Renovating A $100K Abandoned High School Into Apartments | Unlocked
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- čas přidán 23. 04. 2023
- Millennials Adam Colucci, Jesse Wig and Dan Spanovich bought an abandoned high school in Homestead, Pennsylvania for $100,000 and turned it into a 31-unit apartment building. The renovation cost about $3.3 million and took 18 months to complete. Adam, Jesse and Dan are now in the process of turning a second school into an apartment building.
Unlocked is a home tour series focused on how much people across the globe spend on their housing, what they get for the money and what they had to sacrifice to make it happen.
Produced by: Valentina Duarte
Managing Producer: Beatriz Bajuelos
Camera: Malhari Media
Editor: Dennis Donovan
Animator: Elham Ataeiazar
Additional Footage: Adam Colucci
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Renovating A $100K Abandoned High School Into Apartments | Unlocked
$100,000 is not a small sum, but when compared to the massive cost of $3.3 million to renovate, it's almost as if they acquired the building for free. Mad respect for investing to revitalize the community.
Yeah. This is why its actually not uncommon to see commercial listings for 1$. It's all the renovations/zoning/taxes that get ya.
You can barely buy a house for that amount! Actually nowadays that's more like the down payment!
They probably leveraged the income against the loan.
"Project income for 27 rooms is X million."
They make about 500k a year with rent. In about 7 years they would have pay for the renovation. After that is all good profit.
100k can't get me a car in my country 😂
Its so many abandoned buildings around the country and I’ve always wondered why this isn’t done more
Because it doesn't make financial sense in most cases and might be hard to change zoning
Sometimes it's cheaper to bulldoze the building and build a new residential one. Here in NYC office buildings are being considered to convert to residential but office space is going for 10k-100k a month to then rent apartments for about 5k. Don't make financial sense.
Industrial buildings especially old ones if you start opening up walls and paint you might find lead, asbestos so thats a huge added cost. Also these building are not very well insulated for residential use. But the biggest cost would have to be plumbing. Its not cheap to run basically all new piping to account for additional bathrooms and kitchens.
Commercial/industrial to residential poses a challenge due to how they’re built. In a RES, every unit needs a bathroom, which comes with plumbing connections. In offices and INDUS, these facilities tend to be large and centralized in the building. This expense might so great that it’s more financially sound to knock the whole thing down and build something from scratch.
I have always said a city should have around 90% occupancy before new buildings/houses can be built. There should be government incentives. I live in California and it seems as if they are covering every square INCH of land with some type of building while abandoned buildings just sit.
This is super cool, so good to see a heritage building like this get reused and not just demolished. But I have to question, how does such a big school come to be abandoned in the first place.
It might have been a private school that closed due to lack of resources or they moved the school to a new larger building.
Changing demographics? Some schools become unnecessary as populations change.
Population loss probably meant there was no longer a need for such large schools. Or they did a cost benefit analysis and decided it was cheaper to build new than renovate.
My old university restored an old historic high school that it had been using for classes. The renovations meant it could no longer be used as a school because having it meet code would've resulted in increased costs and demolishing many of the historical features. They use it as an office building.
the schools run out of money to stay open. A lot of these public schools in PA are in massive amounts of debt.
All the money went to the local police departments instead of schools
I am so ridiculously jealous of people who have the financial means to do things like this. I'd love to renovate old buildings into modern-use commercial and residential properties.
They took out a loan. You can do that too
@@ekklesiast Check the size of my nose. I clearly would not qualify for a loan even 1/5 this magnitude.
This is a wonderful renovation. I really like that they kept as much of the old structure and elements as possible rather than tearing it down and starting from scratch. We need more developers like this! So many vacant buildings that are just sitting and rotting
Exactly what I was going to say!!!
It's a historical building, they would not have been granted permission to knock it down.
Those who have the imagination and know-how to develop housing in this way need more backing from government in terms of permits, grants and reduced taxes in order to maximize the benefits to the community.
costs too much to renovoate existing structures, much easier nowadays to start from scratch
Its cheaper to keep parts plus historical tax breaks.
we need more developers like this given the demise of office buildings and abandoned buildings
Totally!! Every generation does the same thing, builds new buildings to there current style and design. Instead of building a new one, fix and old one! Hopefully PA gave them a huge tax credit/break for doing so. Way more character in this build than most!
