In upscale communities, three buildings disused or abandoned were brought back to life as retail and professional office lease space. Because of their conditions, the properties had been overlooked as potentially viable commercial buildings. The husband and wife team of property investors, long time clients of my office, asked me to look at the properties to see if they could be re-imagined as attractive buildings with street appeal. On the first two properties, just a few blocks apart, I determined there was adequate space on the 2 sites to build on to the buildings for additional leasable square footage, still meeting parking requirements. Because of the desirable locations it was decided to go forward with the projects. Both building were gutted down to the original structure and re-built with new store fronts based on the type of tenants (retail or professional office) would fit the scale of the buildings best.
The third building was on an adjacent property to a large retail center already owned by the investors. On the property stood an abandoned convenience store which was a blight for the existing development. The property was purchased and a new design adding 4700 s.f. was created which encapsulates the existing building (again stripped bare) with the new materials and translucent canopy of the new contemporary design.
