# GRAIN TOWERS! **URL:** \ **Category:** NYSpeed Off Topic\ **Created:** [February 15, 2012, 9:56am UTC](https://forums.speedlife.net/t/grain-towers/220519 "2012-02-15T09:56:16Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 18\ **Page:** 1
**Author:** ![95dime](https://yyz2.discourse-cdn.com/flex034/user_avatar/forums.speedlife.net/95dime/32/7514_2.png) [@95dime](https://forums.speedlife.net/u/95dime)\ **Post date:** [February 15, 2012, 9:56am UTC](https://forums.speedlife.net/t/grain-towers/220519/1 "2012-02-15T09:56:16Z")
so my friend posted this photo on facebook…i have no idea where it was but thought it was pretty neat. grain tower converted into an office building. good solution for a way to actually use these buildings, and keep the preservationists happy as they wouldnt be torn down. that is of couse if you have a shit ton of money to burn… i imagine the amount of structural work to make this happen is the majority of the cost. ![http://sphotos.xx.fbcdn.net/hphotos-ash4/394039_10100429942029678_15711327_47756312_1091005975_n.jpg](http://sphotos.xx.fbcdn.net/hphotos-ash4/394039_10100429942029678_15711327_47756312_1091005975_n.jpg) ---
**Author:** ![GV1390](https://yyz2.discourse-cdn.com/flex034/user_avatar/forums.speedlife.net/gv1390/32/5432_2.png) [@GV1390](https://forums.speedlife.net/u/GV1390)\ **Post date:** [February 15, 2012, 9:58am UTC](https://forums.speedlife.net/t/grain-towers/220519/2 "2012-02-15T09:58:27Z")
Lets be realistic no one around here would even bother lol. ---
**Author:** ![95dime](https://yyz2.discourse-cdn.com/flex034/user_avatar/forums.speedlife.net/95dime/32/7514_2.png) [@95dime](https://forums.speedlife.net/u/95dime)\ **Post date:** [February 15, 2012, 9:59am UTC](https://forums.speedlife.net/t/grain-towers/220519/3 "2012-02-15T09:59:54Z")
> [@GV1390](#): > > Lets be realistic no one around here would even bother lol. i realize that. i just think this is an awesome idea for someone that has tons a cash to burn. ---
**Author:** ![GV1390](https://yyz2.discourse-cdn.com/flex034/user_avatar/forums.speedlife.net/gv1390/32/5432_2.png) [@GV1390](https://forums.speedlife.net/u/GV1390)\ **Post date:** [February 15, 2012, 10:07am UTC](https://forums.speedlife.net/t/grain-towers/220519/4 "2012-02-15T10:07:29Z")
> [@95dime](#): > > i realize that. i just think this is an awesome idea for someone that has tons a cash to burn. Deff looks cool IMO. :tup: ---
**Author:** ![Paulo](https://yyz2.discourse-cdn.com/flex034/user_avatar/forums.speedlife.net/paulo/32/7328_2.png) [@Paulo](https://forums.speedlife.net/u/Paulo)\ **Post date:** [February 15, 2012, 10:36am UTC](https://forums.speedlife.net/t/grain-towers/220519/5 "2012-02-15T10:36:26Z")
Get more details if you can. ---
**Author:** ![newman](https://yyz2.discourse-cdn.com/flex034/user_avatar/forums.speedlife.net/newman/32/7569_2.png) [@newman](https://forums.speedlife.net/u/newman)\ **Post date:** [February 15, 2012, 10:39am UTC](https://forums.speedlife.net/t/grain-towers/220519/6 "2012-02-15T10:39:32Z")
Very cool. Based on the observed state of the elevators, it’d probably be cheaper to build from scratch, but I could see this somehow saving money because of tax initiatives or some other weird government things that I don’t really understand. ---
**Author:** ![boardjnky4](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/96bed5/32.png) [@boardjnky4](https://forums.speedlife.net/u/boardjnky4)\ **Post date:** [February 15, 2012, 10:44am UTC](https://forums.speedlife.net/t/grain-towers/220519/7 "2012-02-15T10:44:57Z")
> [@newman](#): > > Very cool. > > Based on the observed state of the elevators, it’d probably be cheaper to build from scratch, but I could see this somehow saving money because of tax initiatives or some other weird government things that I don’t really understand. A good idea would be to de-construct what is there now and re-use the materials in the new construction. ---
