I've set up equipment lease financing, car dealers, even a pawn shop and jewelry dealer's operations.         

Only thing I miss from that is the vintage shag carpet and the Fred Flinstone doll that sat on the dashboard!

The higher rent potential in the vacant unit is because it has been completely redone with new kitchen everything including cabinets and Stainless Steel appliances, faux fireplace, and beautiful trim.

Not excited about a 1935 vintage building.

If it doesn't, load up the belt sander with 100-grit,  sand the problem area again enough to take off the poly, stain the wood lightly with an oak stain (usually the best stuff for faux-aging oak will be marked "golden oak"), and poly it up again.

Even in a pile of trash, there could still be things like gold jewelry - you gather it and sell it to the "we buy gold" shops.

This is what I understand too. the conduit can be that flex pipe stuff too. that stuff was not really used on vintage houses in my area though..

The contractor has told me that if he can't find the same laminate type with matching grooves he will need to do the entire floor.Does anyone have experience with a faux flooring type that might hold up better than wood laminate for this type of unit?

You could also have some existing tenants with VINTAGE leases where the  rents they are paying are above market.

Opportunities for operational value-adds are often caused by shifts in the property’s surrounding business climate, an owner that does not have adequate commercial real estate investment sophistication, or an owner that simply does not have the capital necessary to keep up with maintenance and marketing.An example of this was our investment in Village Park at Palatine, a 1977 vintage, 448-unit apartment community in a high-quality suburb of Chicago.