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YouTubeI work in Marysville at Honda so I don't want to drive any further than I have to. Right now I live in Dublin and its perfect. Does anyone know where I could get a lofted condo similar to what there is back home in Chicago? All I want is an old converted junk warehouse turned into an upity studio / large open room. I know there are places like this downtown but what about in the outer burbs? Any help would be appreciated.
Columbus Underground Messageboard » General Columbus Discussion » Q&A
Q: Are there hip lofts available in the suburbs?
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shroud
Polaris
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I think you're probably going to be out of luck on this one... Most of Dublin is just too new to have this kind of thing, and it's a numbers game - why would a developer pay to renovate an existing warehouse or other building into housing when there's still so much cheap former farmland in the area they can buy in bulk and build-up from scratch...
Posted 4 years ago # -
Brewmaster
Portland, OR
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Some thoughts...
1) Watch "Rezoned" on HGTV. It's about people who took old grain silos, churches, schools, rotary clubs, warehouses, etc... and converted them into houses. Those people can give you some pretty good ideas.
2) Talk to area realtors who dabble in commercial real estate. They may know of a smallish property that you can rezone as residential and do it yourself. It'd be a fun project.
Posted 4 years ago # -
Walker
The KLD / Downtown
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borschke wrote All I want is an old converted junk warehouse turned into an upity studio / large open room.
I'm sure you can find an old junk warehouse somewhere around/near Dublin. The problem is that it won't be converted (you'll have to do that yourself) and then even afterwards you're going to be surrounded by other unconverted junk warehouses. Most suburban areas are not mixed use in the least with large groups of residential clusters, large groups of commercial clusters, and large groups of warehouse/distribution clusters.
And I wouldn't imagine any other people would be too on board with this either, so you'd have a hard time finding neighbors to join you in your quest. Roberts Rd is not a very prestigious address.
So the short answer is no, you're not going to find anything like what you'd find in Chicago in Dublin. You're comparing apples to oranges here. You should be comparing some suburb of Chicago with 30,000 people to Dublin and you're likely to find the same housing options.
You might have better luck looking at the downtown area of Marysville. There's about 4 square blocks where there are two and three story buildings, and I'd assume that a lot of them contain ground-floor retail only with the top floors being used for storage. Perhaps someone would be willing to sell off a floor for rehabbing? I have no idea how easy it would be to find someone willing though, so your options would probably be extremely limited. And then there's the other downside... you'd be living in Marysville. :lol:
Ultimately if you want a converted-warehouse loft you'll have to relocate to where that option is available and either find a new job or make that longer commute. You can't have your cake and eat it too. ;)
Posted 4 years ago # -
Walker
The KLD / Downtown
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On a side note, it's pretty frequently that I hear people complain about housing options downtown because they want what they're used to in the burbs: 2000 sq ft of living space an extra 1000 sq ft of basement storage, a two-car garage, a giant backyard, and more bedrooms than people in the household. Typically people get laughed at for these types of requests in an urban setting. You won't find this housing option in downtown Columbus, and certainly not in Chicago either. It's just not the same living style.
So I guess it's sort of refreshing to hear this sort of thing flipped around to have someone asking for non-existant urban living environment in a suburban setting. You might find a warehouse in the burbs, but the "urban living" vibe will be missing as there will be nothing within walking distance, zero neighbors, and nothing to do outside of your building without driving several miles to the nearest strip mall or Meijer.
:?
Posted 4 years ago # -
ddavis
Westgate
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Brewmaster wrote
1) Watch "Rezoned" on HGTV. It's about people who took old grain silos, churches, schools, rotary clubs, warehouses, etc... and converted them into houses. Those people can give you some pretty good ideas.
+1
Rezoned can give you some really neat ideas, just need to find that "unique" building.....
Posted 4 years ago # -
dru
IV
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ddavis wrote
Brewmaster wrote
1) Watch "Rezoned" on HGTV. It's about people who took old grain silos, churches, schools, rotary clubs, warehouses, etc... and converted them into houses. Those people can give you some pretty good ideas.
+1
Rezoned can give you some really neat ideas, just need to find that "unique" building.....
Did anyone catch the episode of rezoned when the showed Ruth Gless and Frank Elmer's Lincoln Street home in the Italian Village? I missed it, but a colleague in Phili who's addicted to the show emailed me about it.
Their place used to be a meat distribution center.
As for Marysville, I don't know of anything. But aren't the people in charge of Carlyle's Watch converting a warehouse in Lancaster now? Some of these outward towns had former industrial bases that provide buildings capable of reconversion.
Posted 4 years ago # -
ddavis
Westgate
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dru wrote Did anyone catch the episode of rezoned when the showed Ruth Gless and Frank Elmer's Lincoln Street home in the Italian Village? I missed it, but a colleague in Phili who's addicted to the show emailed me about it.