**Author:** ![Onyx\_Z32](https://yyz2.discourse-cdn.com/flex034/user_avatar/forums.speedlife.net/onyx_z32/32/7581_2.png) [@Onyx\_Z32](https://forums.speedlife.net/u/Onyx_Z32)\ **Post date:** [February 15, 2012, 10:52am UTC](https://forums.speedlife.net/t/grain-towers/220519/8 "2012-02-15T10:52:26Z")
Nice, but not really a new idea: > Jasper Ward, one of Louisville’s visionary architects, was involved with a plan to convert the now demolished Ballard Mills on East Broadway into high-rise apartments. The $2 million scheme proposed in the late 1960s would have created 132 circular units and 24 rectangular units, but without a mortgage, the facility was razed and the site is currently suburban in nature, dominated by parking lots. > **[Lost Louisville: Circular Living at Ballard Mills](https://brokensidewalk.com/2011/lost-louisville-circular-living-at-ballard-mills/)** > > Jasper Ward, one of Louisville’s visionary architects, was involved with a plan to convert the now demolished Ballard Mills on East Broadway into high-rise apartments. The $2 million scheme p… The problem isn’t a lack of ideas for the silos… ![http://wiki.guildwars.com/images/0/0b/User_Lord_Belar_Beating-a-dead-horse.gif](https://canada1.discourse-cdn.com/flex034/uploads/speedlife/original/3X/6/6/66e691e1ba6b431edb2c80381c72215c234b27b1.gif) ---
**Author:** ![95dime](https://yyz2.discourse-cdn.com/flex034/user_avatar/forums.speedlife.net/95dime/32/7514_2.png) [@95dime](https://forums.speedlife.net/u/95dime)\ **Post date:** [February 15, 2012, 1:59pm UTC](https://forums.speedlife.net/t/grain-towers/220519/9 "2012-02-15T13:59:08Z")
> [@Paulo](#): > > Get more details if you can. it’s on schoen place in pittsford ny. > [@Onyx Z32](#): > > Nice, but not really a new idea: sorry, i wasnt around in the 60’s. ---
**Author:** ![1QIKZ](https://yyz2.discourse-cdn.com/flex034/user_avatar/forums.speedlife.net/1qikz/32/6112_2.png) [@1QIKZ](https://forums.speedlife.net/u/1QIKZ)\ **Post date:** [February 15, 2012, 2:24pm UTC](https://forums.speedlife.net/t/grain-towers/220519/10 "2012-02-15T14:24:53Z")
Agreed it’s a good idea but if developers thought it was financially feasible, they would have done it by now. ---
**Author:** ![boxxa](https://yyz2.discourse-cdn.com/flex034/user_avatar/forums.speedlife.net/boxxa/32/5045_2.png) [@boxxa](https://forums.speedlife.net/u/boxxa)\ **Post date:** [February 15, 2012, 7:31pm UTC](https://forums.speedlife.net/t/grain-towers/220519/11 "2012-02-15T19:31:14Z")
It looks cool but we don’t need more office space downtown. With HSBC moving out next year, the tower will have a lot of vacancy and they still have the Larkin building they revamped and still have work to do on. ---
**Author:** ![copperlegend](https://yyz2.discourse-cdn.com/flex034/user_avatar/forums.speedlife.net/copperlegend/32/7445_2.png) [@copperlegend](https://forums.speedlife.net/u/copperlegend)\ **Post date:** [February 16, 2012, 9:25am UTC](https://forums.speedlife.net/t/grain-towers/220519/12 "2012-02-16T09:25:11Z")
Yeah, that’s in Pittsford, right by the Erie canal in Schoen Place. Neat building. ---
**Author:** ![Mike93](https://yyz2.discourse-cdn.com/flex034/user_avatar/forums.speedlife.net/mike93/32/7325_2.png) [@Mike93](https://forums.speedlife.net/u/Mike93)\ **Post date:** [February 16, 2012, 11:51am UTC](https://forums.speedlife.net/t/grain-towers/220519/13 "2012-02-16T11:51:37Z")
> [@newman](#): > > Very cool. > > Based on the observed state of the elevators, it’d probably be cheaper to build from scratch, but I could see this somehow saving money because of tax initiatives or some other weird government things that I don’t really understand. Scrap the elevators…it’s the silos we’re after here! Obviously the roofs are shot, but from my time there the vertical concrete portions look pretty solid, no? And Onyx, ideas have been beated to death, sure…it’s the excection of ideas that needs needs to happen:) I’m curious to know what condition some of the Buffalo towers are in, and if they could sustain this kind of development. ---
