I am looking at an elementary school that has been abandoned. I am thinking I can turn classrooms into several small pods or rooms like a hostel. put in a pool and some nice common areas to make it kind of a pod resort or hostel resort.
I would be interested if anyone has seen anything like this or has thoughts of why its a bad idea, or things to think about as I day dream.
I am looking at an elementary school that has been abandoned. I am thinking I can turn classrooms into several small pods or rooms like a hostel. put in a pool and some nice common areas to make it kind of a pod resort or hostel resort.
I would be interested if anyone has seen anything like this or has thoughts of why its a bad idea, or things to think about as I day dream.
I like the Idea, SOunds interesting , cool and unique.. ( dont worry about the naysayers) the rebels and unique changed the world :) .. things to consider,, check with the city and zoning and check is ok to treat it as a short term rental . this will be like a cool airbnb type of deal or hotel . .. I guess that if you have the money and commitment ,, it could work.. just consider plan b/c and D :) just in case. ;) Blessings
thanks George. I dont worry about naysayers. that means they dont have a vision in this area, which is ok. I can close my eyes and picture this thing as done and visualize it in that way.
If The hostel hotel thing did not work, there is big demand for larger or medium sized spaces for rent to hold events. you could also turn them into invididual units for rent to shop owners, etc... there is a lot of ways to skin this cat. since I have almost a dozen STRs, this looked like a cool project that was a little different from our SFRs and multiunits.
Looks dope. We have come close on purchasing a few of the older brick school houses in town with the idea of turning them into bigger sized rental units. Just havent pulled the trigger yet but its on the list.
Ah yes how could we forget that the government's controlling Covid-19. Did you mean the United States government, the EU, China, or The One World Government/New World Order (tin foil hat)
I think that he meant that the narrative and response is govt controlled. Like how they are restricting our movements and creating policies that aren't really based in science. Not that COVID19 is a hoax or a govt plot.
I mean COVID will not last forever, and if you dont position yourself now, then you will only be that much more behind. COVID slowed us down a little while onboarding and furnishing a new BNB, but I am not worried about COVID. People are over it, and itching to travel. all my other STRs are doing great. IF we decided to move forward on this, I have no doubt it would do great also.
Is the location near a National Park, or desirable hiking trails? Youth hostels rent VERY cheap and require lots of cleaning and trash pickup. Who is going to maintain the pool?
again, this is near the beach and a surf community. I dont think I would aim for youth or even kids. I would envision an adult space 15+ and up. Not all adults want to be around kids.
All our current STRs are automated, so we dont do much with them and they function on their own with little input. I would try to do the same here. We would probably have a cleaner or two on staff that would clean daily the common areas and do the turnovers. A pool company would be on contract to do the maintenance of the pool, landscapers to do landscape, handyman to do handymen stuff, etc... again, you put together the people you need to make you successful.
@Aaron T. I’m going give you advice from an Architect’s perspective and what can derail this projects. Hopefully, it doesn’t but here is you list.
1. Puerto Rico looks like they follow the International Building Code (IBC) of 2018 which means a lot and even though old building may not have those requirements you will be changing the use of the building from a school to a hostel and the occupancy. That means you will not be grandfathered in for many parts of this project. It also means it isn’t a third world country where you might get away with a lot of things.
2. Plumbing. There is a ratio on how many people you have for how many toilets, showers, and sinks you need. Plumbing can cost a lot to update. Is the property on septic or public sewer? How much will it cost to enlarge either of those. If you are on septic you can kiss the pool away. Unless you get a company to fill and drain it. I know of one in the DC area that does this so a property owner doesn’t have to hook up the pool to the sewer systems.
3. You may need to adhere to ADA guidelines. Puerto Rico is part of the USA and people may sue your small business if you do not meet ADA or ANSI guidelines. For example, clear pathways, restrooms and showers, beds, and so on. Even how hard a door may be pushed is taken into account. You can sometimes get away with not complying if the occupancy is lower than a certain threshold.
4. Mechanical requirements. I know COVID will go away sooner rather than later. However, a lot of codes have been updated for Air filters. For example, some daycares I am working on had to change their 4’ wall to 6’ because of COVID to separate spaces. Is Puerto Rico hospitality industry requiring anything like this? The good thing is that you are near a beach so opening a few windows may do the trick but you need to ask.
5. Electrical may need to be updated. The panel, outlets, etc. Once you open a wall to change one thing then there are a hundred things to update. Do all lights need to be converted to LED?
6. Fire alarm system or sprinklers. This will cost an arm and a leg and you need to check if this is required. It may be an occupancy thing again. Same goes for the number of egress from a space.
7. Energy requirements. Does the code require new windows and doors and insulation and so forth.
8. Structural. You need to make sure it is still in good shape after all those hurricanes every year. If anything needs to be repaired it will fall under the new IBC 2018.