I was wondering about this and the reason some or a lot of office buildings like high rises can't be converted is it's ridiculously cost prohibitive to add bathroom and kitchen infrastructures to a building. If you think about an apartment building, the bathrooms and kitchens are stacked one on top on another because of the plumbing. But in a office space, on one floor you might have two bathrooms, so adding that extra plumbing for multiple units is what kills the deal. Also, a lot of times in an office building the distance from the edge of the building to the center limits what you can do. If you add bedrooms you'll be limited on where in that floor footprint you can place them because they need egress.
These guys did an amazing job though. Amazing actually!
Do we really? Guarantee these apts are not affordable for moderate or lower income people.
Nope they pumped 3.3 million into the building then the rent to them start at about 1,500 for a 1 bedroom
Yes and No, Yes because instead of an abandon building just sitting there and making the area look bad, you then have them fix it up and make the area start to look nice again. No because 1400-1600 is still a lot for most people. People who buy up property want to always act like they are doing the community a favor because they remodel the place up, when in all reality they are the ones who push up all the prices
1,400 a month for 1 bedroom is well out of price for about 75% of everybody in the USA. You would need to make ~68K a year to be able to afford that.
they did a wonderful job!
the common room, AKA auditorium is so cosy and beautiful.
I would totally love to live there!
So inspiring, both buildings look amazing, and have architectural features of a time that it’s not often found anymore.
The architectural features are amazing❤
I love old buildings. They’re just beautiful. The design and architecture just isn’t the same for modern ones. I hope they are successful and able to save & refresh more older buildings.
How delightful to re-use these lovely old buildings! Beautiful!
What an inspiration. My name is Lory Marowelli and I am a retired railroader. After years of traveling I wanted to put down roots and bought a 14,000 sq ft old schoolhouse in Pittsford Michigan. It’s absolutely a labor of love. It’s been a very hard road account of me doing all the work myself and self funding. I’ve just recently applied for grants. I’ve also hired a grant writer to help me register with the historical society in Michigan. My building is registered to be an event hall and coffee shop. I wish I knew so much more about the big ticket items such as: carpentry, electrical, plumbing and hvac. Like yours, the community is so happy that I’m doing something with this 20+ years abandoned building. It’s a slow but steady progress for me. I had no idea what a monstrosity project this would be but I’m still happiest in this space knowing what the end result will be. Much luck to you and thank you all for sharing your story. Once again, quite an inspiration😊
lori, that's a beautiful, inspiring story. i wish you all the luck w/your ongoing project 🙏
That's so cool, I hope it all works out and hopefully could see what the results will be like. You are an inspiration too, Good luck!
I live in HUDSON MICHIGAN !! Not far I really am interested in this to and I would love to help if you need it I’m 17 and wanna do this stuff when I’m older
An inspiring story of restoration.
@@seanlovejoy7709
Feel free to stop by the old schoolhouse on so. Pittsford Road. Just south of m34. It’s been a slow road but it’s been constant.
I LOVE vintage buildings! These renovations look fabulous…great modern look to the interiors while maintaining some of he original details. Can’t wait to see the Schwab building when it’s done. Kudos for saving these pieces of history!!!
44,200 a month intake on full tennants. Only 77 months and it's made its money back. Fantastic stuff. Save these stellar old buildings!
They have active expenses included as well... they don't keep all of that money every month.
You're forgetting about servicing the debt, salaries, upkeep, etc.
That is 100% not how it works
someone did NOT do well in high school math class!!
Taxes and overheads means that they will fully repay the loans in about 8-12 years. That's the payback period for most real estate projects.
$1400 a month for a 1 bedroom apartment?! That's insane!
Right?! That’s like $1200 less than a similarly sized 1 bedroom where I live. So cheap
@@flawlixWe paid 750 a month to rent a house ten years ago. 2,600 for a one bedroom is highway robbery.
You can’t rent anything in Phoenix under $1000. That’s a average price here.
@@drew9738 Same here in Hawaii. $1300/mo studio.
@flawlix Singapore 🇸🇬 More Expensive Than Yr States 1400 USD U want this Types of Apartment Not Where as Gd as This Price U can Look at My Country Condo too Expensive Here
As a retired teacher I would love to live in an old school. I love that you left the chalkboard.
