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