Proposal to Convert the Old City Municipal Hall Building into the John W. Davis Museum and Visitors Center, and Professional Office Complex.
•We acquire the building for little or no upfront cost and promise to make the repairs necessary to obtain a certificate of occupancy, within a set period of time, to be negotiated once the list of necessary repairs is compiled.
•\We remodel the ground floor of the building (approx. 3000 sq. ft) to house the Clarksburg Convention and Visitor Bureau, an internet café, and the John W. Davis Museum. International OnLine, Inc. will design and build the internet café including providing all computers and bandwidth needed to operate it and any ongoing technical support that may be needed. Any additional space on the ground floor not occupied by one of these groups, will be used by International OnLine, Inc. to house its internet operations or will be leased to a service based business that will add value to the building. Value to this building will be measured by the additional foot traffic a business creates that other building tenants can benefit from. Ideally, the Clarksburg Convention and Visitors Bureau will run the internet café and museum, and will be able to keep any profits they earn from memorabilia and food sales made out of this location. Both the cafe and museum will be looked on to add significant value to the building and CVB, but will not be expected to be a major profit center.
•The second and third floors of the building would be remodeled into office space for small businesses with a special emphasis being placed on attracting professionals. Offices will be set up similar to a high tech incubator where there will be broadband internet provided to each office through International OnLine, Inc., a common high speed copy and fax room, a state of the art conference facility with built in projection and sound for the tenants to share, a small fitness room, and a common lounge. The building will be housing several businesses right off the bat including International OnLine, Inc., WV Trial Consultants LLC., Location Realty LLC, West Virginia Taxpayer Coalition Inc. and WV Instruments LLC. The staff at International OnLine, Inc will act as the building contact and technical support staff for any tenants that move into the building. IOL will provide pc repair and networking services to the building tenants, if desired, as these services will be included in their lease unless they do not desire them. Special marketing efforts will be made to market to law firms throughout the state, as they may want to set up a satellite office in Clarksburg but do not want to invest into another office including all the infrastructure necessary to operate a law office. Now they can afford to locate in Clarksburg because we will be providing the essential services they need to operate and at a fraction of the cost. Additionally, this building is perfectly positioned between the State and Federal Courthouse making it an excellent location for a law office.
International
OnLine, Inc. will host the City of Clarksburg’s and Convention
and Visitor Bureau’s website, and combine/link them into
clarksburg.com which is owned by International OnLine, Inc.
By combining the hosting of the sites and relocating the
CVB to the John W. Davis Professional Building, International
OnLine, Inc. will be able to manage and update the information
published on these internet sites in an efficient and timely
fashion. Currently, IOL
is redoing
Is our proposal economical or pie in the sky?
•Still waiting on list of necessary repairs needed to obtain a Certificate of Occupancy
Initial examination leads the group to believe that this building will be economical to remodel and occupy.
•Roof, boiler, electrical system and elevator appear to be salvageable as all were in working condition and up to code when the building was vacated in 1997.
Loose brick on the building appears to have been caused by water coming from faulty gutters. All brick can be repaired around the building and then the roof can be repaired including repairing the gutters and flashing on the slate roof. Any necessary slate repairs/replacements will be made on a case by case basis.
•Most costly repairs may be the improvements required by the fire inspector
Operating costs including taxes and insurance for this building are estimated to be between $30,000 and $50,000 per year; no more than $4000 per month. Combining that with the money needed to pay back the initial remodeling loan (estimated) and the monthly cash flow needed to remodel and operate this building should be under $6000 per month.
•Will have a better feel for the economics when the final list is prepared
Low interest money is available for this project which will help bring down costs
•WWe expect some level of volunteer labor and donations of materials for the project, and possibly additional support from the City, County, State or Federal Government should the project come to fruition
We have a track record remodeling old buildings, have expertise in the real estate industry, and feel comfortable with these numbers
•It is located in the central business district and is a landmark
Historical
significance and unique architecture of the building
Built in 1888
Architect: Charles L Hickman
Style: Gothic
Post Office/Federal Courthouse from 1888-1936
Federal Building 1936-1966
Municipal Bldg 1966-1997
Clarksburg Landmark Building
Listed on the National Register of Historic Places
Positioned
directly off Route 50 making it an excellent spot
for a museum and visitor center with an internet
cafe
Perfectly situated between both the new and old parking garages
Close to both the state and federal courthouses
S
Square
footage of the building leads itself to be developed
(ie. economical)
Will create additional jobs, economic development and taxes for City
Save the City of Clarksburg up to $212,000 in demolition costs that can be re-appropriated towards demolishing more abandoned and burned out houses throughout the City’s neighborhoods
What happens to the space after demolition as the lot is too small to build a new building and costs of new construction make it uneconomical anyway
Our plan won’t cost the building commission any money
Please give us the necessary time to do our due diligence so we can present a more detailed proposal with expected costs and sources of financing…that is the least you can do to help us get this off the ground and save this historic structure