If it were up to me, I'd go with a new house. Depends of course on the land availability in the area you are looking but a 2000-2500 sq ft ranch with a full basement makes for a nice train room. Building new also would allow you to cluster all of the utilities in one corner so they are out of the way. A bathroom would be a must.
I agree that by the time you fix up even a move-in ready house to the CEO's liking, building new may be the better solution. Builders are hurting right now due to the high interest rates, you might get a good deal from someone with excess inventory that has new homes built already. I used to be a contractor in new home construction and after the market crash in the late '90's several of the developers we worked for lost many deposits and contracts for homes that were already under construction. Being in an existing development also saves on site improvements like roads, and utilities.
Good luck!
