Newhackspace

Chicago TIF Zone Information

• Logan Square / Avondale: [1]
• Other locations: [2]

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 - shawn
• Uki-Village - jim
• Bucktown/wickerpark - jim
• Bridgeport - ryan
• West Loop - anne
• UIC - anne
• Logan Square - eli/shawn
• Pilsen - john/anne

Report should contain

• generating reports on each neighborhood - due January 31
  • crime rate
  • potential partners
  • Alderman
    • history with local organizations
  • public transport
    • 24/7 availability and bus tracker
  • Parking availability
  • food
  • home despot/big box stores
  • businesses
  • local organizations
  • how industrial is the area
  • local schools

Prospective buildings

Resources

• Chicago Artists Resource Space Finder - http://www.chicagoartistsresource.org/spacefinder
  • including http://www.chicagoartistsresource.org/node/8848
• 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:

address: 2150 S Canalport (Lacuna)

report for John's visit on 12/18/09

• contact info: Natalie Stubbs [email protected] 773 552 2355
• size: Various (saw one 3000 square foot space, another 5000 square foot space, in an 80,000 square foot building)
• price: $1.25-1.75/sq ft as of 12/18/09
• other information:
  • loft spaces
  • 3000 foot space finished on 4th floor, 5000 square foot on 5th not
  • $1.25 for 5th floor space without natural light, $1.75 with
  • nice view of city
  • space for large rooftop deck--not built as of this visit
  • small kitchen/bath on 4th floor
  • large elevator
  • They want to sell quickly. They are on a shorter timeline than us. Would not be a surprise if they had difficulty filling the building. Time is on our side with this candidate. Bears watching.
  • from the email where we found this:

Short or long-term lease

All utilities included (HVAC, A/C, Electric, Water Usage)

Abundant on-site parking

Secured entry / In-house management

Large freight elevators

Exposed brick walls

Original timber wood style beams and wood floors

Updated lighting & electrical

Free WI-FI access

A sunny roof-top deck with northern panoramic views of the Chicago's famous skyline,

In-house gallery hosted by Byron Brazier, Jr of THE HEIR GALLERY.

In addition to its impressive size, LACUNA offers studios ranging from 250 to 1000+ sqft and can be modified to specific needs.

• PS1 person investigating candidate: John Stoner

Space comparison table

	2603 W. Barry (bigger portion)	2609 W. Barry	800 W. Huron	3354 N. Elston	1157 W. Grand	470 N. Milwaukee	4317 W. Irving Park
Size	7380	5120	2700	~2456 (expanded)	3900	2580	3400
$/Mo	3690	2500	2700	2050	2500	2580	2500
$/SqFt/Yr	5	5	12	10.04	7.69	12	8.82
Utilities	Gas: 500-1200 Elec: 300-400	separate	$562.50	Included in Rent	separate	separate	separate
Kitchen	Hook ups	maybe, kitchen on shared wall in next unit.	~100sqft exclusive kitchenette	Partial kitchen (sink & fridge)	No	No	No
Server Room	No	No	Yes	No	No	No	No
Garage	Yes	Yes	No	Yes (shared)	3 OF 'EM! (one's even an airlock)	Yes	Yes
First floor	Yes	Yes	No	Yes	Yes	Yes	Yes
AC	No	No	Yes	No	No	Yes	Window possible
Heat	Yes	Yes	Yes	Yes, but only in the room next to the garage	Yes	Yes	Yes
Ventilation	Possible	Possible	Yes	Possible	Yes	Yes	Yes
Parking	Ample street, bikes in garage	Ample street, bikes in garage	2 for rent, free parking nearby	Ample street, bikes in garage	Street	Some street, mostly metered	Ample street, no meters or numbered parking, bikes in garage
Transit	Blue line, Belmont bus	Blue line, Belmont bus	Blue line, Chicago bus, Halsted bus, Brown line	Blue line, Belmont bus	Grand Bus right in front, Blue line few blocks off	Grand Blue line on the same block	Irving Park Blue Line 0.3 miles down the street
Outdoor Space	?	?	?	Garage accessible back alley	Garage(s) accessible back alley	Available but in plain view	Garage accessible back alley