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Grex > Coop8 > #32: The Grex's Landlords item | |
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| 25 new of 269 responses total. |
rickyb
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response 50 of 269:
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Mar 19 19:31 UTC 1996 |
I browsed through the AASnooze Sunday edition. There are lots of places in
the $600-$800 per month range, and some warehouse space which is
"subdevidable". I'd think if a 1k sq ft office with 2 or 3 rooms were rented,
and then 2 of the 3 rooms were sub-letted to say a new CPA, Lawyer,
consultant, etc, you could probably recoup all or most of the rent. You'd
also become the overseer on behalf of the primary landlord so the added
responsibility might not be worth it. Just another brain thunder thing.
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chelsea
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response 51 of 269:
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Mar 20 00:47 UTC 1996 |
The potential rental I looked into was, indeed and alas, too
expensive. But another thought - does anyone know how much
space in the Technology Center (big factory-looking building
on Washinton just west of First Street) goes for? I'd heard
a while back that it mostly houses poor little business ventures
that only require minimal and unpretentious space.
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bruin
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response 52 of 269:
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Mar 20 01:11 UTC 1996 |
RE #51 Mary, I was working in an office at the Technology Center in 1990-91
and our office was broken into at least twice and lost a computer and some
company checks in the process.
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scg
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response 53 of 269:
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Mar 20 11:38 UTC 1996 |
That building does look rather dingy, but that isn't necessarily bad. If
there's a break in problem that is somethign we need to be concerned about.
I like that that's even closer to my office than the Dungeon is.
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remmers
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response 54 of 269:
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Mar 20 17:19 UTC 1996 |
Right, dinginess is invisible in cyberspace. (And you should see
the places that Grex has lived so far.) Affordability, security of
the hardware, environment (e.g. temperature & humidity), and access
would be the important concerns, I'd think.
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tsty
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response 55 of 269:
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Mar 20 17:53 UTC 1996 |
a majority of the spaces in the 'technology center' are quite UNsecure
and there are breakins in parts of the building much too often. I've had
office adn work and theatre space in there a lot int he past few years.
Part of the remodeling (sic) was done stupidly, part done ignorantly,
and the rest simply witha coat of paint.
i've also lost equipment as have many of the other ppl. the dingy
factor can mostly be ignored though, as noted above.
i think they are charging way too much for space and i'm pretty sure
taht all the leases are 30 days notice only. Nothing guaranteed for
more than that. the owners want to be able to empty the building on
30 dys notice to *everyone* in case theycan sell the thing to some
mega-developer. I realize that it's been there for a long time (WWII)
adn that there are some long-time tenants (suchas the Performance
Network, et al.), and that WISD has a pretty stable space (remodeling
done VeryWell), but aside from that, the phone wiring is chaotic (i know),
the electricity is a tad on the un-maintained side ( i know) and the
owners can be a real pain ( i know).
I think it's ok for an individual or two who can move easily but not
for an organization that is looking for the kind of stability Grex
needs.
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chelsea
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response 56 of 269:
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Mar 21 22:57 UTC 1996 |
Thanks for the info on the Technology Center. I've often
wondered about that building.
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popcorn
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response 57 of 269:
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May 8 05:38 UTC 1996 |
I ran into one of our landlords at Borders one evening last week. He says
the city wants Grex to fireproof its room, and also to raise the ceilings to
some impossibly high height, which could only be achieved by digging out the
floor in the basement. Considering that Grex's rent is $25/month, this would
cost the landlords many many months of rent. It's definitely sounding like
it's time to move to a new location.
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ajax
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response 58 of 269:
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May 8 06:13 UTC 1996 |
But hey, what a wonderful coincidence: isn't the floor of the Dungeon
starting to cave in anyway? All we'd need to do to raise the effective
ceiling height is speed the cave-in along! :-)
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rcurl
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response 59 of 269:
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May 8 07:04 UTC 1996 |
Uh...what's it caving *into*?
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steve
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response 60 of 269:
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May 8 13:17 UTC 1996 |
Hell.
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popcorn
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response 61 of 269:
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May 8 13:54 UTC 1996 |
A gap that's formed underneath the building, I guess.
Hey folks, any ideas about where to move Grex to? We sure can use them!
