I’ll get this out of the way in the lede: I am 99% sure I’m not going to buy this. It would be financially ruinous in almost every possible scenario. That out of the way, there is a “#lifegoals” garage for sale in my price range in the form of a 1933 art deco fire station.
The specific fire station is the old Tulsa Fire Station #13. Built in 1933, decommissioned in 1964 and sold to the current owners in 1966, this thing is beautiful and shockingly intact.
From a garage standpoint it is a terrible choice. The one bay garage could probably hold two, maybe three cars. The lot is smaller than the one my house is on, though the two adjacent lots are vacant so it seems like they could be acquired on the cheap.
The area of town is between “don’t walk there at night” and “don’t drive there at night,” but it is only a 10 min drive from my house. But yeah, the area is really, really not good. Houses go for between $30k and $50k. Lots usually for around $5k.
The building itself is in better shape than some I’ve looked at, but clearly needs a new (flat) roof and a fair amount of repair from the years of water intrusion. Being it is from the 30s, I assume this thing is also loaded with asbestos but how bad can that be? The word “best” is right there in the name! (Credit to Cave Johnson.)
Further, being a semi-derelict commercial property, the types of loans available for something like this exist, but would be unfavorable terms. Paying “cash” is an option, though an unpleasant one, but that would leave me overextended and without money to make repairs.
Someone braver (or wealthier) than I could absolutely pull this off or, even better, turn it into a profit making venture. The building has a lot of potential to be something cool. Oklahoma just passed medical marijuana. Can you think of a better location for a dispensary? Yeah... me too... but it would be a funny joke!
If I were more shameless, I’m sure this is also the type resto you could do with a shower of crowdfunding cash but that really isn’t my thing either.
So anyway, tl;dr is: so cool, not for me.
Link.
