Commercial BRRRR in Galveston Texas

Commercial BRRRR in Galveston Texas

Real Estate Agent · Galveston, TX · Member since 2015 · 255 posts · 219 votes

I decided that I would like to keep a chronological record of my current project and share it with everyone. So here it is!

This is my new building on the corner of 27th and Market St in Galveston, Tx. It was originally built in 1957 for the ILA (International Longshoremen's Association) to be used as a lodge for their #1453 chapter. It is a mid-century modern building consisting of metal-framed structure which is enclosed in terra cotta hollow tile bricks. It had the lodge upstairs with 2 offices, a kitchen, and bathrooms. The downstairs consisted of an apartment and 3 commercial spaces.

The previous owner purchased the building from the ILA and transformed the upstairs into a massive model railroad museum! It was an impressive sight! Here is a virtual tour of the upstairs showing all the work he had done.

Here is the plan!

This project is going to be a commercial house hack/BRRRR project. The upstairs will be divided into a personal residence as well as 2 apartments. Downstairs will be made ready for the 3 commercial tenants and I will be using the downstairs apartment as an office/hang out space. I purchased the building on October 10th for $310k. At that point, the appraiser said the as-is value was $510k!! He also said after build-out but before performance (ie tenants) the building would be worth $850k. My current renovations budget places the rehab at around $315k. I am going to try to get the value up to the level of being able to refi and pull out all my cash.

While this is happening, I will also be renting out spaces to tenants. I will have the 3 commercial spaces available first. These spaces range from 845 to 1040 sq ft and will be rented for between $1,000 to $1,200/month. There will also be two Airbnb apartments upstairs which will be catering to tourists coming in for event downtown as well as cruise traffic. They conservatively should bring in $1,500/month each after expenses. Between these spaces, I should be able to bring in roughly $6,300/month. Currently my burn rate for this property $5,000/month before utilities for my spaces! 

I'll be posting regular updates to this thread with photos of what is happening and the plans! I will be posting quite a bit now to catch up on the last month. Would love to hear everyone's thoughts!

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  • Real Estate Agent · Galveston, TX · Member since 2015 · 255 posts · 219 votes
    6y

    DEMOLITION!! More pictures to follow!

  • Real Estate Agent · Galveston, TX · Member since 2015 · 255 posts · 219 votes
    6y

    So here is the demolition up to its current state! We still need to do the demolition of the back offices and kitchen. Unfortunately, they are concrete/plaster walls. The demo of this area will be much more difficult. We are hoping to have the demolition complete and cleaned up within the next week and a half though!

  • Investor · Milwaukee, WI · Member since 2019 · 68 posts · 12 votes
    6y

    This is super impressive. How did you find such a great deal? (silly qu...but I want to know!)

    I'm in CA but one of my best friends grew up in Galveston and I've been many times. She currently runs an Airbnb there and is killing it. 

  • Real Estate Agent · Galveston, TX · Member since 2015 · 255 posts · 219 votes
    6y

    To be honest the deal wasn't advertised well. The only reason I was able to find it was due to an old plywood sign they had in front of the building but behind an overgrowth of plants. I searched online for specifics of the deal and there was no online presence for it. I was finally able to get through to the realtor who had it listed and went from there.

    The gentleman who had owned it had passed away and given it to his grandkids. It was a situation where they didn't realize what they had. 

  • Rental Property Investor · Galveston, TX · Member since 2018 · 49 posts · 29 votes
    6y

    Great work, Timothy!

  • Real Estate Agent · Galveston, TX · Member since 2015 · 255 posts · 219 votes
    6y

    The best part about having a steel-framed structure is that none of the walls in the interior are load-bearing. I drew up the floor plan of the upstairs for my personal space and efficiency apartments. I'm ready for walls to start going up!

  • Mike ReynoldsPro Member
    construction · Nacogdoches, TX · Member since 2011 · 2k+ posts · 1k+ votes
    6y

    @Timothy Church Awesome deal. Looks like my kinda reno. I'm ready to finish up this hospital I've been working on. 

    You should do great there. 

  • Mike ReynoldsPro Member
    construction · Nacogdoches, TX · Member since 2011 · 2k+ posts · 1k+ votes
    6y

    @Christina Johnson I would like to talk to you within the week about a duplex on Bolivar peninsula. New construction. Too far away for me to take care of. Goal is to do 4 possibly but one at a time. 

  • Investor · Pearland, TX · Member since 2017 · 67 posts · 33 votes
    6y

    @Timothy Church congrats on the deal and all the best going forward! I am excited to get back down to the island and check it out.

  • Real Estate Agent · Galveston, TX · Member since 2015 · 255 posts · 219 votes
    6y

    @Juan Monge Thanks! Let me know the next time you are down. I'd love to walk you through it.

  • Rental Property Investor · Houston, TX · Member since 2013 · 476 posts · 294 votes
    6y

    @Timothy Church

    Congrats on finding such a great deal.

  • Seabrook/Galveston · Member since 2018 · 274 posts · 178 votes
    6y

    Nice!  I'll walk over and help demo if you come over and help install floor! :)  

    My kids favorite part about that area is the small fish market.  They'll usually let you feed the pelicans with the scraps from the fish cleaning.  


    How many sq ft is that?  Is there much to do to the outside of the building?  I'm always happy to see downtown galveston getting a facelift.  I hope to be one of the ones contributing at some point.  There was an old 4plex that direction I thought about rehabbing before I stumbled on to my current house.  

  • Real Estate Agent · Galveston, TX · Member since 2015 · 255 posts · 219 votes
    6y

    @Bruce C.

