Have you ever driven past an old abandoned building and thought, “Somebody needs to bulldoze that thing.” Me too.
Matter of fact, I’ve probably driven by the same buildings y’all have, looked at them and thought, “Yep … that building has given up. It’ll be any day now.”
The windows busted. The grass waist high. The roof looking like it lost a fight with Hurricane Hugo. And every time somebody brings it up, the conversation usually goes the same way.
“The county needs to tear it down.” Or …“We need some rich developer from [insert any random city where we think rich investors might come from] to come buy it.”
But what if I told you both of those ideas might be costing us money? See, abandoned buildings aren’t just ugly. They’re expensive. Not because they’re standing there. Because they’re hurting everything around them.
Studies have found that neglected properties can lower nearby property values. Think about that for a second.
Your house could lose value because somebody else’s building has been auditioning for a zombie movie for the last 10 years. It’s not just an eyesore. That’s a neighborhood tax nobody voted for.
And while we’re waiting for some billionaire to ride into Fairfield County wearing a cape and carrying a checkbook, that building is still sitting there. Collecting raccoons. Collecting complaints. Collecting weeds tall enough to start paying property taxes.
Here’s the part that surprised me.
South Carolina actually has a law designed to encourage people to bring abandoned buildings back to life.
If a qualifying building has been abandoned long enough, there are tax incentives available to help make redevelopment more attractive. In other words, the state has been saying, “Here. We’ll help.”
Meanwhile, we’ve been standing in the kitchen saying, “Boy, I sure am hungry,” while the groceries are sitting on the counter.
Now here’s where things get really interesting. What if we’ve been asking the wrong question? Instead of asking, “Who’s going to buy that building?” maybe we should be asking, “Why can’t we, the people, buy the building?”
I’m not talking about one person writing a million-dollar check. I’m talking about regular folks like you and me.
Teachers. Truck drivers. Nurses. Retirees. Small-business owners. People who already call Fairfield County home.
Federal crowdfunding laws now make it possible for everyday people to invest small amounts into certain real estate projects instead of leaving those opportunities only to wealthy investors.
Think about it like this.
Wall Street has been letting people buy little pieces of giant companies for years. Why couldn’t communities eventually buy little pieces of their own future?
Imagine if a neglected duplex became affordable housing. Or an empty storefront became a coffee shop, a barbershop, or an art studio.
Now imagine that some of the people benefiting from that investment lived right here in Fairfield County. Instead of wealth leaving town, it starts making laps around the neighborhood.
Now before somebody says, “Kenny, it’ll never work.”
Maybe. Maybe not. But I do know this. Waiting hasn’t worked all that well either.
We’ve spent years hoping somebody else would solve our problems. Maybe it’s time we at least explore ways to solve a few ourselves.
The next time you drive past an abandoned building, don’t just see broken windows.
See possibility. See a future apartment. See a small business. See a day care. See a restaurant. See a place where somebody’s first paycheck could come from.
Because maybe that old building isn’t just an eyesore. Maybe it’s a locked bank account. We just haven’t figured out where the key is yet.
Kenny Robertson, an educator and comedian, is a native of Ridgeway.