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Hello, I'm Fernando Blanco and I work for a company that restores old buildings and renovates the space into modern office, flex, distribution, showroom, retail and studio space. We have been a company since 1987, IMA
Social Proof https://twitter.com/modrec/status/1041678108846419969 this is the tweet we did about it.
List of Old Buildings we restored are mostly in New Jersey area. We try to keep em unique and interesting. I suggest asking about the history of the building or really anything you want, some of these buildings are over 100 years old.
- STUDIO PARK 1800 East State Street Suite 220; Hamilton, NJ 08609
- CANAL STUDIOS 243/278 North Union Street, Lambertville, NJ 08530
- GATEWAY 195 5 & 8 Commerce Way, Hamilton, New Jersey 08691
- MILL ONE 1 North Johnson Avenue, Hamilton, NJ
- ARENA 129 - 120 Hamilton Avenue, Trenton, NJ
- SCUDDER TRACTOR - 215 N. Main Street, Pennington, NJ 08534
- CRANBERRY PARK - 104 Park Street, Bordentown, NJ
You may see proof of all those locations at http://modernrecycledspaces.com/
luggagefactoryitwas11 karma
We joke that a lot of new trends looks like "pinterest threw up all over" , i.e mixing up all different fake reclaimed woods and DIY fads can be overkill. We love to honor the old buildings and their character without faking anything.
Amrothnimrodel7 karma
What's it like getting the buildings up to current commercial codes?
Have you found anything cool in the renovations?
luggagefactoryitwas5 karma
It can be challenging to meet all of the new codes in old buildings, however, most of these codes are for life and safety issues so they are important and worth the challenge to meet. We love old signs and artifacts and always find them in the buildings. There is not one thing in particular that we found that stands out, however, over all we love all the old painted fire doors that we try to reuse.
luggagefactoryitwas3 karma
We try to find projects without hazardous materials. In NJ environmental testing can be very expensive, even for small projects. Just to analyze a property we are interested in purchasing can cost between $20,000 to $100,000 +
lawyer695 karma
Some questions:
1) Does your company buy these buildings, develop them, and then resell or are you all just a construction company focused on historic restoration?
2) What is your role with the company?
3) How many new projects are you all doing per year and what is your annual revenue?
luggagefactoryitwas3 karma
We buy the buildings, develop, lease , and manage them all in house. We generally hold onto them and do not sell. We try to do 1-3 large projects at a time.
Revenue is private :)
luggagefactoryitwas4 karma
2-5 years on average. The challenge is filling the renovations with the right mix of tenants / company 's. The dream is to have a building with mixed uses so you dont have to leave during the work day, i.e a building with a printing company, law fir , coffee shop, restaurant, marketing company, etc. If all the companies can thrive in a creative atmosphere working together thats a win win for everyone but it can take time to accomplish this.
FastSellerService4 karma
Have you found some secret (hidden) rooms, passages while restoring?
luggagefactoryitwas5 karma
I wish! Nothing to exciting. Maybe a crawl space or two that we didnt know was there. At one building we did kind of find ( maybe forgot about) a 2nd floor portion that didnt have any stairs going up to it. We have remodeled it to be a Jean Prouve Demountable house inspired space.
jab9k33 karma
What are some of the biggest challenges planning, engineering, and design wise when making some of these older structures modern?
luggagefactoryitwas3 karma
Theres a lot, one big issues is how do you preserve the coolest elements like old floors and ceilings. These can be beautiful but lack sound proofing...So we are constantly trying to find new ways to sound proof buildings. It can also be hard to keep them 10000% perfectly clean as the old brick and wood always has some dust that can fall no matter how well we clean / treat them.
TheOutlier3 karma
I love This Old House. Do you ever thing about putting your renovations on YouTube or anything like that?
luggagefactoryitwas3 karma
Its a good idea, We just might on future renovations. Specially for really old buildings with a story to tell.
TrollPoster4693 karma
Have you done a lot of Pizza Huts? Any plans for old Sears or TRU buildings?
luggagefactoryitwas5 karma
Nope not our style. We have done a pizza restaurant www.LibertyHallPizza.com , it was rated top 20 in NJ and the design turned out perfectly.
nebshits3 karma
I like to think anything can be done to any building with one thing - money. How do you even come up with budgets? These projects always look like open checkbooks to me.
luggagefactoryitwas2 karma
hahaha yes they are tough to budget but once you do them a lot you get good on assumptions. We are very involved in all decisions and spend a lot of time being creative on how to do a top class project will keeping costs down.
saltygipsy3 karma
At what point do you say it can’t be renovated and it just gets torn down?
luggagefactoryitwas2 karma
Most of these old buildings were built very well and we always look for projects we can save. If a building cant be saved and has to be knocked down, its usually not the right project for us.
luggagefactoryitwas4 karma
Zero, I spoke with the admins and they thought it was interesting :)
rtgdude44012 karma
What is your least favorite interior design trend? How do work with clients that want something that makes you gag?
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