Athens, MI

I have a commercial building under contract, which is scheduled to close next Friday. It is an old bank building in Athens, Michigan, which is perfect for my clients needs. As a bonus, the building has an unfinished apartment upstairs. I learned from the listing agent and the seller that no one had been up there in probably 30 or 40 years.

So my clients of course wanted to see the space, and examine its condition. When we opened the door that led to the stairs, if was quite unique. I thought I would share a photo of the door and stairwell leading up to the space. The door took a bit of effort to open, as you can see it was crusted with many layers of paint from yesteryear.

Once we got up there, there wasn't much to see, but it was a fun adventure to climb some old stairs that no one has been on in over 4 decades. There was debris in the stairwell, and a lot of dust, but other than that, it was surprisingly well preserved.

The condition of the space checked out fine, and at some future date they may invest in remodeling it as they expand their business. So sometimes exploring old buildings can be a lot of fun. As a Realtor, it also gives an example of how one never knows what adventures lie before you on any given day.

I have been working on a commercial sale of an old bank building in Athens, Michigan for the past few weeks now. When the buyers and I were examining the building, we went into the basement and I discovered an old flyer pasted to one of the original door frames.

It promotes a grand opening for the 'Graham & Palmers Store' featuring 'Hardware & Groceries' but the facinating thing is the date of the grand opening: March 10, 1896. I just had to take a photo of this, as it has probably been down there since someone originally posted it, and all the owners over the years have left it intact. I thought this was a facinating historical find.

According to Wikipedia, the first settlers came to Athens in 1836, and by 1910 census the towns population was 1537. We were not able to turn all the lights on in the basement when I took this photo, so it may not be the best shot because we had to use flash lights and the flash on the camera phone to illuminate it. My clients who are purchasing the building intend to keep the flyer intact.