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That time I walked a 20,000 sq ft warehouse in Corktown and saw why nobody signs leases anymore
I was out at that old building on Michigan Ave last week, the one with the brick facade that looks solid from the street. Inside, the roof was patched in three spots, the HVAC was from 1998, and the landlord still wanted $8.50 a foot. I brought my contractor buddy along and he gave me a quick estimate on just bringing the electrical up to code. 45 grand minimum. That's when it hit me. Everyone talks about cheap space in Detroit but nobody talks about what it actually costs to make it usable. I've been seeing this pattern for the last year. Cheap rent plus hidden repairs equals a bad deal. Has anyone else run into this gap between what a building looks like and what it costs to really move into?
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rowanharris1d agoTop Commenter
Yeah I used to be one of those people who thought Detroit was full of cheap steals. I'd see the per square foot price and get excited before even stepping inside. Then I went and looked at a place over near Eastern Market that was listed at like $6 a foot and I thought I hit the jackpot. Walked in and the floor was literally sinking in one corner, plus the place had no heat and they didn't even mention it. By the time you factor in a new roof, new electrical, plumbing that doesn't leak, and an HVAC system from this century you're basically paying market rate for a brand new building anyway. It's like these landlords just sit on the property for years and hope someone with deep pockets shows up to throw money at it.
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rubys8022h ago
Same thing happens everywhere now, not just Detroit. I swear people slap a "vintage fixer upper" label on anything that's basically a collapsed shed and ask top dollar. It's like the HGTV effect where everyone thinks they're sitting on a goldmine just because the walls are still standing. You see it with used cars too. People want blue book value for a rust bucket with 200k miles and a check engine light that's been on since Obama was president. At some point you gotta wonder if these sellers ever actually look at what they're offering or if they just assume the next sucker will pay their asking price and deal with it. Good luck finding that one honest seller who's like "yeah this place needs everything, here's a fair price for the headache.
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jamesm3818h ago
Oh man that Eastern Market area is wild. I looked at a place there once that had a tree actually growing through the kitchen wall, like not a small plant but a legit tree.
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