Finding a space
Search criteria
Price range
Baltimore is a big, empty city. You shouldn't have to pay for space.
There's a category of city-owned property that's definitely available, bank-owned (foreclosed) property that's probably available, encumbered (lien) property that is available, and privately-owned neglected property that's available. All of which are going to be cheap and could be free, depending on negotiating skills. If you get through enough of the 501(c)3 process, even privately-owned properties can be donated to the organization for a greater tax write-off than retaining the property as a depreciable asset.
Given the mission as it appears to be evolving, I'd recommend commercial/light industrial property over any sort of residential situation (avoid neighbor complaints) - and I'd look for funding sources (grants, donations, etc.) long before I'd commit to a particular location.
Ideal locations
Geographically, I'd focus on the area south and west of the stadium complex (between Russel St and Washington Blvd) out to the Montgomery Park building, then the Arts District near the Hippodrome (more familiar to me - roj ), then the I83/Falls Road corridor.
Baltimore City Enterprise Zones PDF
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.
- Loading dock
Can't have
- Heavy lead paint (ANY lead paint)
- Asbestos
- Limited ventilation options
- No working plumbing
Legal / insurance / zoning considerations
??
Location types
- Churches - Generally large open spaces, plus some office/residential space available. Sometimes includes parking.
- Banks
- Light Industrial
- 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)
| Address | Contact Info | Description | Square feet | Monthly rent | price / square foot (monthly) | Links | Contacted by us? |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Load of Fun - 120 North Ave (Station North Arts District) | Sherwin Kelly has email | One big room, currently used as theatre. See tour notes on LoadOfFun. | ~700 (18.5' x 36.75') | $600 | $0.97 | About Load of Fun pics | Yes (Kelly + 7) |
| 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. Adjacent to the Waxter Center, which may be redeveloped | 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) |
| 20 N Eutaw | Former club "The Tunnel" Current tax assessment ~$1m | 55,000 available | |||||
| 506 N. Howard | Mayfair Theater. City Owned. Probably no roof. | ||||||
| 118 N Liberty | |||||||
| 1600 Bush St | |||||||
| Address (copy and paste this row when you add) | contact | description | square feet | rent | price / sq ft | links | contacted |
Questions for a Potential Landlord
- What power is available?
- Can we weld, cut, grind materials in here?
- Do we have roof access? Can we put antennas on the roof?
- Policies regarding alcohol
- Lease length. Early termination fee?
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:
