Two Brothers Convert Outdated Car Dealership Into Thriving Commercial Spaces

By Cayden Wemple.  

With a little creativity and some metal roofing panels, brothers Mike and Dan O’Reilly completed an innovate renovation to an abandoned space. 

When brother Mike and Dan O’Reilly were searching for a new office space, they were surprised to find that a vacant factory building checked all the boxes they were looking for.

“We were looking for a building for our offices,” says Mike O’Reilly, PE, managing partner at Principle Design Engineering. “This building was originally built as a car dealership back in the 1940s. For the last 20 years, it was used as a factory and it had lost all its charm.” When the dealership shut down, the new owners decided to transform the building into a manufacturing space. They replaced the overhead doors and windows with block and renovated the exterior. The roof ran into gutters that were four feet deep and wide, which O'Reilly described as a "nightmare." 

The brothers completely redesigned the space to try and restore its charm. With the 6,500 available square feet, not only does the building provide space for their offices, but also three retail stores. 
They acted as their own contractors and completed the renovation themselves. This included installing ABC Metal Roofing and metal wall panels from sister company MBCI. 

The ABC plant in Rome, N.Y. used Coal Black coil to press brake caps for parapet walls. The brothers opted for a Perma-Clad panel over a standing seam roof due to its ability to curve over the ridge. MBCI's ShadowRib™ and Designer Series wall panels were installed on the Principle Design Engineering offices. They installed 750 sq ft in Slate Gray and 1,600 sq ft in Solar White.

“We chose to readapt and reimagine what this building could be for our office,” Mike O’Reilly says. “Holding true to its roots – and for our automotive passion – from East Main, it looks like a 1950s dealership, with a modern twist. From the Midland Drive side, it looks like a building possibly built in 2021. It invokes thoughts of history, feelings of interest and change and passion for a renewed future.” He continued, “I’m a car guy, so this was the perfect building for us. We use a lot of metal and metal was the obvious choice because it was cost-effective and it gave us the modern aesthetic we were looking for.” 

Read more about how the brothers converted this car dealership into the perfect office space. 

Learn more about American Building Components in their directory or visit www.abcmetalroofing.com.    

About Cayden  

Cayden is a reporter for RoofersCoffeeShop, MetalCoffeeShop and AskARoofer. When he isn’t writing about roofs, he’s usually playing guitar or writing songs for his musical endeavors.