    Hahaha, you might regret that! The last of the demo is 3-inch concrete/plaster walls over chicken wire. It is a great way to take out any frustration you may have though.

    The whole building is 9,727 sq ft but the 2nd floor is slightly larger than the bottom due to an overhang. The structure is in great shape so it is more cosmetic work. I'm actually looking to get a large mural painted on the front face whenever we do the exterior work next year. This first round is focused on the build-out to get it ready for occupancy. Eventually, I want to build out an upper balcony and paint the entire building.

    I love being able to give Galveston a much-needed facelift. I'm really excited to live downtown though. I enjoy that lifestyle of being able to walk most places. 

  • Real Estate Agent · Galveston, TX · Member since 2015 · 255 posts · 219 votes
    6y

    The last of the walls are down! It is finally time to get this place clean and start building out. I also just started the process of having the sprinkler system set up. Hopefully, it will go fast so that way I can get the bottom rented!

  • Real Estate Agent · Galveston, TX · Member since 2015 · 255 posts · 219 votes
    6y

    After reading the historical documents at the Rosenberg Library here in Galveston, I discovered that there is maple flooring underneath the current subfloor. We took up some pieces and it is there! Unfortunately, a large area was removed for some electrical work but it looks like there will be enough to at least do my personal residence.

    We will still have to tile the other apartments but I count this as a win!

  • Investor · Lumberton, TX · Member since 2017 · 146 posts · 93 votes
    6y

    Wow, Timothy! Keep us updated, this is awesome!

  • Pearland, TX · Member since 2016 · 15 posts · 2 votes
    6y

    Now this is a fun thread!!!

  • Real Estate Agent · Galveston, TX · Member since 2015 · 255 posts · 219 votes
    6y

    Almost all of the subfloor is up and the upstairs is slowly being cleaned out. It looks like I will have to buy a little more maple to put it throughout my personal residence but I am happy with it! 

    Tomorrow should be the day I get the final go-ahead from the fire marshall regarding the sprinkler system. If things go according to plan, we will be able to wrap up all of the commercial space as well as back apartment this week! They just need fresh paint and a bit of electrical conduit run and we will be ready to go.

    I even already have a tenant lined up for one of the commercial spaces. This property will be actually be making some money! 

    I'm really excited that the back apartment will be done. Since we will be moving upstairs, I went ahead and put my house for rent and got a tenant in 2 days! We will be needing this space done to use it as storage while we go live in one of my Airbnbs. The back apartment is going to be an awesome hang out space. It will have my office, my wife's art room, a central hangout area with tv and card table, a kitchen which I've gotten permission to use as my brewery, and a large great room with the pool table I just finished restoring!! If anyone is in the Galveston area and wants to have a beer and shoot some pool, I'll need to break in the table!

  • Rental Property Investor · Brookfield, IL · Member since 2017 · 89 posts · 17 votes
    6y

    @Timothy Church I love what you're doing here. One of my life goals is to revive a beautiful structure and make at least part of it my personal living space. I have never been to Galveston, and have no idea what investing there is like, but it looks beautiful and is very tempting to look into it :D

  • Real Estate Agent · Galveston, TX · Member since 2019 · 3 posts · 1 vote
    6y

    I’m new here to BP and a newly licensed agent in Galveston. Thanks for this thread, I enjoy it! 

  • Seabrook/Galveston · Member since 2018 · 274 posts · 178 votes
    6y

    @Timothy Church

    Way to go. I meant to come check back sooner but have been pretty busy just down the road off 61st st.

    So was permission for the brewery from your wife or the city?  :)  I suck at pool but will take you up if the offer still stands in mid February. 

  • Real Estate Agent · Galveston, TX · Member since 2015 · 255 posts · 219 votes
    6y

    Well, I got a wonderful Christmas present from the city. Turns out they don't agree with the ICC interpretation of the code.... They don't agree with how the people who wrote the code interpret the code. Therefore, I will need a full sprinkler system for the building. An important lesson has now been discovered. While you should always do things to code, the city has the final say in what that code says. Yayy bureaucracy! 

    On the bright side, I got permission from the city to rent out the bottom units. I already have one unit rented out to a local hair salon and have a handful of prospective tenants for the remaining two spaces. I'll say when you plan on living in a place you are much more picky on your tenants. I'm hoping to secure tenants for the remaining two spaces this month or so. 

    Now we are to the hurry up and wait part. Now that the city has made a decision on the sprinklers, I have to wait for my final building permit for the upstairs of the building. Hopefully, that will show up soon as we are at a bit of a standstill till then. Once that is done we can hopefully get some walls up quickly.

  • Real Estate Agent · Galveston, TX · Member since 2015 · 255 posts · 219 votes
    6y

    @Cynthia Corder Thanks! Let me know if you'd like to grab a coffee sometime!

    @Bruce C. Permission was from the wife! Thankfully you don't need a permit for homebrewing or else I'd be waiting for something else as well. Mid-February works for me. Hopefully, we will actually be upstairs by then and have the downstairs for it's intended use.

  • Atlanta, GA · Member since 2020 · 22 posts · 7 votes
    6y

    Amazing thread!

  • Seabrook/Galveston · Member since 2018 · 274 posts · 178 votes
    6y

    @Timothy Church - do you know any decent lenders for refinancing and AirBnB around here? The company we used last time is having trouble finding a lender because they don't want to include the our AirBnB income on our other house (and of course won't consider likely STR income from new property). They'd be fine with a rental agreement, but we're not doing that with this house, so our DTI is rough.

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