Replacing 47-gal electric water heater with no pan and elevated drain
My advice is to leave the old water heater where it is and install a tankless hot water heater. I installed one at a shop for a friend in Georgia a few years ago. They had a shower in the shop and I showered there several times and never had any trouble with hot water. 4 gallons per minute was more than sufficient for a decent water flow shower and never ran out of hot water.

I think the link below is to the same unit I installed. It was quite small so it will take up very little space.

https://www.amazon.com/Rheem-RTE-13-Electric-Tankless/dp/B003UHUSGQ/ref=sr_1_5?s=kitchen-bath&amp;ie=UTF8&amp;qid=1496426163&amp;sr=1-5&amp;refinements=p_n_style_browse-bin%3A542712011

Drew k