Newhackspace

What do we want in our new space?!?!

New Location Requirements

Space Requirements

• 5000 ft2 - 10000 ft2 or 460 m2 to 930 m2
• move in date on or after September 15th
• Light industrial or C1 zoning rating
• We will probably need about 1 month to move into the new space and we need at least a Six month agreement from April 15th, the earliest we could get out is October 15

Utilities

• adequate plumbing--we need a bathroom that doesn't smell
• Decent heating/control of our own heating
• Good power - we only have 2x110V breakers we need more and also access to at least 220V and 220V 3-phase
• access to water in the space

Architecture

• shower
• natural light
• High Ceilings > 16'
• a real kitchen - room to move around in
• Ventilation
• Garage Door
• Secure Entrances

Location

• very close to a 24 hour bus stop/el stop
• reasonable parking of some sort
• Decent neighborhood - check chicagocrime.org
• Food near by that is of high quality, affordable, and open 24/7
• nearby grocery store

Other Resources

• Storage - room for lockers and materials
• ability to modify/improve the structure to test out green tech (thus lowering our heating bills) and to get a discount on rent for it.

Prospective Neighborhoods

• Avondale - same neighborhood as currently
• Uki-Village
• Bucktown/wickerpark
• Bridgeport
• West Loop
• Edgewater
• UIC

Prospective buildings

Resources

• Chicago Artists Resource Space Finder - http://www.chicagoartistsresource.org/spacefinder
• Get in contact with http://bubblydynamics.com/ they run a lot of our type of space and will probably be all for helping us find something useful
• talk to the Transamoeba/Catalyst folks (burners), they run spaces that are... comparable
• Edgewater Development Corporation - http://www.edgewaterdev.org/

Locations

Avondale

Sample 1

• Links to images/exact
• address:
• square footage:
• ammenities
• cost

Budget Projections

Currently we have 37 full members and 5 members at the starving hackers rate, which puts out monthly income at $1800/mo.

Building Search Strategies

Prioritize personal contacts, but explore other options at lower priority.

personal contacts

John Stoner

• Dan Simborg: Transamoeba/Catalyst collective (Burning Man community groups)
• John Podmajersky: major property owner in Pilsen
• Michael Burton: Bickerdike Redevelopment Corporation
• Payton Chung: works at Congress for New Urbanism
• Center for Neighborhood Technology

Shawn Blaszak

• Mark Norton: broker at Grubb & Ellis commercial real estate in Boston (my cousin)
• Jim Higdon: VP at Grubb & Ellis commercial real estate in Chicago.

Avner Shanan

• Gary Sigman: on the board of the Edgewater Development Corporation (my boss)

Other options:

Real Estate Agents

• Steve Krzysiak is a licensed realtor with SourceOne Realty willing to represent and help PSO in anyway needed when acquiring a space, and will contribute his commission-taxes as a donation to PSO.

Craigslist

Probably not a good idea to take seriously until we come close to move-out date. However, it is a good way to get a feel on what the rental market is like and what we can realistically expect.

Your Alderman

They know what's going on in their wards. They want nonprofits like us.

Your eyes and ears

As you travel around the city, keep an eye out for properties for rent or sale, and promising neighborhoods.

Other Thoughts

What do you think the relation between members and available space is? I estimate that we will experience greater than linear growth for a linear increase in space.

To clarify, I feel that the difference in member capacity between a space that is 3000 sq. ft. and one that is 4500 sq. ft. is more than 50% of the first space.

Candidate Locations

address:

• contact info:
• size:
• other information:
• PS1 person investigating candidate: