How does one look up the history of a building?

[Suzanne in ABQ]

We are thinking of buying an apartment in an old building (built in 1940s).  It is apparent that the building used to be a warehouse or factory of some kind, and has been converted into apartments/condos.  Is there a way we can find out what the building used to be, when it was converted, and other interesting information?  

[Lanny]

The Building Code? Fire Protection? Crime or other events there?

 

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[J-rap]

I think that would be the county recorder's office.

 

At least here, you can even go in and look up information on properties yourself on computers they have available.  Or, you can pay a fee to ask them to look it up for you.

[Seasider]

With some buildings, I've had luck just entering the address into the google search bar.

[Guest]

I think that would be the county recorder's office.

 

At least here, you can even go in and look up information on properties yourself on computers they have available. Or, you can pay a fee to ask them to look it up for you.

This and your tax appraisal district. Those usually let you see the years improvements were done etc. At least here they've cleared off some information due to privacy. You used to be able to even see building plans and sketches but that's no longer available. But off tax records alone you can find out a crazy amount of data.

[Farrar]

If your city has a city history section at a main library, that's who helped us look up our house's history. One tip they had was to go to the archives of the local newspapers (in our city, through the library, we could access the archives back to the turn of the century) and search the address. We turned up all the times our house was in classified ads, which was fascinating.

[Suzanne in ABQ]

With some buildings, I've had luck just entering the address into the google search bar.

 

 

Success!  Why didn't I think of this.  I googled, and found pics and previous listings of the other apartments in the building, which included pictures of some of the apartments, and (Hooray!) I also found an article from 2002 that describes the renovation project from warehouse to lofts, and gives a brief history of the building's previous history.  Perfect.

 

Thank you for the suggestions for where to go downtown to find official documentation.  I might need that eventually, but right now, I was just curious.  Yay Google!

[Lanny]

Does it comply with the current Building Code and Fire Protection laws for Apartment buildings?

 

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[Suzanne in ABQ]

Does it comply with the current Building Code and Fire Protection laws for Apartment buildings?

 

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We don't know that yet.  It's only been on the market for two days.  Being the weekend, with the listing agent out of town, the agent who showed it to us doesn't have access to that sort of information until tomorrow.  I will ask about that, though.  Thanks.

[linders]

You will want to find out how the factory was constructed, what the factory produced, and the chemicals used. This is more than just interesting info - you could be purchasing a hazardous waste site or a building that could pose a hazard to your family. There were no rules in the 1940s about chemical use and waste disposal, and often things were simply disposed down the drain or into a pit outside, plus many chemicals were absorbed into concrete walls and floors. Even the materials from which the building was constructed (e.g., asbestos) could be an issue.

 

You might want to find out if the floors/walls/soils were sampled for contaminants during the renovation.

 

In my former life, one of my types of projects was evaluations like this. Amazing what used to be done.

[Suzanne in ABQ]

You will want to find out how the factory was constructed, what the factory produced, and the chemicals used. This is more than just interesting info - you could be purchasing a hazardous waste site or a building that could pose a hazard to your family. There were no rules in the 1940s about chemical use and waste disposal, and often things were simply disposed down the drain or into a pit outside, plus many chemicals were absorbed into concrete walls and floors. Even the materials from which the building was constructed (e.g., asbestos) could be an issue.

 

You might want to find out if the floors/walls/soils were sampled for contaminants during the renovation.

 

In my former life, one of my types of projects was evaluations like this. Amazing what used to be done.

 

 

Thank you for those ideas.  It turns out it wasn't a factory, but a distribution warehouse until 1961, then it was a film studio for about 20 years before being turned into lofts in 1981.  Also, the apartment we're looking at isn't part of the warehouse structure. It was office space originally, and has completely different construction than the loft spaces, with original walls and doors.  

 

I'm sure there is probably asbestos, but it's sealed under many layers of paint.  And, there is quite likely lead based paint in the bottom layers, but it was remodeled in 2007, so we don't anticipate needing to dig into the walls.  The floors are hardwood and slate.  

 

I will talk to our realtor about these concerns.  Thanks.

Edited June 21, 2017 by Suzanne in ABQ

[kubiac]

Possibly helpful resource:

 

http://www.cyndislist.com/houses/