August 11, 2021
Close your eyes for a moment and recall yourself as a child. You are at a family Christmas party and you get a gift from your aunt. You excitedly open it and ... a moment of disappointment flashes across your face. You get the idea. Perhaps it was a toy for a much younger you. Or, it was a pair of socks. Being it's your aunt you smile and say, "Thank you." When you are older you realize she had good intentions and smile at the memories. And, I realize I told you to close your eyes and suggest you continue to read.
Or, maybe you got a gift from a friend who excitedly gave you something and when you open it you say, "What were you thinking?" I mean, you say this to yourself as your friend is beaming at what they have given you.
Or, maybe your expectations were exceeded. You opened the gift and were shocked at the contents. I remember one year when I opened my gifts on Christmas morning. They were a bit underwhelming. Everyone was excited with what they received and I was a bit deflated. Then my dad said, "Boo, come here!" And, he took me to the other room and there was a lump of something under a sheet. I excitedly ripped the sheet off and underneath was a slot-car race track! Yep! All set up. Ready to go! I was overjoyed! I was beaming ear to ear. My guess is he played it for a while before he gave it to me. I would have. I wonder where he hid it in the days coming up to Christmas? And, growing up in the bakery business, where did he find time? Christmas was the busiest season of the year and he worked countless hours. This has remained a mystery to me.
In our business we used to buy houses at auction. The excitement around these auctions is we would bid based on what we would see on the outside. There was no inspection period. There was no inspection. Period! We would drive the property in the morning before 10:00 and then the auctions would start. After we won a bid we would then get inside the property. Yes, within 24 hours of winning a bid we owned the house. And, we would either get the pair of socks or a race track. When we won a property we did not get into nor see inside we would say, "This one is a Christmas present!" Everyone knew what that meant and awaited the report from the field.
Since we are repositioning a property and changing the use, there is heavy construction at Thunder Mountain. Remember during our inspection we were allowed to remove drywall to see what was between rooms? We found a solid block wall. That was a slot-car race track. A win! As you may also recall, one requirement is to tear open the exterior walls and remove the old windows to install new ones which meet the city code for ingress and egress. In other words, to be able to get in or out in case of an emergency. We tore into the walls and what did we get? Something we never expected! And, it was a pair of socks. No. Not literally. We didn't find any socks in the wall.
If you look closely you will see something under the drywall. Yep! there is glass under there! Can you imagine the surprise of someone hanging a picture or something and putting a nail in the wall? "Did I just hear glass shatter?!?" They put drywall over the glass and simply attached it to the aluminum frame. And on the outside? They stuccoed over the window pane. Based on what we saw during the inspection we would have no reason to suspect anything other than framing! So, now we have an added step - remove the complete opening, frame it out and put the windows in. This will not change the look nor the function of the windows. And, it's a good thing we found it so we can properly frame in this wall. Although it was a pair of socks when we opened the gift, the socks fit and we will make proper use of them after all. And, it will be easier to finish on the outside without having to make the stucco match.
An update on the water supply from the private water company who insisted on keeping the hydrant behind the fence on the vacant lot, the system is sufficient and we know the size of the piping needed from the hydrant to the fire riser.
What is a "fire riser"? That is the place where the controls for the sprinkler system are kept. There are vertical pipes which feed out to the heads sprinkled around the building. There are gauges, valves, alarms and drains. So, when you go to a commercial building and you see a sign which says "Riser Room" this is what it is.
Occupancy - We are still sitting at 8 occupied units. There are 20 available. With the staff change we anticipate more occupants moving in. Managing a property under construction is certainly a unique opportunity with its own challenges! Let's cheer on our new onsite manager and rally behind him.
And that is our project from my corner of the globe ~Bruce
Great content Bruce! One year I got a slot-car track too and that was definitely my favorite Christmas. I did wonder at the "close your eyes and read part" I'm glad the project progresses. Love your outlook.
ReplyDeleteJonmark