REAL ESTATE
The vacant spaces smell centuries-old musty . There might be holes in the roof — if the roof hasn ’ t collapsed — where some animal decided to take up residence . Pigeons probably . Or bats . When Sara Lebastchi walks into an old warehouse for a potential rehab job , she never knows exactly what she ’ ll find . But , as vice president of operations at Sacramento urban infill developer D & S Development , she starts every project with the same question : “ How are we going to do this ?”
D & S Development has been doing historic rehab for more than a decade , starting with the infill redevelopment in the early 2000s . The warehouses they have repurposed have a historic nature to them , most of them brick , but each has its own characteristics . One had a raised foundation with wood flooring . Another had large dock doors for deliveries . Their current multi-phase project is in Elk Grove : a warehouse built in the 1800s that a family owned for close to 50 years . It was still being used as storage , with crates to the roof filled with old tubes and electronics from their prior business , Lebastchi says . But this warehouse near Old Town Plaza will be reborn as a restaurant and bar , slated to open by the end of the year .
For historic buildings , it ’ s important to preserve the historical integrity . But repurposing an old warehouse for a new use comes with bigger challenges , both technical and financial .
“ It ’ s expensive these days with any construction , but even more when you ’ re talking about a building that needs to be structurally retrofitted on a large scale ,” Lebastchi says . “ It may require more energy and costs , but there can be a great benefit in retrofitting
“ What it says is , we ’ re not throwing things away . We ’ re going to reuse them . Whether we ’ re recycling plastic bottles or recycling warehouses , it ’ s the same thing . We ’ re giving it an extended life .”
BRUCE MONIGHAN Urban design manager , City of Sacramento
infill warehouses , and repurposing old materials within existing buildings can be one way to build green and sustainable .”
They were built decades ago , these massive complexes of industry . But around the Capital Region , many of these old industrial buildings don ’ t carry the same weight they once did . Times changed . Companies folded . Manufacturing migrated overseas . Some never recovered and now stand as empty , gigantic eyesores . Some complexes have found new life in a new age as office spaces , restaurants , bars , museums and other uses . But with a lack of redevelopment funds , developers must decide if the benefits of repurposing old industrial buildings outweigh the high costs .
That answer , like most answers , can be summed up in two words : It depends . When reusing an existing building , whether it be a warehouse , industrial building or old airplane hangar , a lot depends on use and location , Lebastchi says . Environmental regulations have scaled up , so developers need to know if the warehouse has a history of contamination from what was stored and used there . It also might be a challenge working with local agencies and rezoning laws . But Lebastchi says nothing beats the feeling of walking into a warehouse after the rehab has been completed and seeing employees or patrons living , breathing and existing in the revitalized space .
“ We find that it ’ s a little bit of a labor of love in repurposing ,” she says . “ It ’ s not the easiest process , but there is a lot of character you can ’ t replicate in some of these warehouse buildings .”
A solid base
The uniqueness of an old , empty building can work in a developer ’ s favor . The Mc- Clellan Air Force Base is a prime example . The base , privately acquired in 2001 , was originally built in the 1930s with more additions as the base grew . Many manufacturing buildings have clear heights ( the distance from the floor of a building to any object overhead ) of up to 40 feet with no building columns obstructing the interior . At McClellan , the hangar-type facilities designed for aircraft have high ceilings and wide spaces , which allow tenants flexibility in designing their operations floor , says Ken Giannotti , senior vice president of leasing and marketing at McClellan Business Park .
Other regional projects include WAL ( Warehouse Artist Lofts ), a mixed-use , mixed-income community for artists in downtown Sacramento ’ s R Street District . Converted from the Lawrence Warehouse built in 1914 , this structure has 116 rental units and retail space on the ground floor , where “ 100 years of history and character are on display ,” according to its website . In 2020 , Abbey Flooring , a commercial flooring company in Elk Grove , bought a 26,000-squarefoot building and converted 7,000 square feet of the space into a one-stop showroom for customers to browse selections of carpet , hardwood , laminate , vinyl and tile . The showroom , Abbey Flooring Design Center , opened this year , and the company recently announced plans to
42 comstocksmag . com | August 2022