So obviously investment there with a wager on appreciation would not be the wisest move (not that investing with a wager on appreciation ever is though).

I would wager that there is a REAIA around that is closer to you and more in your market.

I would wager that the framing in this building is acting like a thermal bridge it touches both the inside {warm} and outside {very cold} surfaces ... i.e. the building was not wrapped in a 1"-2" layer of rigid insulation before the finish cladding was installed to provide a thermal break between the exterior skin and the framing (skeleton).]

Knowing you...i'd wager you did that intentionally!

The only thing  I care about as I become more versed in buy-and hold is:1) The asset class2) The tenant class3) That I buy at discount from market and can force appreciation4) The ability to pull out the equity I created so I can parlay it into another similar property as soon as possible.

So it sounds like there is not an easy and obvious answer that i've been missing.My property I purchased for 55K (typo) and I would wager that is would appraise for around 75-80 now. 

I'd wager the contractor pulls out fine more than 99% of the time.   

I'm also willing to wager that your rehab costs are too low - $5k in rehab doesn't go very far here.

They were able to parlay the property into office space and a joint venture research space with a university.  

Maybe I'm not understanding your relationship with your contractor, but I don't understand how you are parlaying the risk involved with flipping a house onto your contractor.