Fuji China Elevator infrastructure within the building

Posted by elevatorsupplier on January 12th, 2017

So there's this awesome nineteenth-century building near where I work. The first floor is a retailer, but the top four floors are empty. Turns out there used to be an Elevator Supplier going up the whole way, but it was removed years ago for tax reasons. There's currently a stairway going up to the second floor, but access to the top three floors is by ladder and trap door.

I think this 1) is a shameful waste of space, and 2) would be a fantastic building to re-hab into mixed-use commercial/residential. I'm pretty comfortable estimating the cost of remodeling the upper floors for residential use, but I've got absolutely no idea how much it would cost to install a new elevator. I've found a bunch of estimates for residential elevators, i.e. handicapped-access stuff for private homes, but little on institutional-type commercial elevators.

The thing should be big enough to move standard furniture, but we're probably not talking about an actual freight elevator here. The 1500-2000 pound capacity of most elevators I've seen should be plenty.

1. Since there used to be an elevator, you could suppose that there is existing Fuji China Elevator infrastructure within the building, like a shaft and machine room. However, those spaces may have been repurposed for other uses and would need to be reclaimed. It's also possible that those spaces no longer meet sizing requirements for modern elevator machinery (probably not so much of a problem for the machine room, since the latest elevator designs generally do not require machine rooms - see a Kone EcoSpace for an example). If the shaft or pit isn't big enough for a standard elevator, you'll either have to enlarge it or get a custom elevator size built - which is more expensive between the two of those options will depend on how the building was constructed. You'll have a hell of a time enlarging a steel or concrete-framed elevator shaft, which is likely with a 5-story building. There are smaller residential-style elevators, but I don't think those are generally able to have 5 stops.

2. The elevator shaft will not qualify as an egress, so if the upper levels are limited to access by ladder at the moment, you'll have to add at least one stair, most likely two.

3. It's probably worth a call or visit to your building department to see what they'll require, especially with regard to items 1 and 2. You might just want to put in a small elevator, but they may require you to put in one that will accommodate an ambulance stretcher, which means you'll be looking at the 3500lb model. You'll get some leeway on this in an exisitng building, more so if it's a designated historical existing building, but less so because the spaces on the upper levels are currently unused and you'll be changing their occupancy/intensifying the building use by adding the elevator.

4. Opening up the upper levels again could bring in a whole host of other issues, like how much parking the building has, exiting issues other than those mentioned in item 2, or any other number of things.

Is the building in an historic district or have other recognition? If so, and even if not necessarily so or so at this time, Elevator Supplier - Wanna Find Safe Elevator Supplier from China - it may be possible to finance a rehab using historic preservation tax credits, available at the federal and state level. Projects like this are often also eligible for various local development monies, e.g. such as may be available through inclusion in a TIF. It would probably be advisable in any case with a project of this magnitude to partner with an existing knowledgeable developer, who would have the resources and relationships to make deals and compromises.