William Parks (1800 - 1870) was a local merchant, ship owner, co-owner of the local gas-light utility, and founder of two textile mills which operated from the the 1860s through to ~1974 (though the family lost control of the mills in the early 1900s).The house - exteriorThe 1/2 - 3/4 acre garden surrounding the house is overgrown, but there are some amazing old plants hidden amongst the chaos - I found a rhododendron with a 30' spread, whose trunk was 8" in diameter - quite a specimen this far north.  

Someone with connections to designer discounts on materials, relationships with textile vendors, a group of subcontractors, etc seems like they’d be an asset to your team.Thoughts?

The areas that lost population are almost exclusively very rural (think Appalachia) or are old, smaller rust belt industrial cities or old, smaller southern textile cities. 

The only exception is the "Mill communities" which are small neighborhoods (3-4 parallel streets)  near old textile mills sites where every house is "exactly" the same as all of the textile mill employees lived in them. 

I am a 27 year old Plant Manager at a textile rental company here in Rochester, New York.I have been a member of BP for a while now, mainly browsing through, gathering as much information as I can about real estate.

So if you figure your area and convert to yards, multiply by 500 and divide by 2000 will give you tonnage also.If you're needing a base you can use a geo textile if you do not want to buy #2 stone (big rock, 2 to 3").

Dynamic soil problems (clay on schist, etc.) have historically only been stabilized with expensive pylons or other mechanical methods, although advances in geo-textiles and other high tech engineered solutions are becoming more widely used and available.A problem purely related to a foundation, such as a cracked slab, can be identified and the remedy and its cost/risk estimated fairly closely and kept within budget.Many years ago I sued (and won) a large tract home builder and their grading engineering firm.

First, get rid of any textiles - that includes carpet (which you already have).

Grew up in a military family, moved around a bit, we ended up in a textile mill town just as textile mills were going out of country.

Purchase price: $2,100,000 Cash invested: $50,000 200 unit self-storage facility, 6 commercial office units and 3 apartments located in a refurbished textile mill.