Location was previously a gas station

[coffeegirl808]

Currently in contact with the city re: putting a coffee shop on a piece of property that was a gas station at one point. Though the tanks have been removed, I'm worried that the process will be less than worth it if the facility could cause ANY health issues. I'm sure the city will say "no" right away but I'm also sure I'm not the only one that has come across this issue.

Some advice, anyone?

Thanks in advance :wink:

 

[alexbailey]

Questions about the property

I have a commercial real estate company in addition to being in the coffee business. In order to help it would be useful to know the following:

1. Do you own or will you be leasing the property?
2. How long ago was the gas station built, when did it close?
3. Have you had the soil tested by the health department for contamination?
4. How much do you expect to spend to upfit the facility and how much will your monthly payment for mortgage/rent be?
5. What do you predict your sales to be?

The answers to these questions will lead to more questions of course, but let's start here.

 

[coffeegirl808]

Alexbailey- thanks for that...The property is available for purchase and that's the avenue we want to take (it's currently an Antique shop)
As far as whether the soil's been checked, we are investigating that currently.
even if they were to say we are clear, is there anything else that could become an issue?
I'd like to make this worth our time and money and believe the location is definitely worth trying for.

cheers!

 

[Polo]

Do you know if the groundwater is contaminated? Is there a monitoring well or a clean up station?

You should really think hard about purchasing the property because:
(1) You might have a hard time selling the property in the future if it is badly contaminated.
(2) Not all banks will loan on a piece of real estate if they are aware of contamination problems. This might affect you or a potential buyer of the property.

Best of luck to you. Just be careful and find out as much about the property as you can.

 

[reglyn]

gas station java

I was recently in Toccoa, GA and visited a coffee shop that was once a service station. It wasn't a bad looking shop, but it was almost invisible from the road because of poor signage. You would never know it was there unless you were local. The interior was a bit dark due to a huge awning over a deck they built at the front of the shop. It probably would have been better if the deck had been built out back, but then again, I don't know anything about the zoning and codes. The cool thing was that the old garage doors were still in place and looked out over the deck. I asked if they ever opened them and was told that they panes would fall out if they did. Too bad....that would have really opened the place up. Overall, the coffee was so-so and the location was decent. I think it's a neat idea!

 

[Coffee Guy]

I agree with A.B. those are great places to start. I would also if at all possible have the previous owner (gas company) go through the expense to do the cleaning and make sure it has a clean bill of health, and if you are serious about purchasing the property you should also visit a title insurance company to be sure the property is free of problems, etc. Just my two cents :wink: