In a rural county seat, two and a half hours northwest of the Twin Cities, is an arc-shaped building complex that housed mentally ill patients for a century and a quarter. The state hospital was decommissioned in 2007. It is owned by the city of Fergus Falls and now sits vacant, waiting for news of its destiny.
Although the buildings were maintained as long as they were used, a building of that age requires on-going maintenance. Older buildings often are more expensive to keep up as one project leads to another and the standard products and sizes which were used at time of construction are now special orders and customs fits.
Infrastructure, like pipes, electrical and safety measures also age out of their useful life. Take the orange column in this photo.
It reminds me of those chutes they set up in high-rise buildings when they are remodeling. But no, it is not a trash chute. The guide on our tour of the site said there are slides inside those rusty tubes so residents could slip out and evacuate in the event of a fire. Somehow, I’m not sure if they would still meet code.
Renovations cost money. New construction costs even more money. Here’s a project in Austin with no historical appeal (those roof lines are very unpopular in MN!). The project still costs $600K per unit.
The long and the short of it is that the material condition of the buildings does not unduly affect their commodity value, if you will. The age of the structures should not deter a redevelopment in and of itself. The numbers will most likely fall in line with other residential redos.
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