Lehigh Valley Real Estate Market shows signs of improving
While commercial leases have not yet bounced back, it appears that the local residential housing market has improved over last year, as reported by local newspaper The Express-Times. This is an encouraging trend! It bodes well for a strong 2012 spring market… will follow this and update over next couple months…
Dilemma: Retrofitting Cool Historic Buildings <--> New Code Standards
Thanks to the public outcry of a few local lovers-of-beautiful
architecture in the 1970s, many downtown Easton buildings we now enjoy
looking at were spared from the wrecking ball.
They add so much to the charm and allure of our city nestled between the
rivers. They can also be a source of stress – when an enthusiastic
owner or new buyer attempt to change a use in any way. ‘Change of use’ means you take
a building that was once an enormous mansion, and decide now that the best
use is 3 residences… or if you take a historic landmark building that
was once a boarding house 80 years ago and ignored since then, and decide
to fashion this into a fabulous Easton brewpub.
The Change of Use –> is the city’s trigger to now apply new national
building code standards to the property. These projects can require sprinklering the building, fire separations and 3+ floor second egresses, hard wired smoke+fire systems, ’1 hour rated glass’ for any opening within 10′ of a fire escape, etc.
Taking a cool historic builiding and retro-fitting it into this new
building code standard can be daunting. Just go in with your eyes open.
Easton’s Economic Development department and the Lehigh Valley Economic Development Committee can help direct you to possible state & federal grants and sometimes some low-interest loans that can help in these projects, once you have a good vision and goal in mind for the property. A good first step may be a Technical Review meeting with Easton’s planning department to discuss
initial ideas for the building re-design/change in use and any relevant major code compliances that you can expect for your ‘new use’ of the property. Minimizing surprises is best, for a successful project – these Tech Review meetings
are held every Wednesday at city hall, just call the city for an appointment.
While it is definitely a challenge for sellers of ‘old’ non-compliant buildings, this code adaptation by Easton is a necessary evil in order for the city to move forward and qualify for certain funding. If you are ready to grab the bull by the horns, gather your energy and funds and you can be part of the exciting renaissance that is going on in Easton. If you take the right steps and find a good partner in the city, you may even be able to secure some grants for your project.
