Real Estate | Valuation | Market | Renaissance | Genuine
Real Estate
Downtown Campbellsville is Main Street, USA — a century-old city with highly valued historic structures.
In recent years, these buildings have been renovated to hold commercial and residential spaces (mixed-use space – office, retail, restaurant, and residential).
A typical building in Downtown Campbellsville is a century-old structure that is 2-stories. It’s made of old fired brick, lime based mortar, and massive 2×12 oak timers up to 22 feet long. It’s common to find the antique oak flooring in great shape.
Building sizes range from 3,000 to 8,000 sq. ft. Although, the two biggest buildings are 22,000 and 17,000 sq ft and 3 stories tall. Merchant Tower is uniquely Romanesque with its arches and turret.
EXTERIORS – The building facades are mostly Italianate architecture. There are a variety of facades that have decorative ironwork, stone, or leaded glass transom windows.
INTERIORS – Several buildings including the Bank of Campbellsville building, The Green Room building, and The Twisted Stem building have high-end residential lofts.
Valuation
These buildings are valuable because of their design, materials, craftsmanship, and age.
Let’s look at a valuation example.
Before the renovation, Downtown Campbellsville buildings sold for around $20 per sq. ft. That’s $80K for 4,000 sq ft.
Adding a $75K ($18.75/sq ft) renovation for windows, roofing, bathrooms, utilities, paint and finish work is common. That brings the cost basis to $38.75 / sq ft or $155K for the entire project. The building is worth at least that even on a cold winter day.
But, in general, a commercial building is valued based on the lease/tenant. In these buildings, a lease ranges from $.50 to $1.00 per sq ft / monthly. So, 4,000 sq ft leases for around $2,000/mth. This should be enough to positive cash flow an investment of $155K.
In some instances, an investor can apply for a tax credit to further reduce the cost basis.
Market
Several buildings are for sale/lease. Contact us so we can put you in touch with our preferred agent.
Or, check out properties on www.Zillow.com
Looking forward, Downtown Campbellsville is ideal multi-use space for retail, restaurant, office, and residential in a commercial historic district.
Renaissance In The Campbellsville Commercial Historic District
Collectively, a several block area of Downtown Campbellsville is registered on the National Historic Register. This designation recognizes the historical importance of antique commercial buildings.
Downtown Renaissance
The City of Campbellsville authorized a committee to oversee the preservation of the downtown buildings, the Renaissance Committee (RC). One of the main responsibilities of the RC is to approve plans for renovations which affect a building’s outward appearance. Window/Door replacement, paint color changes, and signage requires written approval by the RC.
Modern Renaissance
As they say, “what’s old is new again”. Many new commercial construction projects in the US are going retro and borrowing the architectural traits of these buildings and their small town setting. One such development is the Southlake Town Square in Texas. Another is Santana Row in San Jose, California. And yet another is The Woodlands in Houston, Texas. In general, the concept of a centralized area for retail, restaurant, office, and residential is a popular “new” concept that has already existed in Downtown Campbellsville for a century.
Genuine America
There are a limited number of genuine century old historic downtowns in America. Investors have caught on and learned that investing in a downtown renaissance can pay off.