[Finance] A question for the community

[Jeff Cotten]

Two of our favorite hackerspace members from Huntsville, AL just moved to
the Manhatten area, I'm going to cc them on this so they know about your
potential opportunities!

I wish I was more knowledgeable on the zoning laws.  I know when we were
searching for insurance for our hackerspace we tried to describe ourself as
manufacturing non-profit, but I don't know how accurate that really was.
They eventually put us in their computers as a hobby shop.



On Sat, Aug 6, 2011 at 11:47 AM, Ken Good <kengood at anonymousspeech.com>wrote:

> Hi.
>
> I apologize for the anonymity and the pseudonym, but as you read further I
> hope you'll agree I'm only taking sensible precautions.
>
> I am the owner of a 3-story commercial building in downtown Manhattan. The
> building is centrally located on a 'high-visibility' block that is easily
> accessible from a large number of Subway and bus lines.
>
> I am not a typical landlord. It has only been by a long series of
> freakishly unlikely events that I find myself the owner of inherited
> property.
>
> Anyway, to get to the point, I would gladly forego maximizing my income
> from this property in exchange for the opportunity to fulfill my vision of
> creating a dynamic, creative, cooperative oasis in the midst of the desert
> of mercenary conformity that Manhattan has mostly become.
>
> I have tried to fulfill this vision with the tenant who currently occupies
> the upper two floors; but, despite his being a self-described 'anarchist,'
> time has revealed him to be a monomaniacal control-freak.
>
> I may attempt to force him out before the end of his lease, due to the
> increasing deviousness of his behavior. Otherwise, I will simply wait 3
> years and refuse to renew his lease.
>
> Either way, as soon a he has vacated, I will begin advertising for
> hackerspaces to be my tenants.
>
> I've already half-written the ad in my head:
>
> "    Wanted: Creative, talented, non-corporate enterprises staffed by
> people who still believe in the        possibility of a genuinely communal
> and cooperative atmosphere. Below market prices for spaces in a premium
> location. Rents can further be reduced by the application of expertise to
> improving the building. If you can play nice with others and know how to cut
> yourself and your neighbors that most precious of all commodities, SLACK,
> then come on by and check out the spaces. Ideally I hope to rent to two, or
> at the most 3 separate hackerspaces, working in distinct fields, which will
> work synergistically to create something greater than the sum of their
> parts. Bio or botany hackers; netsec wizards willing to share their arcane
> wisdom so that individuals can gain the knowledge they need to battle Big
> Brother on equal terms; electronics DIYers who would like to see what
> applications Arduino might have in regulating and enlivening a whole
> building--all are welcome."
>
> Or something like that.
>
> Seriously, I've been wanting to build a roof garden/green roof (possibly
> with an apiary), a green wall, and a free hotspot that will be available to
> potentially hundreds of thousands of people each week (
> http://code.google.com/p/fabfi/wiki/WikiHome?tm=6) for years; but the lack
> of like-minded tenants has proven a major hindrance. I also tried to rent
> back a portion of the basement from my retail tenant so that I could pursue
> my own hacking ambition: The creation of art and useful objects made
> exclusively out of discarded objects (aka, trash), but he refused, despite
> the basement being unused and his business doing poorly. (I have many ideas
> and half-finished prototypes along these lines, so if anyone's interested
> let me know.)
>
> The most urgent question I have now and my primary reason for writing
> concerns the following:
>
> The Certificate of Occupancy for this building has been for 'Manufacturing"
> since around the 1920's, even though it has been used as offices and retail
> space for over 5 decades now. I am on the verge of beginning work on a set
> of plans my architect filed with the City in order to change the upstairs C
> of O to 'Office Space.'
>
> Does anyone know whether hackerspaces could legitimately occupy the space
> under the current Manufacturing C of O, thus precluding the cost and
> inconvenience of changing to 'Office Space'? Would having generally be
> considered a benefit Manufacturing C of O to hackerspaces?
>
> The answer to this question is very much time-sensitive. Work might start
> as soon as the end of September. However, if I learned that I could leave
> the building as is if leased to hackerspaces, that would be awesome.
>
> Thanks. I have a lot of respect for your community and hope to someday soon
> be able to participate, if only marginally or in the role of a small-scale
> benefactor.
>
>
> _______________________________________________
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> Finance at lists.hackerspaces.org
> http://lists.hackerspaces.org/mailman/listinfo/finance
>
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