Poll: Who would be willing to rent storage or studio space in the VHS building?

Ever since the move, we’ve been looking to expand, get some cool new toys, and generally improve our position as an organization.

There is a serious possibility that we could rent out another suite in the building (either 105 or one of the places upstairs).

Assuming we marked out areas on the floor for studio space, or had lockable cages for storage space, would you be interested?

  • Storage space
  • Studio space
  • Both

(This is a poll if you use the web interface)

We’ve had this discussion before, but now I’m asking if you personally would be interested. If we get a significant amount of people that would be willing to entertain the idea, then we can hammer out details. This is not the thread for that.

2 Likes

A note on operating costs:

In commercial real estate, rent prices are priced a rent + operating cost per square foot per year.

For example, our rent is $10 + $8.30 operating costs plus GST.

We have 2154 sf, so (10 + 8.30) * 1.05 / 12 = $3448 per month.

That square footage also includes walls (outside walls cost more because they are larger and you’re not sharing), so we only have about 1950 usable sf.

If VHS were to rent out another suite in the same building, we have some options.

Reference (from 2014, prices have gone up):
http://www.dtzvancouver.com/media/com_iproperty/pictures/Cook%20St%201715%20DTZ%20OFFICE%20LEASE.pdf

Right next door is 105:
2606 sf, assuming $12 + $8.30 = $4628 per month
It probably only has 2100 sf

http://www.dtzvancouver.com/Property/1715-Cook-Street-Unit-205-1618.html
205:
1840 sf @ $13 + $8.3 = $3429

How dense could we pack storage lockers, allowing for corridors? How much do we need to charge per used square foot, minimum?

1 Like

Are we renting work space and locker space separately?

For example I could rent a 4x4x2 pallet space monthly. And book/bid and pay
for a work space to work daily or weekly. Bidding on work spaces
automatically means premium days, which might be weekends for us, cost more.

I can not justify renting a workspace everyday.

What is the distinction between VHS and “studio space”?

To me,

Studio space is place where I can leave my build in progress setup days and
weeks or months at a time.

At VHS I am expected to put my stuff away when I leave.

So… it’s like storage space, but really big?

What would be the terms for renting space? For example, I have a 75 sq. feet storage unit ( 10x7.5 ), I pay $156/month all in. I have 24/7 access and a spoken agreement that I can use it as a workshop as long as I don’t leave a mess and don’t interfere with other tenants moving in/out.

I would be willing to move it, however I don’t want to engage in a 1yr+ contract. I would be willing to sign for 6 months at a time.

Also … no stairs … moving heavy stuff in-out with stairs is …

I would be interested to see how the prices compare with the Maple Leaf storage on Quebec and 2nd.

Storage space:
/uploads/default/original/1X/6f729b054261a827446026833c7e209497c0e48a.jpg

Studio space:
http://photos-g.ak.instagram.com/hphotos-ak-xfp1/10475196_326764674153518_1477073676_n.jpg

Prices would almost certainly be higher than a commercial storage business, that is not intended to be the draw of this. Convenience is, and we have to contend with different zoning and leasing property, rather than owning it.

From the response so far,

I can see we will need to advertise that we offer
storage and studio space with member access to a shared meeting area with
electronic, wood/machine shop.

Paying more for a space that’s less secure? …meh, they signed the waiver.

Damn, this is good timing. I’d be interested in studio space but I need to know what would be the restrictions/regulations for using the space.

Currently I’m working full-time at an early stage social enterprise but we don’t actually have any office/work space. Our product is a physical device so we need manufacturing/workshop space more than an office. That’s hard to come by for a super small start-up that doesn’t have the capability to get all this equipment we need or cover the rent for housing it all. At the moment, I’m working from home, but am severely limited in space and equipment. We’ve been looking at Makerlabs for a while since it meets our needs, however they are moving within the next month or two and may not be in operation when we start low quantity manufacturing.

If VHS does this, I’d like to know if the mandates/regulations would permit this kind of use in the studio space and how accessible it would be. If so, then we’ll want studio space + additional lockerspace for inventory, assuming I can use it like an office with regular access.

Some of the advantages Makerlabs offers over VHS that interests us is the wide variety of large equipment: Laser cutters, 3D printers, full wood working shop, machine shop (supposedly after they move), photo booth, large communal working areas and meeting space. Those last two and the machining shop would be in question after they move though. Most of this is beyond our needs and really only interests us if our needs grow.

However, their big disadvantage is they have almost no equipment or space for electronics which is half of what we want to do. If we get space there, we’d probably need to buy, or at least contribute to a significant amount of equipment for prototyping and assembling electronics. This is where VHS might suit our actual needs better since we don’t really require the large equipment anyways, we would be fine with the current equipment VHS has. I have my own 3D printer, and the laser cutter (if we even need it) is the same in both spaces. I expect to do a fair amount of electrical prototyping which VHS is great for, but eventually when we have a finished design, we’ll be doing solder reflow.

I know right now VHS is getting a solder dispenser but doesn’t have it’s own reflow oven yet. One point I can offer is that if we need any equipment VHS doesn’t already have, then we would be willing to purchase (or pay a significant portion of) it to have it in the space where it could be used communally. Regardless of where we end up getting space I was planning on building a reflow oven anyways and I don’t expect to be using it 24/7.

If this kind of usage of the space can work with VHS then we should discuss whether a collaboration is possible in more detail. Fire me a PM if you guys want to setup a meeting, at the very least we’d be happy to talk about our social venture and what we hope to achieve.

I have been thinking of a split camera BGP rework station for a while.
These run about $5k to $10k.

I could purchase one and loan it, but controlled training would be a
condition. And no hacking similar to the donated commercial 3D printer.