Their place used to be a meat distribution center.
Yep, saw that one. It was pretty cool.
Posted 4 years ago # -
borschke
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Thanks guys I will keep my eye out. Anyone wanna jump on a project in the burbs and make ourselves a nice place outa nothing? The thing is that by creating these prestigeous lofts in the dumpy areas you are only going to help the cost of real estate. If you get into something like this I would imagine that you would sell at a price a lot more than what you put into it. Wrigleyville used to be a crap hole in chicago and now its booming. It may take a while but it might be worth it in the long run. Anyone know some good real estate agents that might have some ideas? And yes walker I want the city life, screw the yard and the white picket fence I wanna live the city life that I left in Chicago but yeah, you are right its hard to have my cake and eat it too. :wink:
Posted 4 years ago # -
reSourceRyan
The Wedge
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borschke wrote Anyone know some good real estate agents that might have some ideas?
I'd be happy to meet up and discuss some options for your vision in the burbs. I think it's a fantastic idea, and is definitely worth looking into. Walker nailed it when he said that it's not everyday someone thinks about doing what they are doing downtown but in the suburbs instead. It only takes one great idea... I mean look at what they did in New Albany! Definitely not the same concept, but Wexner was able to look at a bunch of farms and empty fields and see neighborhoods filled with mansions and golf courses. Send me a note: ryanjohnson@resourcehomes.com
Posted 4 years ago # -
Walker
The KLD / Downtown
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borschke wrote Anyone wanna jump on a project in the burbs and make ourselves a nice place outa nothing? The thing is that by creating these prestigeous lofts in the dumpy areas you are only going to help the cost of real estate. If you get into something like this I would imagine that you would sell at a price a lot more than what you put into it. Wrigleyville used to be a crap hole in chicago and now its booming. It may take a while but it might be worth it in the long run. Anyone know some good real estate agents that might have some ideas? And yes walker I want the city life, screw the yard and the white picket fence I wanna live the city life that I left in Chicago but yeah, you are right its hard to have my cake and eat it too. :wink:
I don't think you're ever going to achieve "the city life" even if you got 50 people on board with this sort of thing. There's already a big city with a lot of people pushing for urban redevelopment in downtown Columbus. Trying to start your own downtown in the suburbs that will give you a Chicago feel sounds pretty much impossible to me. Not to be a Debbie Downer or anything, but what you're talking about would take 100,000 people, billions of dollars, and 50 years to acheive.
Why not aim for Franklinton instead? The infrastructure is already there. There are other people already interested. There are civil leaders already interested. There is funding assitance already available. And there are other developers already working on something. Why not jump in where it makes sense instead of trying to reinvent the wheel 20 miles away? Hell, the city will sell you vacant land and buildings (both residential and commercial) for next to nothing. Why would you want to take your idea to the suburbs when the city is making it so easy and so much more feasible?
If you're feeling adventurous here's a property on Cleveland Avenue. A three-story 6000 sqft building erected in 1930 that the city wants to sell for $14k (yes, only $14,000) and have someone rehab into ground floor retail and upstairs residential units. I know it's not in the best neighborhood, but the warehouse buildings you're likely to find in Dublin will not be in any neighborhood at all and will probably cost you over ten times as much just for the initial purchase.
reSourceRyan wrote Wexner was able to look at a bunch of farms and empty fields and see neighborhoods filled with mansions and golf courses.
Hehe... yeah, New Albany was a great investment for him and everyone else involved, but I don't think his idea was anything new. Really there's not a whole lot of difference between a farm and a big yard or a golf course except that instead of producing goods, it consumes goods. :lol:
Posted 4 years ago # -
ddavis
Westgate
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Why not just buy some land and put up a 2000 sq. ft. steel building with poured concrete floors, radiant heat, exposed A/C ducting and electricity, hight ceilings and a glass garage door or two? That would feel fairly industrial/lofty.... You'd just have to worry about local zoning codes and such..... And getting the loan and construction company arranged.
Posted 4 years ago # -
lisathewaitress
SoHud
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Have you looked in Marysville? They have a lot of older buildings with storefronts that I'm sure have lofts above them, and actually Marysville is kind of coming along these days, so I hear. You really wouldn't that much further from donwtown as you are now.
Posted 4 years ago # -
spacernglr
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Creekside may be very expensive, but it does bring a sense of community to an area that could go the direction of New Albany, I salute them for that. To be honest I have no problems with suburbs even outside 270, but the way most are developed encourages the use of the auto too much and reduces interaction with others. If all our suburbs would develop in the way Gahana is we would have one very unique and interesting city. This is also a very obvious next stop if the build a light rail line from Downtown to the airport, Gahana might actually have the density to support it.
Posted 4 years ago #
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