[sudoroom] **CRITICAL** Update for 2135 broadway, Oakland, CA

[Matthew Senate]

Howdy Folks,

We've been in search of a space. There are lots of options, and bigger,
brighter futures rest on the horizon.

On Weds, Eddan found this listing on craigslist:
http://sfbay.craigslist.org/eby/off/3036298243.html seen here:
https://maps.google.com/?q=loc:+Broadway+at+22nd+Street+Oakland+CA+US&ll=37.810827,-122.26721&spn=0.003458,0.005284&hnear=Broadway+%26+22nd+St,+Oakland,+Alameda,+California+94612&t=h&z=18&layer=c&cbll=37.810651,-122.267318&panoid=VXpIKY0QFTgDutXU5EfIag&cbp=12,284.7,,0,11.24

I gave George, the property manager, a call. I had seen some other offices
in his space months before, he has lots of spaces and they come up for rent
often. All month-to-month contracts, and a lease if we really want one. He
said he was available today at 3pm. I showed up and Eddan and Timon joined
in.

We saw three offices. I have photographs stored on a proprietary memory
device and will retrieve them ASAP upon apprehension of the proper cable.

1. $500 / month 350 sq ft - The LISTED ROOM - has WiFi access, on the
ground floor, outlets, lights. It is a good deal for the size, but it is
not very close to the street. One must walk through a hallway, through a
half-office, and down another hallway (all disability accessible) to get to
it. This is not bad, just a bit removed from public view.

2. $400 / month (no exact measure, but about 150 sq. ft). - The BOX OFFICE
(calling it that for short). Has a window, is just a few feet inside
public-facing  street-level doors in the same area as the LISTED ROOM. Also
has WiFi Access. Sits directly outside a shared building "classroom" area
available to all renters, just sign up ahead of time. If we rent the BOX
OFFICE, we can occasionally use the LISTED ROOM while it's open.

3. $350 / month (no exact measure, but no bigger than 400 sq ft) - The
DOUBLE OFFICE is upstairs, at the very top of the entrance steps. It has
access to an unused, common "reception" area that would be available for
our usage. It has cable and wifi internet access. The DOUBLE OFFICE
includes two offices that are connected, side-by-side. The rear door has

All rooms have access to the "classroom" area on the ground floor, just
need to sign up as described above. The building just got faster WIFI
service provided by Sonic.net installed recently. George is interested in
providing line-access to internet in all ground floor offices in the
future, we could also do this ourselves he offered.

Also, we can potentially rent multiple of these spaces, or move from one to
other available spaces in the building at a later time.

In order to move forward with this space (and not to lose footing), I have
a proposal:

*Sudo Room should consider "dipping" it's toe into the BOX OFFICE space
(no. 2 above) by investing a portion of our fund-raiser funds of $200 first
month (50% off for move-in), $400 obligatory for last month (which can be
july if we wish), and a redeemable $400 deposit--at a grand total of
$1,000, lasting to at least July*. This would only commit us to two months
in the space, the first month of which (June) we can sort out all the
precise governance, tax, and income issues, by consensus, in order to move
forward (remain, expand, or move) with this space and our future!

I propose we hold a discussion on this email thread, use our other online
tools, convene an in-person meetup on Saturday (anywhere that's available),
consider all the issues and list them on the wiki, convene briefly again on
Sunday with whoever can make the "scout session" (still on), and plan to
move forward on Monday having begun due diligence to consider if we have
the blessings of our community!

Please add notes in reply to this thread, on this pad (for anonymous
communication too): https://pad.riseup.net/p/sudoroom and ultimately we'll
put everything on the Wiki on Saturday to sort out by Monday.

On clarifying note: it seems to me that it would be prudent to maintain the
Sunday "scouting" event for due diligence reasons, and for future option
reasons!

// Matt

p.s. Note that time is crucial because other folks (including some we
bumped into while on tour) are also looking at these spaces, and with the
first of the month approaching, it is in the property manager's best
interest to move folks in soon.
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