Looking at some commercial property for a build

[motofool33]

So im looking at some property, 20,000sqft lots 100ft frontage 200ft deep, thinking 3 ajacent lots so 300x200.

This is North of Houston Texas

Price on the lots is pretty good asking 20k per lot so 60k for all 3,

power line run down the middle of property so power is near, The devolopment is an old one that the roads and water/sewer system failed and noone devoloped so ill have to drill a well and septic tank.

So im trying to get my ducks in a row as ive never done this before.

My list is this:
1)price to clear the property small pine trees and south Texas brush
2)Price to drill well and install Septic tank (anything special i should ask for here? or some ideas on pricing?
3)i would like to have 3 phase available incase i wanted to buy an old mill or something with 440v power. but unsure what the cost difference is gonna be between a decent amount of 220v to 440v power.
any help here would be great like some examples how much it cost to get power installed at your shop. (im talking about from the power company not running in side the shop i know an electrician will have to certify the inside of shop)
4) will be to get building quotes and slab quotes to see what im in for.
Im thinking a 40x60 shop with a covered area for my 40' class A RV and maybe extend another section on later.

im open to all suggestions, i also have to find out if this is in the flood plain or not as there is a drainage ravine behind the property.

-William

 

[Charles (in GA)]

Need to talk to a LOCAL well driller for cost to drill a water well. It varies greatly, even in a local area, depending on what lay underneath. No one on the internet can give you any guesses at all and come close.

Septic depends on how well the soil perks. I'd guess that in the Houston area, that is not a problem, but make that a condition of the sale that a proper perk test, or more than one on a property that size, is successful or you don't close.

What kind of power line runs thru there now? 3 phase will cost. They have to mount three transformers instead of one (providing they have three phase on the pole to start with.) and the POCO will charge you commercial rates almost for sure. (but without a residence, you will probably get charged commercial rates anyhow). If it is a pole with a line on top (hot) and a single line lower down (neutral) then its single phase. If the pole has four wires, three across or one above the other or some other odd combination, then a fourth line a fair amount lower (neutral) then its three phase.

I would talk to the POCO about rates first.

Personally I'd plan on single phase and later you could add a rotary phase converter and in house three phase IF you need it.

Charles

 

[motofool33]

Need to talk to a LOCAL well driller for cost to drill a water well. It varies greatly, even in a local area, depending on what lay underneath. No one on the internet can give you any guesses at all and come close.

Septic depends on how well the soil perks. I'd guess that in the Houston area, that is not a problem, but make that a condition of the sale that a proper perk test, or more than one on a property that size, is successful or you don't close.

What kind of power line runs thru there now? 3 phase will cost. They have to mount three transformers instead of one (providing they have three phase on the pole to start with.) and the POCO will charge you commercial rates almost for sure. (but without a residence, you will probably get charged commercial rates anyhow). If it is a pole with a line on top (hot) and a single line lower down (neutral) then its single phase. If the pole has four wires, three across or one above the other or some other odd combination, then a fourth line a fair amount lower (neutral) then its three phase.

I would talk to the POCO about rates first.

Personally I'd plan on single phase and later you could add a rotary phase converter and in house three phase IF you need it.

Charles

Well hurdle #1 60% chance the water under the land is contaminated/not drinkable, as per local well driller. Now to see the price to run the pipes out to the main road for water supply.

On the Power i forgot to take a picture of the Poles but i believe it was 4 wires, but i didn't look close enough. It could have been 2 power wires a tension cable and a telephone line

 

[turbowoodworker]

Is this zoned commercial? I don't know Texas but you need to look into specifics for use and consider an ALTA survey to look for prior contamination, drainages, underground tanks or fixtures. Lots more to think about as cities and counties like to really control their commercially zoned areas. ALTA surveys can be expensive but banks will require it if commercial as your thread title suggests.

 

[motofool33]

Thanks for the alta suggestion ill look into it.
It is zoned commercial as I'm told by the agent with no restrictions other then what the community land authority in the park is going to decide.

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[motofool33]

So it seems getting sewer/local utility water to this property is not gonna happen, got a quote for 500ft of water and sewer line run 500ft at 90,000$ and this property is atleast 1500ft from road and closest working business is a few hundred down the road.

still working on it though.

Well driller quoted me about 7200$ for a well drilled and setup for normal use not heavy use. but unsure if it will be clean water or not 40% chance of good water he tells me.

got some quotes to clear the property with Hydro Axes at about 5k for 60,000sqft but this doesn't remove the tree stumps/roots near the Pad

 

[72Anthony]

Generally there is no zoning per se from the government, especially because it seems you may in an unincorporated area of Harris or Montgomery County. You said "community land authority", I'm not as familiar with commercial proprty, but that sounds like deed restrictions. I would review that with your agent.

Since this sounds like a light industrial/warehouse park you may want to get quotes for a foundation designed to those standards to protect your investment in case you ever never to sell or even lease some of your space.

Did the previous owner do any soil borings? You definitely need soil borings and an engineered foundation.

In addition to the potential flood zone issue, you may have to install some type of detention/retention pond to temporarily capture rain run off so you arent flooding your neighbors lot or overtaxing the storm drainage/bayous.

