I’m having issues with my current studio space in East Van. Mostly it’s too hot in the summer, too cold in the winter, it’s inconvenient to get to, people are encrouching on my space, and the cool people are all being replaced by people I’m less confortable around.

So, I’m starting to look into just renting between 500 and 1000 square feet of space on my own and finding a couple people to share it with. Trying to find something with concrete floors, no upstairs neighbours, and in the area of Kingsway and Fraser to Main and Broadway… MAYBE Chinatown or the warehouses by Main & Terminal.

Basically I have no idea what this is going to cost at this point, but I’m looking for people who are interested in sharing space where we don’t have to be too concerned about volume, etc… Theory involves a bit of band rehearsal space for another friend of mine, and a bit of room for painting. Maybe a minimal darkroom setup depending on the space, an internet connection of course…

…

I posted the above on the DV forums a couple days ago, and since then the plot has come together a bit in my head. The requirements as I see them so far are:

• Relatively retail friendly; glass front, street level, security bars


• Loading dock access would be nice for loading in/out and ventilation


• Relatively safe and well lit exterior


• Access to transit, parking, food


• Large amount of raw space, undivided preferabley


• Ideally no upstairs residential / hotel tenants


• Good pre-existing electrical


• No carpet or anything on the floor that can’t be messed up or removed.

What needs to be done:

• determine “all-in” rental price (utilities like phone, DSL, heat, etc)
  
• rent space


• break it up with walls / soundproofing for 2 or 3 small rehearsal spaces


• ventilation setup for spraying / welding / funey stuff.


• setup kitchen area; stove and fridge, furniture
• general work area with large table space for framing, jewelry, silk screening, etc.
• small darkroom possible; I have all the equipment anyhow
• business license, setup retail space

The question of how rent is split up comes up, and I think that the only real way to do this is to split the costs evenly between individual participants, regardless of how they’re going to be using the space…. let’s say that the total cost of the space with utilities is $3000, and we have 10 people, the cost per member is $300. This would give them full access to the space, 24 hours a day, access to internet, and access to sell their stuff on the retail side of things.

With bands in the space, how long before we bring in a recording person into the space?