Finding a space

Search criteria

Must have

What are our power requirements?

Bathroom facilities?

Security:

• Windows either covered or up a level
• A strong door with a solid lock

Nice to have

• 2,000 to 25,000 square feet stand-alone, zoned for mixed use.
• Target of $0.50 to $1.00 per square foot total monthly cost.
• Heavy power (400 amps or more, 3-phase).
• Open flex floor plan.
• Fenced back yard or secured side area for working on large projects.
• Secured storage.
• Roll-up door from yard into building for vehicle projects.
• Nice enough area that a parent would drop off their children for classes, and feel safe if we offered intro to electronics projects classes.

Can't have

• Heavy lead paint
• Asbestos
• Limited ventilation options
• No working plumbing

Legal / insurance / zoning considerations

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Location types

• Garages — Garage bays are very cheap, have large doors, and offer modular space. It might be possible to lease several neighboring garages for additional space. On the other hand, there is unlikely to be running water or bathroom facilities and heating/cooling could be problematic.
• Store front — A store front would give us more visibility in the community, be easy to find, and invite passersby to see what we're up to. The price per square foot is likely to be higher than other location types.
• Residential home — An entire town house would yield a lot of space with a kitchen and bathroom facilities. Neighbors might be upset with noise and lot of activity around the space. Wood and metal working could do damage to a residential interior.
• Warehouse — Lots of cheap space where we can be noisy and messy. Bathrooms and plumbing could be dodgy and kitchens are unlikely. Warehouses tend to be out the way and more difficult to find for people unfamiliar with the location.

Possible Leads

Google Map showing all leads (Anyone can add markers to this map, try to keep it in sync with the table below)

Sortable table

Address	Contact Info	Description	Square feet	Monthly rent	price / square foot (monthly)	Links	Contacted by us?
463 E 33rd Street 21218 (Charles Village)	Mr. David (410-653-0900)	Former Blockbuster, so one big room.	4133	$4000	$0.97	?	Yes (Avery Boyce)
2980 Falls road (Hampden/Remington)	Krauss Real Property Brokerage (410-329-9898)	There are some leasers (squatters?) there now. Nice location on a bike route. Right above Ruintown and below an artist studio	1300	1300	$1.00	pics	No
3500 Ash Street	Preller Properties 410-235-7891	There's a big banner hanging on the building advertising Industrial/Commercial space. Preller Properties / Hilltop Mgt. has a few sites in Hampden that might be interesting. Left fairly generic message 6/29/09.	1000 - 5000	?	?	?	Yes (Avery Boyce)
920 Cathedral Street	Mandy Lippman mandylippman@gmail.com 301-770-2007 office 301-770-0898 cell	two story, 5 bay garage, townhouses, parking spaces. Buildings are in "rough shape", Mandy is interested in doing a deal. Garage space or attached row houses are both possibilities. Said $1000 might be a little low, but would consider $1500 for two story garage space, potential for splitting with other groups.	8800	?	?	?	Yes (Avery Boyce)
720 S Montford ave	April Love Raimond, Prudential Carruthers Realtors 443-474-4404	For sale (Guessing South, not North -JL)	?	?	?	?	?
1534 Fleet St.	meatP Real Estate info@meatp.com 443-630-9507	Three Floors (1000 sq/ft per floor)	?	?	?	?	?
3205 Fait Ave	410-935-2817	For sale	?	?	?	?	?
1442 Fleet St.	410-866-8088	Fells Point Futon Factory. Zoned M3	15000	?	?	?	?
432 E 32nd St	David, owner (410-653-0900)	Former Halal grocery store, so one room with half-finished basement. Power for industrial freezers etc. Bathroom in basement. Nice storefront on 32nd street, close to other stuff and parking. No outdoor space, only front door entrance, air conditioning but no info on additional ventilation.	1000	$1500	$1.50	pic	Yes (Jon Lesser & Avery)
Around corner from Charles Theatre, Kelly Egan has address	contact	description	450-500	750	1.66	pic	Yes (Kelly Egan)
Address (copy and paste this row when you add)	contact	description	square feet	rent	price / sq ft	links	contacted

Resources

Online Industrial Real Estate Search

• Long and Foster (Change map options to "rentals" and "commercial/industrial"
• MacKenzie (rerun search for industrial in Baltimore)
• Craigslist commercial rental
• Loop net
• City Feet

Letter to potential landlords

should express who we are and what we seek to do in an extremely positive and socially uplifting light. the word "hacker" should be deemphasized.

DRAFT

We're hoping for something in the range of 2000 - 20000 ft^2, amenable to being used as light industrial/technological workspace. A garage or something similar would be best.

The goal of Baltimore Node is to build a membership based, non-profit open creative space where folks can hold classes, attend workshops, and generally geek out on hardware and electronics. A few examples are:

• http://hacdc.org/
• http://thehacktory.org/
• http://www.nycresistor.com/
• http://hackpittsburgh.org/
• http://www.noisebridge.net/