9. Certificate of occupancy requirements and any other type of licenses you may need from Puerto Rico’s tourism industry.
10. Finally, figure out the best spot for the bar! That will bring in your revenue.
I love hostels and have traveled the world staying in hostels. I’ve stayed in over 100 and maybe one or two would pass all the new code requirements. I bring all this up because there is a lot of due diligence that needs to be done and any of these items may add a ton of money to the construction budget. I’m on your side and I hope I see this built in a year so I can take my kids surfing.
Good luck!
@Aaron T. Maybe consider converting it into a cool strip mall boutique with restaurants/coffee shops etc. essentially renting spaces out. There is a good example of two in CO Springs. I imagine hostels would need very low overhead to survive..
@Aaron T. Where exactly in Puerto Rico? Im from Puerto Rico. Rincon area may be a great place to open up an Hostel, a lot of people travel to Rincon to just stay in a cheap place and surf all day. But other than that, maybe in Condado, or Calle Loiza.
@Aaron T. Where exactly in Puerto Rico? Im from Puerto Rico. Rincon area may be a great place to open up an Hostel, a lot of people travel to Rincon to just stay in a cheap place and surf all day. But other than that, maybe in Condado, or Calle Loiza.
This is in Rincon.
@Aaron T. I’m going give you advice from an Architect’s perspective and what can derail this projects. Hopefully, it doesn’t but here is you list.
1. Puerto Rico looks like they follow the International Building Code (IBC) of 2018 which means a lot and even though old building may not have those requirements you will be changing the use of the building from a school to a hostel and the occupancy. That means you will not be grandfathered in for many parts of this project. It also means it isn’t a third world country where you might get away with a lot of things.
2. Plumbing. There is a ratio on how many people you have for how many toilets, showers, and sinks you need. Plumbing can cost a lot to update. Is the property on septic or public sewer? How much will it cost to enlarge either of those. If you are on septic you can kiss the pool away. Unless you get a company to fill and drain it. I know of one in the DC area that does this so a property owner doesn’t have to hook up the pool to the sewer systems.
3. You may need to adhere to ADA guidelines. Puerto Rico is part of the USA and people may sue your small business if you do not meet ADA or ANSI guidelines. For example, clear pathways, restrooms and showers, beds, and so on. Even how hard a door may be pushed is taken into account. You can sometimes get away with not complying if the occupancy is lower than a certain threshold.
4. Mechanical requirements. I know COVID will go away sooner rather than later. However, a lot of codes have been updated for Air filters. For example, some daycares I am working on had to change their 4’ wall to 6’ because of COVID to separate spaces. Is Puerto Rico hospitality industry requiring anything like this? The good thing is that you are near a beach so opening a few windows may do the trick but you need to ask.
5. Electrical may need to be updated. The panel, outlets, etc. Once you open a wall to change one thing then there are a hundred things to update. Do all lights need to be converted to LED?
6. Fire alarm system or sprinklers. This will cost an arm and a leg and you need to check if this is required. It may be an occupancy thing again. Same goes for the number of egress from a space.
7. Energy requirements. Does the code require new windows and doors and insulation and so forth.
8. Structural. You need to make sure it is still in good shape after all those hurricanes every year. If anything needs to be repaired it will fall under the new IBC 2018.
9. Certificate of occupancy requirements and any other type of licenses you may need from Puerto Rico’s tourism industry.
10. Finally, figure out the best spot for the bar! That will bring in your revenue.
I love hostels and have traveled the world staying in hostels. I’ve stayed in over 100 and maybe one or two would pass all the new code requirements. I bring all this up because there is a lot of due diligence that needs to be done and any of these items may add a ton of money to the construction budget. I’m on your side and I hope I see this built in a year so I can take my kids surfing.
Good luck!
Eric, this is useful, I will paste it into my one note. I had a few of these noted already, but will note a couple extras you bring up. Thank you.
I thought about a bar or even a section for a yoga studio based on one of the other links someone posted above.
Check out the hostel management website - lots of tips, forms and stories that might help you.
Back in the 1990s I stayed in hostels when traveling - you meet the most interesting people. I remember a doctor on an exchange program; a gal that graduated from college 10 years prior and still traveling, working on archeologic gigs, botanical gardens, nursing homes etc.
Check out the hostel management website - lots of tips, forms and stories that might help you.
Back in the 1990s I stayed in hostels when traveling - you meet the most interesting people. I remember a doctor on an exchange program; a gal that graduated from college 10 years prior and still traveling, working on archeologic gigs, botanical gardens, nursing homes etc.
Mary, sounds like a cool website. do you have a link?
Yes it's essentially a hostel owner trade website - jobs, hiring, equipment etc.
Did you try hostel management dot com? Or a google search? BP will black out any URLs. ;-)
I've followed the site for more than 10 years (?).
I'm interested! Buying multifamily, hospitality, and land. Everything in Puerto Rico!