Me, too! There is an abandoned elementary school in Chicago that was renovated into an apartment complex. I would go online and see pics of some rooms with the school logo on the floor (it was built over the gym floor), some rooms having the chalkboards that were used, etc. Maybe one day!
Ask why this building and the one across is abandoned. You should be disgusted as a former teacher. They swoop in for profit after the neighborhoods and the schools were screwed.
@@UhhhhhnooOOo00oO Why were these buildings abandoned? I need more info to respond to you.
@@UhhhhhnooOOo00oO whats your own solution , theyre revitalizing the neighborhood, that property now pays taxes. empty property pays no taxes especially former schools and church
@snowbird You should research it. I agree. You require more information. That was part of my point and not the entirety.
I lived in an old high school that was renovated into apartments. The developers did a great job of incorporating the building’s history into its current esthetic. It was really cool!
Same here in fwtx
What's the plumbing situation like? I can imagine 90% of the renovation cost being adding plumbing and higher voltage electrical to every housing unit, considering not every classroom had sinks/toilets/showers/washer/dryer
@@najadiorr2501 in SoDo (South of Downtown)?
@@Nehmi yeahh
A really beautiful job done here who wouldn't want to live in one of these apartments . Impressively consistent character with each design choice . It all works beautifully .
Love this idea! Especially as it saves a rather beautiful building & is unique! Most new apartments are boring rectangles that they call “modern architecture”.
I had this idea for malls as well. Why don’t they convert it and then the interior walkways could be common grounds for games or little coffee shops/convenience stores.
czcams.com/video/HmL2l-bcuUQ/video.html it has been done! Should be done more often.
i think that would be even more expensive cause the form of a mall does not fit residential requirements.
That would be a good idea. Have the apartments then rent out business in the bottom portion. Like salons and barber shops, coffe/cafe etc. Maybe some of the residents would get a discount if they provided a service to the residents.
Also a gym and maybe a small shopping place for essentials.
@@NoodlepunkI saw something like that a couple years ago, in a big city. The upstate’s was converted to small one bedroom flats, with no real kitchen, but a fridge and microwave plus sink shared by bathroom and cooking area. Kind of like an office with a sleeping area. It is used for commuters to have someplace to crash and or do minor computer production or one on one business meetings while in the city during the week, then off to their large single family home weekends and holidays.
I really do love this idea. I also think they should turn all the structurally sound abandoned malls into apartments too. You can fit low income apartments, and large high end apartments in one of those malls with restaurants, coffee shops, and bakeries too.
Pittsburgh is growing slowly but steadily, I’ve been living here since 2017 and have seen tons of renovations. Keep it up guys!
I love that they left the chalkboards and how high the ceilings are! Plus I think the rent price is really good to include washer/dryer and amenities. As long as they keep the building full occupancy it should pay off the mortgage. It will take some time but this will be a really good investment for their future.
Keep history invest in this
I agree.
Is this for low/middle income housing or UPPER income people housing?????
@@mrs.onyango6504I would say 1400 a month for a 1 bedroom is pretty high. Unless gas and electric are included in the price. Should probably be making 60k to 70k.
@@fernandoaponte4149 60k is around the average income for Pittsburgh, also 1400 a month with all those amenities and the sq footage is quite fair
That's what they did to my old elementary school. It was so old my Dad who was born in the 1920s went there . Wonderful that you are doing this !
You couldn’t even afford to build a building like this these days for anything reasonable. These guys did a great job with this project. Beautiful
I hope they keep the lettering of the class subjects on the doors! That would be so unique to that location! I love this!
This is a great idea and the tenants are lucky to live there. Atlanta has a couple of schools that were converted to lofts and they run about 2400 for a studio 😮
2400 a studio in Atlanta !? Crazy that this is the new normal
$2,400 for any apartment in too much
@@thunderb00m exactly! It's depressing
These apartments should be free. What a scam.
@@larss4119 will you work construction for free?
The trio have saved a beautiful building from complete ruin, but I question some of their design choices and $1,400 per month for a small one bed is a lot of rent.
