My Fascination with Abandoned Real Estate

My fascination with abandoned properties started as a kid. When making road trips, my father had one philosophy - gotta make time!!!  So, stopping for anything more than a quick bite to eat and to fill up the gas tank simply was NOT an option.  I honestly believe that my Dad would have driven non-stop when going on road trips from Las Vegas to Seattle, WA and Milwaukee, WI to visit family; that is if my mom had not insisted on us stopping at a Hotel after 10-12 hours of driving.

On our way out of Las Vegas, when taking trips to California, we would always pass an old hotel-casino that stood for years partially completed. It was located just a few miles South of the main portion of the Las Vegas Strip.  As a kid I always dreamed of going out to this partially completed Hotel to “check it out.”  Unfortunately, stopping during a road trip was not an option, and the property was eventually finished and named Vacation Village.  After several years of struggling financially, Vacation Village closed it's doors in 2002.  By this time I was a young adult and could have taken a trip of my own to check out this once again abandoned property.  However at that point in my life l had adopted my father's philosophy of - gotta make time, so I never took the time to check it out before it was demolished in 2006 to build a retail shopping mall called Town Square. 

Today as an adult I have now formed a new philosphy of my own - gotta check it out, with no disrespect to my Dad of course, and I've come to truly enjoy the prospect of finding abandoned, deserted, and dilapidated properties both locally & across the nation. I've been pleased to find out that this is a pursuit that I am not alone in enjoying so I've decided to share my experiences here.  This portion of The Goad Team’s web site is dedicated to my adventures.

Thank you for visiting,

John Goad, Jr. of The Goad Team

P.S. Please stop by often, as I will continue to update the “Abandoned Real Estate” portion of www.GoadTeam.com with my latest explorations.

Nevada

 Vantage Lofts - Henderson, NV

During the real estate boom of 2004-2006 many Luxury Mid & High Rise Condominium as well as Loft & Flat Projects were proposed for the Las Vegas and Henderson area's.  Few were ever completed, some projects were started but never finished, and most never made it past the "Idea/Concept" stage.  In 2008 construction came to a stop and Bankruptcy was filed on the Vantage Lofts project .  Since that time Vantage Lofts has sat abandoned and each of the three buildings sit in various stages of completion.

South Carolina

 
Heritage USA - Ft. Mills, SC

A Christian amusement/water park, and residential complex built by PTL Club (short for "Praise The Lord") founders televangelist Jim Bakker and Tammy Faye Bakker.  Heritage USA once comprised 2,300 acres and by 1986 was the third most visited amusement park in the United States, bested only by Disneyland & Walt Disney World, attracting approximately 6 million visitors annually.

North Carolina