Where I'm from, the outskirts of Charlotte NC, a lot of the old "industrial" buildings were cotton mills. Many of them sat empty for years, or just became warehouses after the industry left, and were considered a blight. Eventually some areas started growing more and changed zoning laws, so these old mills redeveloped into prime real estate for restaurants and breweries.
However I wonder if the story would have been different if the mills were more like the factories in north and midwest. I don't have a good comparison point, but the mills which tended to work out for redevelopment typically were:
- 1 or 2 story brick buildings, so typically no need for elevators. - Ample windows and a good size parking lot - Not too large - Located in an area with growth from other industries - Not exposed to too many harmful materials
for example, this mill which was empty for many years:
http://www.cmhpf.org/S&Rs%20Alphabetical%20Order/surveys&rDa...
Now looks like this: https://www.visitlakenorman.org/listing/davidson-cotton-mill...
Meanwhile, a few blocks over, on a piece of land that is even closer to main street, there's a dilapidated building that was formerly an asbestos factory. In comparison, it has nearly no windows and even tearing it down is risky due to the materials which were dumped by the factory: http://wfae.org/post/davidson-mill-redevelopment-unearths-as...