I would've agreed too, except this building has common spaces, a gym, and washer/dryers in the rooms. My husband was paying this in the DMV for an apt with his brother before he married me, and they didn't even have a washer/dryer in the room and no interior common spaces. You get a lot packed in this apt for the price
Gotta milk those renters quick before the housing bubble is going to burst. Again!
You would have thought we've learned from 2008, but apparently not.
What else do you expect from "real estate investors"?
The world needs more young people like these three gentlemen ❤ You've collectively produced housing that is reasonably priced & put a LOT of thought into design ❤❤❤
$1400 for a one bedroom is not a reasonable price lol.
This is so amazingly well thought and done. I can only imagine all the potential in an abandoned school. These abandoned buildings (sometimes historical) just need great minds to do a makeover. Good job
They need to do this with defunct malls next.
I read somewhere that malls were originally designed to be living communities
Senior citizens homes!
Malls don't start out with gorgeous architecture, so it would be much harder
@@aimeem ,
Very few 'new' apartment buildings have "gorgeous architecture", and malls can easily be converted into housing for homeless populations__so, why not?!
@@aimeem I agree. Plus malls usually don't have any windows. So it would probably be more expensive. But they still have to find a use for the mall of some sort. I don't know what it would be but something.
I remember drooling over abandoned schools and churches at online sites about 14 years ago. I envisioned exactly what you fellows have accomplished here. My hat's off to you for a project well-done and another (the Schwab school) nearing completion. Your projects are gorgeous. Guess it helped that you started out with a couple of awesome sites. Sure hope you'll be posting future projects for me to admire. Thanks!!
I have 40 units in Texas and let me say THIS is my next goal. I want to take a midrise building and do commercial-to-residential conversion. The main struggle in this is combining the cash with the know-how. It looks like this 3-person team has their head on straight! More power to you guys!
I love this. I wish more people had this type of ambition. There are so many building just waiting to refurbished and repurposed.
a lot of the public schools have shut down because of lack of funding in Pa, I've done construction work in 2 school to apartment conversions. There's plenty more around this is happening to
Nice to see local investors reinvesting in their own communities :)
I agree.
My kind of person
I love when people renovate old buildings. Beautiful job!
THIS IS ONE OF THE MOST IMPRESSIVE BUILDING RENOVATIONS I'VE EVER SEEN.......SIMPLY OUTSTANDING. YOU THREE GUYS DESERVE AN AWARD!!!!!!!!!!
I've been saying this should be done with all the old and abandoned schools. These two buildings look GREAT !!!!!
This is so impressive! The design is gorgeous. Standing ovation, gents!
$1,400 to live in homestead is insane
I’m glad I pulled through, despite the crises. I am retiring next yr at 55 with 3 houses paid off worth 4.5 million. One is my place of residence the other 2 properties will give me $80,000per/yr rent . I will have an income stream of $20,000 per mnth through my super which gives me total $240,000 a yr to live comfortably. I have no debts _.._ Stay Motivated!!
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A school in Ohio had this done many years ago! Finally others are stepping up to do the same!
I wonder if you're talking about The Brick Lofts at Historic West Tech High School? My son lived there with a couple of friends. It's surrounded by a really bad neighborhood and the security is nil. They rent to anyone and management is terrible. While parts look nice, a lot of the renovations were done in a half-assed way. It's really a shame because it's a beautiful building. Very glad he's out of there. Edit: Oof, just noticed I responded to a 8-month-old post. 😅
Amazing job. These gentlemen should be commended for taking forgotten spaces that are hazardous into making them safe and livable. There was a gorgeous abandoned high school in our area and eventually it was tore down. I wish cities would give people like these guys more incentives to change these spaces.
Kudos to you three for doing this renovation! The apartments are really cozy and keeping so much of the old school is a brilliant idea! Good luck in the future.
I used an abandoned Catholic School in Bloomfield, PA and used one room….the square footage was massive. One large room and two clock room areas….each large enough for a kitchen or a bathroom. It was used as movie sets during the late 80s and was then torn down. It would have been excellent housing. Why the budget for housing doesn’t rely on government owned building to be restored. My elementary school is now an assistive living facility. Unfortunately most are made into high end luxury apartments.
3 million for that renovation!? That’s incredible! Just an average 3 bedroom home where I live is around 1million to buy. And you got all those apartments. Amazing!
I love the renovating and preserving instead of tearing it down goal of these gifted young men.
This is the coolest reno I've seen in a while I absolutely love it!! Amazing job 👏
You're in a neighborhood that abandoned a high school and you set the rent well above $1000?
You could probably buy a house in that neighborhood for less (per month).
What a cool place to live; so much history, character and unique details! I love that the school is getting used and not just demolished! I hope more people start doing this across the country.
Well done guys, you are not only saving these beautiful buildings but also the original features as well.
Love what you do.
Awesome episode! I love when people convert buildings to apartments. Feature more stories like this please. It's inspiring
I agree!
I think it's GREAT that you're renovating and creating beautiful housing. I would bet that it is a relief for a LOT of working folks who are struggling to find housing.
I love the wide hallways and staircases! Those apartments are way better than anything I ever lived in!
Definitely looks to have some serious community vibes for those who live there, lots of usable space. I will say that those really high ceilings do look quite out of place for relatively small apartments though, but what are you going to do? While you could lower them with a floating ceiling it would really look out of place.
The laugh at 4:49 😂😂😂 so pure
Great idea and execution. My hope is that they maintain and upkeep the property. As an apartment renter myself I've seen many beautiful buildings slowly decay away because of tenants and lack of maintenance/upkeep. Many focus on the exterior with landscaping or the main office area which usually looks immaculate but then let the units themselves grow mold, bugs, etc.
What concerns me is that the rents are very high, meaning most average people with a salary of $41,000 can't afford to live there. Because of high rents and the fact they only built mostly single bedrooms, I hope there is a need for such housing for seniors, Gen Ys and and Zs.
What an amazing, tasteful and sympathetic restoration ... well done, it is wonderful when people are brave and take on these projects of urban renewal ... you guys are visionaries
This is gonna be such a great spot for all the recently divorced dads.
Love it! So nice to see these beautiful old buildings restored and brought back to life instead of being torn down. Great job!
I'd definitely do this if I had the funds. Wonderful work.
Love how they kept the integrity of the building. Good work!!
I wish you all well, what you have done is not short of amazing. For a community to see their High School again in all it's glory, then you can live in it, well if you had any school spirit at all, it's really cool. Not to mention the gym (with a basketball court), and the auditorium as a common area. Good for you guys, a great for your community.
Wonderful wonderful contribution to the community and beautiful too. This is the types of projects we need for people to live and thrive.
Awesome design, guys! I have been thinking about doing the same thing to a building I found. However, I am not as solvent as you guys and not so sure if I'd be able to pull it off. You guys did a wonderful job of repurposing these buildings and preserving their original artistry. I Love it!
I'd live here, so thoughtfully designed and historic.
These guys had a great vision!! I love the renovation. So fresh and creative yet preserves the architectural charm. Well done ✨
$100K for a abandoned high school👍🏽👍🏽
Thank you so much for keeping that basketball shot in the video. I loved the confidence going in.
very impressive, it is worth every penny, I like how everything was converted, and the old, doomed building was brought back to life. well done guys.
What a great use of an existing building. This prevented the razing of yet another historical structure and provides housing for a decent price. You three are an inspiration.
Paying 1400 for a one bedroom is still wild to me .
I feel brainwashed because 1400 would be an absolute steal in my area. Haven’t seen studios under 1800 - 2k in a while
Especially in Homestead LMAO
@@PFBM86 So homestead has a population of roughly 3000 people. Who si renting these?
I’m able to rent a whole house for the same out here.
@Gilotopia Good question...I'm guessing health or technical workers coming from outside the area
It is an absolutely beautiful space! Here is the HONEST truth though. We do NOT need more apartments like this. What we need is AFFORDABLE housing. Smh 🙄
I hope more people see this and do it... a hospital or school should never be wasted and torn down.... even malls. A beautiful job. I want to stay here!!!❤❤❤
Always makes me sad when I see abandoned buildings left to rot while people pay 80% of their income on rent or live on the street.. Love what these guys have done
The problem is that even if you decide to buy an abandoned house, you end up with a challenge in keeping the costs in check. First your loan payments, then the renovation costs and if it is not close to your work, travel costs. On that part, if you are unlucky you also need to consider selling everything if you don't manage to get a good enough paid job to keep up with your costs. Rent in that matter is easier to deal with since you would just move away. Sadly the Real Esate situation is just horendous currently. It is a wonder in itself that anyone sold those two buildings for only about 200k. But that also means that something is with its location, either too low of a population or unappealing work etc.
