Leasing industrial space for hobby use

It will vary a lot depending on whether you are in a small town or a large one. Most business space leases start out at about 3 years because most of the leasing companies expect to do some modifications for the tenant and want to know the tenant will be around to recoup the costs. however, there are some cases where you can get a single year lease if you look around. Single year tends to be expensive though (all commercial space tends to be overpriced in my opinion...a lot of cash for an essentially empty room). I haven't seen any "month to month" on commercial space but it may exist if you look long enough.

Most commercial space is rented on a "triple net" basis (often called NNN). This means that the tenants of the units share ALL costs for maintenance, water, outside lighting, management fees, etc. This can really add up. For example, if the landlord decides the parking lot needs re-paving or the building painting, you are stuck for you proportion of the costs (even if you don't think it needed to be done).

Currently, my 1536 square foot place costs about 1100 a month (seattle area) and the NNN is another couple of hundred a month. This may give you an idea of the costs of commercial space in a fairly large metropolitan area.

Oh yea...one of the most common lawsuits is broken business leases. Don't expect to back out of a lease early in the commercial end without getting nailed.

I would avoid true commercial space and see if there is someone willing to lease "barn" space or something similar. The other option is to shop around for someone who actually owns the space and uses most for their own business. They may have some surplus space they can rent you with fewer problems.

Koz

AL wrote:

Reply to
Koz
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You won't see it in prime space, but a lot of smaller old building it is readily available. I know of some wee to week and partial month renters. Depends on location and the economy Ed

Reply to
Edwin Pawlowski

Do you really think I wanted/ needed reminding of that???

I can name quite a few things if you were to do you would be reminded of true ownership and freedom.

So lets not go there.

Reply to
Mark

I've done this with many, many bands, but not woodworking. I don't see why it would be all that different with woodworking.

Tips: Talk to some commercial realtors. They often have empty space that they'll rent cheap if you'll vacate it quickly, if necessary, and not require a lease. Paying in cash can help as well.

GET INSURANCE! It counts for a lot with the folks above.

Make it known that you're a hobbyist, NOT a for-profit wood shop. Underscore the artistic side of the craft, as a potter or art photographer might.

Know any other locals? Form a club and you may be able to get some space, with a decent lease, by hooking up with them.

Talk to arts groups, like local theater groups or art guilds. They often know of warehouse style space available, off the beaten path, at reasonable rates.

Woodworking is artistic. Push the artsy side over the carpentry side when dealing with realtors and landlords. This can also reinforce the not-for-profit bent of the endeavor.

Be prepared to provide some sort of non-electric, portable heater.

Barry

Reply to
B a r r y B u r k e J r .

I often rented spaces that size for band practice spaces for less than $200.

It's ART, not a business!

Barry

Reply to
B a r r y B u r k e J r .

Sorry to bring you back down to reality ... unfortunately, we are more or less forced to "go there" about this time of year.

I mentioned it because I just happened to get my 2003 property tax statement a few minutes before I read the thread ... damn taxes property taxes around here are now on a par with monthly mortgage payment. 80% of which goes for education (sub standard), via local school taxes, mostly to pay for perks ... perks that I can't afford for my own family ... for a bunch of educated-beyond-their-intelligence educrats ... and whose education I probably paid for to boot.

Reply to
Swingman

I know how you feel.

I see it as my duty to pay to educate children so it didn't use to bother me when money went to the school system. That's altruism as Wife and I have no children and never will.

However I will never vote for another school levy and will do what I can to make any levy fail.

The local school board needed both a school and stadium. Guess which they built first. Yes, a stadium. But not just a stadium, a frigging nice sports complex, almost state of the art. I've seen universities and colleges with less.

But this complex is not even theirs. They got a levy passed, bought the land and prepared it, then through some convoluted local political and business deal had the stadium built and are now leasing it.

So now their asking for more money, a huge levy to build a school. Big Boo Hoo from the board about the children being in a 40 year old building.

First, they made their decision, sports are more important than education.

Second, the lease payments. They can't make them. If these people get the levy passed no doubt where the moneys going, to the holder of the lease. The boards buddies.

To sour this a bit more, I live in an allotment that had it's own tax to pay for city water and sewer. No one else paid for this and it's been paid off. The sports complex is right up the street and when they built it they tapped into the utilities we paid to have installed.

Told you not to go here, you mention your tax statement and it opens a train of thought I rather had left closed. This thread started out about leasing space for a hobby and look where it's been hijacked to.

/vent

Sorry folks.

Reply to
Mark

I've been keeping my eyes open for a wheelchair accessible space for a number of years here in Toronto, Canada. The 'accessible part' severely limits available choices. The accessible spaces I've found are too far away for regular usage of such a space or I get the rental offer of space if they can use my tools on occasion, which immediately wants me to run and hide. I tell them if they were renting me a garage to place a car, would they expect to drive the car? That usually shuts them up, but the available space evaporates soon after that.

Pretty difficult if you have a number of woodworking machines to move on a moments notice. I went through this once and had to move everything into a

10'x10' storage facility at $100 a month. Four years later ($5000 worth) I sold or gave the tools away just to be shed of the cost.
Reply to
Upscale

Gee, sounds just like Ravenna OH.

If so, I live just down the road in Rootstown. I see you're on NEO RoadRunner. So could be, I guess. Well met!

I voted against the last school levy. (for the first time.) They're just wasting too much of their unlimited supply of (other people's) money.

John

Gotta get a T-shirt made: Where the heck is Rootstown, Ohio? Just south of Ravenna.

Reply to
John Husvar

Son of a bitch, it's a small world.

I guess I better behave with someone so close. ;}

I'm curious, at what point in my rant did you look at my address?

We should meet for a Sunday breakfast at Bob's or East Park or the restaurant in the Big Bird plaza, just not this year.

As I said, I see it as a duty to help pay for children's education. And it would be damned hypocritical of me to have objections in helping pay for other peoples children's education as Wife works at KSU and in the last ten years I've earned about 100 semester hours on her tuition waver.

A line has to be drawn and the school boards need held responsible for their decisions.

Reply to
Mark

I've been resisting replying because I want to say it won't happen, but it started the day I put up the shelves.

Reply to
Mark

The whole story just sounded familiar since there's been mention of that fiasco in the press. Took a look at your address and, sure enough, NE Ohio.

At that point I decided to reply just on the chance you were referring to Ravenna.

Sounds good to me. We could exchange phone numbers via private email or just arrange it in email.

Exactly. School boards can't simply expect voters to continue funding them at continually increasing levels as educational attainment of the pupils continually decreasing.

Merry Holidays!

John

Reply to
John Husvar

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