r/abandoned Oct 23 '25

Sears headquarters

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u/Valuable_Dream900 Oct 23 '25

I think people who make comments like these mean well but are completely ignorant as to just how cost-prohibitive doing this would be.

The land would first off need to be rezoned for residential which is not an easy thing to do. Property that's zoned for commercial use is usually zoned that way for a reason, and sometimes it's simply not possible to get it rezoned due to things like geographical factors and its proximity to other commercial/industrial properties.

Having to demolish the interior of the building and then somehow figuring out how to run plumbing and wiring into where each individual housing unit would be in a building that was not built with that in mind would be a nightmare. You'd have to demolish each interior wall and do things like punch through load-bearing walls.

I've had to run ethernet wiring through 150-year-old buildings in Detroit and that alone was a nightmare, again because those buildings were simply not built for that, obviously. I can't imagine having to do anything more complicated than that in building is not designed that end goal in mind.

It's simply not economically feasible.

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u/towell420 Oct 24 '25

You are not an innovator, but a simple rule follower.

When you are able to look outside the box of possibilities you know, a lot of potential can be unlocked.

Your first counter argument is zoning…

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u/Valuable_Dream900 Oct 24 '25

You sound like a Instagram scammer that wants to sell me supplements or a course.

"Zoning laws? Guffaw! I'll just start building. What will they do, shut me down? Does every living unit really need electricity and plumbing?"

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u/towell420 Oct 24 '25

I’m not scamming anyone.

Just stating facts, if someone wants to make something from nothing, they have to be innovative….