Entrepreneurs Make Use of Odd Spaces
The founders of Brooklyn Boulders LLC chose a former Daily News delivery-truck garage to house their venture, believing they could use the property’s distinct past to draw visitors.
When Brooklyn Boulders LLC opened in September, the rock-climbing business’s owners purposely left a Daily News logo above its entrance, hoping the facility’s former identity as a delivery-truck garage for the New York newspaper would help draw visitors.
“The character and history” of the property definitely make the business more marketable, says Stephen Spaeth, one of Brooklyn Boulders’ three co-owners. Several New York publications, including the Daily News, ran stories that mentioned the start-up’s original occupant.
Business owners often find unique ways to repurpose buildings: They’ve transformed jails into hotels, roller rinks into retail shops and churches into restaurants. Many credit their establishments’ incongruent past in part for their success.
Those looking to take up the strategy can potentially find bargains as other businesses shutter and leave attractive properties behind. Office and retail property prices in the fourth quarter were down 31% and 26%, respectively, from two years ago, according to Moody’s Investor Services Inc. And some properties may qualify for tax credits if they’re designated historic.
But investing in a property can require a significant chunk of cash, and financing remains difficult to obtain. “It’s the Catch-22 of all real estate today because you’ve got property you can acquire at extremely low prices, but the parties you usually go to for financing are running in the opposite direction,” says Tom Kirschbraun, a managing director at Jones Lang LaSalle Inc., a real-estate services firm based in Chicago.
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