light industrial and this is a neighborhood so no zoning variance.

DH and most of our employees are certified for lead abatement and I am certified for RRP lead work, so that won't be an issue.

I talked with the city today about the property and the guy wanted to know my plans for the place. When I told him that I was planning an apartment upstairs and the grocer on the bottom he really liked the idea. The city is going to issue an RFP (request for proposal) on the building. I am going to submit mine, all they can say is no?

This area of town is struggling with food insecurity. They have numerous community gardens and farmers markets on weekends but no real places to buy produce during the week or times when no one is at the gardens. The city is offering grants to entice people to open green grocers in this neighborhood.

They have had 3 other proposals for the building none of which they are happy with.
1. Restaurant wants to put a brewery there...against the zoning. NEXT!
2. Developer wants to put in 3 apartments...zoned for 2 apartments. NEXT!
3. Non-Profit wants it for office space...doesn't really do much for the city coffers. NEXT!
and then,
4. Me, one affordable housing unit and corner grocery.

Guy from the city said I was the only one so far that had mentioned the historic preservation issues with the building so, I hope that is a plus in our favor.

I sit on the board of a neighborhood development group and have quite a few city contacts and am hoping that will also bode favorably for us.

I don't have any photos yet but the city has some posted on this website. It is the 3200 Rudd Ave. property. You have to open the link with internet explorer, I don't know what that's about, took me the longest to figure it out. But you can see the inside has been worked over pretty good.
City property sales list

[Daniel Meyer]

As an owner of a historic building (built in 1866) on the square in the same town as our Old Victorian, all I can say is if ya love the work and the old buildings, go for it...but don't underestimate the budget...or overestimate the income.

And budget for a roof. They ALWAYS need a roof.

[bfarwell]

Wow, that's really nice. I would jump at it... but then again, I jump at a lot of crazy things.

[Neighmond]

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