My Ferrari Restoration/Repair Shop is attached to a much larger building next door. I bought this building a decade ago with Restore as a tenant. They are a Habitat for Humanity business that resells used furniture and building supplies, a kind of thrift store for your home. They decided last year to move to another location in my county, and I now have the opportunity to repurpose this space. I could have inserted another commercial tenant, but I’ve always wanted to use this space for car storage. I spent the last year working on a business plan, looking at my finances, applying for a loan, and proposing to the town my plans for the new business venture. Restore moved out in November, and I am now left with a 14,000 square building to make my vision a reality.

The neat thing about this space is it originally was built in the 1970s as a roller rink, so the whole building has hardwood floors! It’s a little worse for the wear, but I believe with a little bit of refinishing, it will be fine for parking cars. The floors are installed over a concrete slab, and when I first bought the building, I used a small portion of this space to put some cars inside.

My vision is to create a climate controlled space for collector cars with an area for renters to use as a club space. Security access to the building will allow renters to enter and exit the building. I plan to pave the space around the building where the occasional car meet can be hosted, but first the most important thing is to install a fire suppression system in the building. Inspections, proposals, engineering, and approvals all have to happen before a system is installed, so that will be a big part of work for the next few months.

I also have about 14,000 square feet of wood floors to address! The finish has been worn off in spots, but I don’t plan on refinishing the floor back to it’s original roller skating rink condition. I would like to seal the bare wood so any fluid drips won’t damage the wood even further but some surface prep will be needed. I will be spending all my time in the next few months working on this floor!

I’m excited and frightened with this new business I’m planning. I think this is a financially viable business, provided I take the steps to make it a safe, secure, and enjoyable space to store someone’s collector car. The population of my area has grown in the past several years with many people choosing to make the New York Hudson Valley a place for a permanent or weekend home, and I’ve seen the change in the car community because of this. I hope opening a collector car storage facility in Hudson NY will serve this need!

I’ll provide the hard work, I just need you to wish me luck!

Here’s a video of the space and the outside area of the building.

Thank you so much for all those who have contributed to my annual fund drive. Your support helps me make plans for the future and include space and events for the Vintage Ferrari Community. I’m excited about this project, and hope you are too with the hope to invite you to join me in the near future at a Vintage Ferrari Event hosted by Hudson Valley Car Storage!

Some of you have asked me to post my mailing address for contributions, TOMYANG.NET LLC, PO Box 36, Hollowville, NY 12530. Thanks!