**Author:** ![Onyx\_Z32](https://yyz2.discourse-cdn.com/flex034/user_avatar/forums.speedlife.net/onyx_z32/32/7581_2.png) [@Onyx\_Z32](https://forums.speedlife.net/u/Onyx_Z32)\ **Post date:** [February 16, 2012, 11:58am UTC](https://forums.speedlife.net/t/grain-towers/220519/14 "2012-02-16T11:58:44Z")
> [@Mike93](#): > > …it’s the excection of ideas that needs needs to happen:) You can’t execute an idea when there are people who oppose doing anything to any of the structures because the “collection of all of them” the is akin to the “pyramids of Egypt.” ---
**Author:** ![boxxa](https://yyz2.discourse-cdn.com/flex034/user_avatar/forums.speedlife.net/boxxa/32/5045_2.png) [@boxxa](https://forums.speedlife.net/u/boxxa)\ **Post date:** [February 16, 2012, 12:16pm UTC](https://forums.speedlife.net/t/grain-towers/220519/15 "2012-02-16T12:16:06Z")
> [@Onyx Z32](#): > > You can’t execute an idea when there are people who oppose doing anything to any of the structures because the “collection of all of them” the is akin to the “pyramids of Egypt.” What if one night they just, collapsed? :snky: ---
**Author:** ![Mike93](https://yyz2.discourse-cdn.com/flex034/user_avatar/forums.speedlife.net/mike93/32/7325_2.png) [@Mike93](https://forums.speedlife.net/u/Mike93)\ **Post date:** [February 16, 2012, 12:16pm UTC](https://forums.speedlife.net/t/grain-towers/220519/16 "2012-02-16T12:16:40Z")
> [@Onyx Z32](#): > > You can’t execute an idea when there are people who oppose doing anything to any of the structures because the “collection of all of them” the is akin to the “pyramids of Egypt.” Hey did you just use my quote!? ---
**Author:** ![focusinprogress](https://yyz2.discourse-cdn.com/flex034/user_avatar/forums.speedlife.net/focusinprogress/32/7227_2.png) [@focusinprogress](https://forums.speedlife.net/u/focusinprogress)\ **Post date:** [February 17, 2012, 4:59am UTC](https://forums.speedlife.net/t/grain-towers/220519/17 "2012-02-17T04:59:25Z")
I can’t think of where off the top of my head, but there is a city famous for doing this type of renovation to a whole slew of grain silos/elevators…apartments, offices, etc. dammit, now I gotta try to go dig it up…but its really cool. EDIT: It’s Baltimore… just an example: [http://www.silopoint.com/html/](http://www.silopoint.com/html/) I guess this Turner Development group has been really pushing the envelope converting numerous grain elevators/silos… Side Note: My step-grandfather is a huge local real estate tycoon…he tried to purchase the Saskachewan grain elevator/silos for MORE than the assessed value and they wouldnt sell. he kept raising his offer because he wanted to convert it into a mixed use building where the top 3 floors were ultra fancy penthouse apartments that included a boat slip in the “basement”(water level) in the rent price…3 months after he gave up trying to buy, they sold it for half his offer to someone in local politics :gotme: ---
**Author:** ![copperlegend](https://yyz2.discourse-cdn.com/flex034/user_avatar/forums.speedlife.net/copperlegend/32/7445_2.png) [@copperlegend](https://forums.speedlife.net/u/copperlegend)\ **Post date:** [February 17, 2012, 5:25am UTC](https://forums.speedlife.net/t/grain-towers/220519/18 "2012-02-17T05:25:29Z")
[http://pittsfordofficespace.com/](http://pittsfordofficespace.com/)