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robh
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response 62 of 269:
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May 8 14:32 UTC 1996 |
<robh starts digging under the house, in the hope that the
Dungeon will sink by several feet>
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albaugh
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response 63 of 269:
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May 8 16:20 UTC 1996 |
Why would the dungeon need to be fireproofed?
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adbarr
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response 64 of 269:
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May 8 16:53 UTC 1996 |
I have always said "Grex needs a firewall!" What with all those crackers out
there trying to commit root abuse! No one listens. Now the government will
_make_ you get one! Ha! Told you so.
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steve
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response 65 of 269:
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May 8 20:32 UTC 1996 |
If the fire door requirement remains, then we'd have to get
a one-hour preventitive fireproof door for the place. Those are about
$1000 or so. However, since the current door isn't a standard size,
who knows what it would cost?
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arthurp
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response 66 of 269:
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May 8 20:56 UTC 1996 |
Has Grex recieved any notification from a source other than the landlord?
Is he just making an excuse to get us out? I don't understand why anyone
would want to kick out such a tenant.
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steve
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response 67 of 269:
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May 8 21:09 UTC 1996 |
It all deals with regulations.
Ceratinly Nick doesn't want to kick us out; I don't even
know how he could, really. Thats a laywer question.
Basically, the city is saying that there is yet more things
that need to be done, in order to make this room legally useable
by Grex. As I understand it, we need the higher ceiling, and
a fire-proof door.
This is another example of how regulations have become more
important than the ideas what created them. Grex may well have
to move; if we can't get a variance from the city, or if the city
people don't some to their senses and see that there is no way
to even *have* a 7 foot 6 inch ceiling, then we will have to move.
Thats going to cost us $1000: $630 for 15 lines, plus easily
several hundred for all the associated things with it.
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kerouac
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response 68 of 269:
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May 9 01:44 UTC 1996 |
If the city wont grant a variance, do the american thing and sue'em! The odds
are the city wont feel like its worth it to pursue the matter and grex wont
have to move.
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scg
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response 69 of 269:
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May 9 03:18 UTC 1996 |
From what I've seen, the City of Ann Arbor does tend to defend itself in
lawsuits. As awful as it may seem, I have a feeling that what the City is
doing here is perfectly legal.
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rcurl
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response 70 of 269:
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May 9 07:09 UTC 1996 |
Ask a third party (our attorney? - not the city) which codes are being
violated, but number. This sounds too off-hand, at the moment.
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tsty
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response 71 of 269:
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May 9 10:26 UTC 1996 |
much too often, "legal" simply means destruction under the color
of "law." wave a wand, screw over several thousand ppl on the way to
"fixing" some miniscule "problem" that could/should have been resolved
in a much better way and without all the intrusion & bother. Oh, and
teh "original problem" only affected 2-3 ppl to begin with.
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adbarr
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response 72 of 269:
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May 9 10:35 UTC 1996 |
Agree with rcurl. Did the landlord show you any papers? Mention any
inspector's name? Say why this inspection came about? Was there an inspection
at all or is this someone saying that this is a problem, without fact?
The city could have come by for a random inspection. Did that happen?
IF not, then who called the inspector, and why? If there was an inspection
there should be some paperwork someplace about the need to inspect and
the results. You need to see that. Then you need to know the specific
regs they say are violated. The attorney I suggested to some of you
in the past prosecutes violations for another city, so he knows his
way around the system. You need to cross-examine Nick if possible. Pinging
the city might call attention to a situation that otherwise would be
ignored. See what you can find out from Nick then talk to the lawyer. A common
problem is exposed wood in certain areas. Fire-resistant dry-wall (?) or
similar material can be used to overlay the problem. The ceiling height
is impractical to solve, I would guess. There is a little situation
in a town just north of here where the owner decided to create more
useable room and started a serious excavation project in his basement.
All went well until he dug below the foundation, and kept going. The walls
caved in. Lots of money! This is not work for amateurs with shovels.
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adbarr
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response 73 of 269:
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May 9 10:37 UTC 1996 |
Tsty slipped in - another morning person!
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popcorn
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response 74 of 269:
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May 9 14:11 UTC 1996 |
I wouldn't be surprised if the city is inspecting extra-closely because they
are annoyed that the construction was done without getting a building permit
in the first place. I have no idea if the city is vindictive or not, but I
suppose they might be.
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