These guys covered this place so that they could have 1 bed apartments rented out at 1400 a month. That isn't going to solve the homelessness
What these guys have done is get more people to spend 80% of their income on rent
Did you even watch the video kid lmao
@@kvasir8931 1,400 is cheap for a 1 bedroom apartment, the average cost in the USA is now over 1,900.
I'm hoping for a tour of the new school once they are done
This is a gorgeous renovation. Incredible job with maintaining the history of the building!! I would absolutely live in one of these apartments. Seems look a really good deal to me!!
I love that it’s a team of 3 guys who have a personal connection to the area heading this project! Looks so cool!
I absolutely love this. I love old buildings and old architecture. New buildings have no character at all. I like that they have tried to keep as much of the character as possible. This is what towns need to do when they try to revitalize. Rather than just tearing everything down and putting up new buildings.
Unique place to live. Very high ceilings and alot of communal space.
The communal space is great! It allows people to get to know each other and feels like a community.
Such a cool project! Love the preservation of the classical buildings. And yes Residential is always the way to go especially with the nationwide housing issue. Congrats guys!
"Transformations happen, it speaks the soundness of businesses, the quality of time, preserved, as well as continuously established for a lifetime"
What an amazing project and a fantastic team! Thank you for sharing this.
Awesome job guys, congrats!!
Would love to see more stories like this. Investors helping in their local communities. My dads cousin is a house flipper. He mainly fixes up old houses in the community and then sells them.
I love everything about this. I wish more buildings were done like this.
Thank you so much for your vision, great job. So glad the apartments are affordable.
Great job and congratulations to them and their team!!! Absolutely stunning work!!
Congrats gentlemen! Beautiful renovations! Wishing you all the best !
EXCELLENT! This is what we need more: proactive young people with fresh ideas! This is so beautiful: not just the renovated structure itself, but the love and care they're putting into the community. Hats off to these genetlemen!
Awesome job guys! It takes so much vision and faith to transform those buildings into such amazing apartments and help revitalize the community. On behalf of all humans, thank you for your uncommon efforts!
My school was this design and they tore it down. Such an amazing feeling in these buildings you don't get with new architecture.
This was really fun to watch. You guys are inspirational! THANK YOU for taking the time to share your story.
i love adaptive reuse projects, these old buildings have great bones and deserve to live on and have the community continue to benefit from them! great work!
There's a lot of abandoned schools and homeless people in Indiana and the surrounding Chicago area. But $1400-$1600 a month may be a. Issue. Minimum wage in Indiana is still $9 an hour. Certainly not a living wage. So ion know about y'all pricing 😢.
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Perfect renovation. Keep the most beautiful parts, do what you like in the private spaces.
I hope these three profit out of this and do more of them.
World class work. Bravo!
Outstanding and amazing repurposing . This is what more people should do with such buildings, instead of tearing them down.
Granted, not everyone has the means, but it is refreshing to see young entrepreneurs taking the bull by the horns and revitalizing a neighborhood
I wish this could be done with some of the abandoned highschools in the Philadelphia region. My grandmother graduated from Germantown Highschool in 1941. The building looks very similar to this (although A LOT bigger), built in the 1910's and it sits abandoned and is getting vandalized more and more as time goes on.
They did a great job on this project. I know it's expensive to renovate older empty buildings but it just makes so much sense. Keeping elements of the original use is a plus giving a nod to the history and offering a unique look. So much new build construction is quite bland. I'm anxious to see images of the second school when completed.
Wow ❤ This should be done more often. Round of applause for taking on such a big project 👏🏽 👏🏽 👏🏽
Nice to see things like this, especially in my own city! I was the last graduating class (2004) of my high school South Vo-Tech which has now been converted to apartments as well. This makes me want to live in one now lol
This is an amazing renovation while keeping the original building intact. This is how you do it right. Meanwhile, in Atlanta, they took a historic mortuary (Spring Hill Mortuary) and while keeping the original building, built a monstrous high-rise around it that just completely overshadows the original structure. It looks like the original building was preserved just to check a box with the city that the historic building has been "preserved".