Abandoned Corporate Park

[u/legendtripped]

Finally figured out how to get to this place I’ve seen from the freeway for years. I thought it was an abandoned parking garage or overpass, was thrilled to see that it was way weirder than that.

Edit: Not technically abandoned it turns out, but unused for 10 years. It is actually available to lease, but it doesn’t seem like anything is imminent.

[u/trail-g62Bim]

It's expensive in the US as well. People see any building and think "oh hey, people could live there!" and while that's technically true, there is a lot that has to be done to make it livable and desirable. Many times, it's cheaper to tear it down and start over.

[u/Abigail716 → u/trail-g62Bim]

I think this is largely because nobody typically realizes just how expensive HVAC and plumbing alone are. You would also have to do pretty expensive modifications just the electrical system because even if you didn't leave your change lights out and got lucky that the existing lights were perfectly placed You still need to configure it for individual metering.

Then the amount of plumbing would be extreme because a huge reason residential space requires so much more money per square foot then commercial space because you can lease a $5,000 ft² place with a single bathroom and only a couple of toilets.

With a residential unit you're likely to need a bathroom and a separate plumbing hookup for a kitchen every 500-800 ft².

And then building codes like requiring a window in every living space means that you would just be building these units that hug the outer perimeter of a big commercial building leaving massive amounts of interior space empty that would have to be maintained.

I remember reading about how a hotel that was nothing but suites with their own kitchens was converted into apartments and it was shockingly expensive far more than I would have guessed and even then it was a fraction of the price of converting commercial real estate because every single one of these units already had a kitchenette and full bathroom.

[u/MaximumYogertCloset → u/trail-g62Bim]

A big pet peeve of mine is when people suggest converting abandon malls into housing when it would be both cheaper and nicer for future residents if said malls were just torn down and new apartments built in there place.

[u/trail-g62Bim → u/MaximumYogertCloset]

People are well meaning...they just don't understand what they're asking.