Sounds like a fun project. Keep asking questions and perform your due diligence.

 

[motofool33]

No soil boring that I know of but I have some one I need to talk to about this anyways steel building engineer department

The back side of property has a drainage ravine built into the commercial subdivision.

There are going to be sone restrictions as to build out but the community property owners association was just form not even board members elected yet. That comes in janurary.

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[skamp]

What part of Houston is this in?

Steve

 

[motofool33]

Humble

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[DIC]

If your in Harris or Montgomery county Your probably gonna have to install an aerobic septic system

 

[bazzateer]

the community property owners association was just form not even board members elected yet.

Sounds like a HOA to me. Get yourself elected! That way you can influence decisions that affect you.

 

[motofool33]

Getting elected wouldn't be hard noone is wanting to step up on this stuff I just left a message with the county engineer. To see how many hundreds of thousands tgey want for water n sewer hookup

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[6768rogues]

I would visit the local building department and lay out all my ideas. Better to know the obstacles up front than later.

 

[motofool33]

I would visit the local building department and lay out all my ideas. Better to know the obstacles up front than later.

what do you mean local building department? are you talking about a government/state agency i dont know about or a building supply company?

i have plans to meet with a company that builds/engineers buildings(Mueller steel buildings) in the area for some prices and advices.

waiting to hear from the county Engineer i'm sure hes got a ton of good news for me tomorrow... NOT
so far only one person at the MUD district even knew how to help me without a Physical address, they directed me to the Engineering Firm for Harris County.

also have to contact the electric company and see what that is all about.

So far im not sure if this property is Feasible or not, im not rich and not gonna make a business out of this just want a nice garage to house my toys and my close friends.

 

[russelpert]

After reading the complete depiction of your property and the issue regarding it the solution to this would be ask for an advice from the property inspector who would generally ask for a regular fee for his work but above all you would have a complete know how about your property by which you can estimate the cost of rectifying the problems related with septic tank, power and also contact a local contractor to sort out the problem of building quotes and slab quotes.

 

[theoldwizard1]

The taxes could be killer once the property was improved.

 

[motofool33]

Im waiting to hear from the county engineer im sure hes not working on these days like the rest of us. taxes are 2.3% of the assed value not too bad.

after i have an answer from the engineer on the water issue i will move onto other questions.

i have a business plan involving rented bay for DIY people with no decent garage or space. IE provide Power and compressed air and allow people to put in lifts /work on cars but rent like a storage unit. this should pay for most of the costs of the building/taxes and such.

 

[oldmerc]

Im waiting to hear from the county engineer im sure hes not working on these days like the rest of us. taxes are 2.3% of the assed value not too bad.

after i have an answer from the engineer on the water issue i will move onto other questions.

i have a business plan involving rented bay for DIY people with no decent garage or space. IE provide Power and compressed air and allow people to put in lifts /work on cars but rent like a storage unit. this should pay for most of the costs of the building/taxes and such.

How much is the liability ins. to cover the idiots who don't know how to do a brake job , then you get your *** sued off for enabling them .

 

[motofool33]

How much is the liability ins. to cover the idiots who don't know how to do a brake job , then you get your *** sued off for enabling them .

im not giving them tools or providing them anything other then power and a air hose connection.

but i whole heartedly understand your point and i will have to do my due diligence on the insurance side of covering myself. maybe in the form of a per unit person insurance policy. dont know yet but ill check that one out when i get there. I know im not the first person to think of this model other palces have sold the units as "condos" though.

 

[Del Swanson]

Make sure you aren't on the hook for soil contamination clean up. I've seen where existing companies are grandfathered in and when the property is sold everything has to come up to code, including environmental issues. I'd hate to see you stuck with someone else's big dollar problem.

 

[hippie2cams]

motofool, if you are in the city limits of humble proper, then you can go to the city inspection office and the inspector will give you some information about what you can do. If you are not in the city of Humble then you will need to contact the harris county building Engineer and the will tell you what you may need to do. I know you will need an erobic ceptic system and maintenance contract also. Water may be furnished by City of Humble, depending on location. If not There are several well drillers in the area. There are a lot of areas around Humble that do not have clean water due to the old oil fields and such. There are also some old superfund sites that the feds have final say on. Not trying to discourage you, just saying what you want to do may be harder than you think. I can't help without knowing exaclly where you are trying to build but there is not a lot of open land in Humble available.

 

[motofool33]

the closest MUD is mud 109 and its about 1500ft to get water from the north side of 1960. Just spoke with the County engineer this area has been UN annex'd from the city water due to the devopment failure years and years ago.

to re annex it is 15k to start and then the cost of getting water will be 10x or better the price of the property. So city water it OUT! literally

I will contact another Well Driller in the area and get his input.

but before that i have to find out if its legal to have Non-potable water hooked up at a local that might be public use. Health department i have been told will provide this information.

I am going to meet with Mueller buildings maybe next week if work schedule provides time.

This is alot of work to make sure im not screwed, would definitely be easier to buy a building already built!!

hippie2cams ill send you a pm