What can I do with a 2000 SF, one-story concrete building?

December 16, 2008 5:10 PM

What can I do with a 2000 SF, one-story concrete building?

We went under contract recently to purchase a commercial building that looks like this: Image of Building
Our plan was to turn it into a 4 bedroom residential unit, but city permit fees, flood plain issues and green accountability are making this difficult. We would love to buy this building and do something with it, but are at a loss. It is in a downtown residential area, near a large university. The building currently has 6 or so parking spots, and is on the bus route. We are surrounded by high density college housing, but also have restaurants, bars, grocery stores, etc. The building is basically an empty shell and has 1 bathroom. The location is superb and the price is great, but other than a residence we cannot think of any uses to convince us to follow through on this deal. Any ideas?

posted by boulder20something to home & garden (12 answers total)

Start a hipster video arcade / bar.
posted by johngoren at 5:21 PM on December 16, 2008

College-affiliated gallery space? Working off-campus art studios? Pretty low maintenance on either. Lots of artists to do the work for you. Just an idea.
posted by Aquaman at 5:34 PM on December 16, 2008

1. Open a folkcraft school. papermaking, silkscreening, felting, etc. Find local experts online, they bring their own equipment, teach 12-week courses, pay you a flat fee per student/hr.

2. Is this Boulder, CO? Open a cyclists' lounge. I just made up that term, so it can be anything, right? Ring the bldg with bike racks, clean and repaint the outside with huge bike murals, cyclists come in and pay $5 to drink cappuccino, sit on comfy sofas and watch cool cycling movies/docs like that Paris-Roubaix documentary and browse through/buy cycling-themed coffee table books, accessories.

3 minutes, two ideas.
posted by planetkyoto at 5:44 PM on December 16, 2008

Some Ideas:

Turn it into a gallery so local artist can display their work.

Turn it into a music studio

Turn it into an arcade

By a bunch of inflatable slides and have kids/parents come play all day

Rent it out to martial artist, yoga, ballet and other facility dependent arts

Put a bunch of hot tubs in it and turn it into a spa

Use it as a banquet hall
posted by bleucube at 6:17 PM on December 16, 2008

Rehearsal/recording space for bands.
posted by SuperSquirrel at 6:20 PM on December 16, 2008

laundromat that serves beer and has board games.
posted by jessamyn at 6:21 PM on December 16, 2008 [3 favorites]

Paintball?

Video golf?

Mini golf?
posted by Fuzzy Skinner at 6:50 PM on December 16, 2008

I think you could do something good with the building, nice for the neighbourhood and make money if you divided it into X number of studios and a space you can rent out for yoga classes, ballet, karate, AA meetings, whatever. People are always looking for that kind of space, you know?
posted by DarlingBri at 6:56 PM on December 16, 2008

Adults-only (not as in pornographic, just as in having children around would ruin it for the adults) indoor playground. Sky tubes, slides, climbing stuff, bouncy castle, ball pits, obstacle courses. Our society is in general very discriminatory against people who happen to be underaged but this is one area in which there is "reverse" discrimination.

Also, it has a bar, but I think you'd want to stick to mixed drinks in spill-resistant plastic cups.
posted by TheOnlyCoolTim at 7:09 PM on December 16, 2008 [1 favorite]

For a while there was an indoor mini golf course in a similar neighborhood where I went to school. It was awesome. They'd have live bands in, host theme night, etc... It sadly went under in the tiny, tiny town. I miss it.
posted by piedmont at 7:39 PM on December 16, 2008

IF you dont already have a business and dont want to turn it into residential space then dont buy it. In todays economy it won't be worth it.

On HGTV they used to have a show called rezoned. IT was buildings like this that where turned into residential living space.

I say if you can handle the fees and stuff it might make an awesome home since commercial buildings seem to have a lot of space . It could be a cool project.
posted by majortom1981 at 5:31 AM on December 17, 2008

Laundromat. Residential areas can always use more of those. At least, all the ones I've lived in could.
posted by The Great Big Mulp at 5:39 AM on December 17, 2008