Ever wonder what else could become of all our vacant buildings and lots while landlords clamor for tenants? BusinessWeek magazine has some interesting ideas, some of which might work pretty well in Florida.
The magazine put out a call for various ideas and ran them unedited. Many of them came from architects, who are constantly striving to turn lemons into lemonade when it comes to empty shells and wide open spaces.
Among some of the better ideas:
• Growing hydroponic plants in abandoned factories. (This sort of thing has been tried with empty houses throughout the state and even a Miami mall, but, um, we won’t get into that.)
• Planting community gardens in empty lots. (We have plenty of acreage where condos were supposed to go, but who would police the produce? It ain’t just rabbits snagging those veggies, ya know!)
• Putting wind turbines atop office towers to generate energy. (Well, why not? They already have radio towers and satellite dishes up there.)
• Using empty office space for community think-tanks, hospitality suites or art exhibits. (The latter has been tried before, to a fair amount of success.)
• Turning empty big-box retail spaces into community college annexes, or using them for other educational purposes. (This, too, has worked well in the past.)
Got any other thoughts on repurposing abandoned commercial space that you’d like to share? Feel free to submit them in our comments section. And never mind about turning a dinner theater into a flea market, since that’s already being done in Orlando.
Very interesting post.
We also took a look at the same article (in a more satirical fashion):
http://netleasenation.blogspot.com/2009/10/vacant-commercial-real-estate-reuse.html
Has anyone tried opening a store or chain of stores called something like “American Made”, where only goods/products made in America are sold? They might be a little pricier, but I’ll bet they would get a good customer base that understands that buying American goods creates American jobs…
Check out this website for a hotel concept that’s more of a deconstructed hotel providing different, local experiences, instead of your typical hotel which provides essentially the same experience to all its guests.
http://www.coolhunting.com/archives/2009/03/pixel_hotel.php
This concept was created in Linz, Austria for the precise purpose of taking advantage of all the empty, unused commercial space that existed throughout the city, and even an underutilized commercial fishing boat, that were then transformed into unique independent hotel rooms scattered throughout the different neighborhoods in the City, but still operated by a centralized management team. Here is the Pixel Hotel – Linz, Austria – website.
http://www.pixelhotel.at/en/home.html
The creators of this concept actually won the Radical Innovation in Hospitality Award at the 2009 HD Boutique Expo held this past September in Miami Beach. See this link
http://www.hdmag.com/hospitalitydesign/content_display/industry-news/e3i2abb9d0f8f4b8fdccd8edbf6007579d7
I actually work with one of the creator’s local partners here in South Florida who is currently scouting the area for unique locations that will work with this concept throughout South Florida. The creators of this concept are also looking at cities around the world that will be hosting large international (yet temporary) events such as the Olympics, where a large number of hotel rooms (more than the existing supply can satisfy)will be in demand for a temporary period of time. Why build a hotel, which by its very nature tends to be a long-term investment, to capitalize on a short-term demand for hotel rooms. This concept can be put together a piece (or pixel) at a time as demand for a place to spend the night increases in different parts of a city. And when demand for that area falls off, you just pick up the pieces and move the room to a more desired location. If anyone would like to discuss using their vacant space for this concept, please feel free to contact me at edmiranda121406@yahoo.com and I will discuss your interest with the pixel hotel team to see if your space may work for this concept.