Converting an old assisting Living facility to a 16 plex?

[Ralph Stowe]

I took a detour to work this morning and rolled past an old run down building for sale and figured, "Hey, that could be a cool 16 plex!" I found out through my realtor friend, it was once valued at $1.1 million, it was purchased last year for $561,000. They are now asking $850,000. If I do this, I might start at $500,000 and haggle.

Lets assume I get it for $550,000-$600,000, Where does one begin calculating rehab costs? It was an old assisted living facility. The building is 100 years old, it is 18,000 square feet. It exterior doesn't look TOO bad.. The inside would need to be a full gut most likely to make 16 two bed 1 bath apts. In that area 2 bed 1 baths rent for $1100- 1200/mo. There is the risk of lead and asbestos. Does it make sense to try this?