As I mentioned before, I'm definitely down with this.� Would also be interested in helping build out, etc. as much as my available time allows.� I'm sure you know how that goes.<br><br>Christie<br><br><div class="gmail_quote">
On Mon, Apr 6, 2009 at 11:19 AM, Martin Bogomolni <span dir="ltr"><<a href="mailto:martinbogo@gmail.com">martinbogo@gmail.com</a>></span> wrote:<br><blockquote class="gmail_quote" style="border-left: 1px solid rgb(204, 204, 204); margin: 0pt 0pt 0pt 0.8ex; padding-left: 1ex;">
I'm looking to return to the Bay Area after this contract in Austin is<br>
finished. �Since the real estate market is currently at the lowest<br>
it's been in a while, it's an attractive time for me to try putting<br>
together an idea I've had for a while: �A hacker/geek community house.<br>
<br>
The concept behind the house is:<br>
<br>
There will be 8-10 private apartments, 1-2 bedroom, with full<br>
kitchen/bath and optionally fully furnished.<br>
There will always be one or two apartments available for weekly rental<br>
vs. leasing for guests and projects.<br>
Apartments will have a mix of rent/lease options (weekly or 3-6-12 month lease)<br>
Services included in the rent<br>
� � unmetered water usage<br>
� � VoIP telephone ( local + US nationwide )<br>
� � Broadband Video services (potentially, dependent on AT&T u-verse<br>
availability)<br>
� � 10mbit down / 1mbit up shared access to the house network in the<br>
apartment and public space<br>
� � Virtual private server in the house colo (Xen, VMWare, ??? free OS)<br>
� � separate (not central) aircon and heating<br>
� � 24/7 access to the workshop and an office in the common space<br>
� � Cleaning service for the common spaces<br>
� � I'm working with Jim Newton to see if I can include a TechShop<br>
membership (Menlo Park)<br>
Services that are metered or optional<br>
� � Cleaning service for the apartment<br>
� � VoIP telephone long distance charges<br>
� � Traditional Cable TV services, Cable/Satellite channels like HBO etc<br>
� � Colo traffic >2 gigabyte/month,<br>
A large, open workshop w/ tools and machines (after a basic safety<br>
course has been passed for a given machine)<br>
A house budget to purchase resources for projects that people have in<br>
common (biological, computer, mechanical, art, etc)<br>
Common lounge, and ability to schedule and host events in the common<br>
spaces w/ cleaning service<br>
<br>
The basis of having a community house would be to foster a stable<br>
environment for the free exchange of ideas, and provide a safe and<br>
supportive environment for people who share a hacker ethos but also<br>
provide living space and privacy. � The apartments would be leased<br>
rather than TIC or Condo to minimize financial risk and provide people<br>
the flexibility to come and go.<br>
<br>
For the last four or five weeks I have had a real estate broker for<br>
commercial & residence properties sending me listings for all kinds of<br>
locations in San Francisco that fit the Live/Work zoning requirements.<br>
�They run the gamut from "good lord this is sketchy" to "holy crap,<br>
how cool, if only I had $7M lying around." � �Even after pulling out<br>
the ones that are obviously not appropriate, there are still almost 20<br>
listings left.<br>
<br>
It's my plan at the moment to come back to San Francisco on the first<br>
weekend in May ( May 1-4 ) to take care of a number of things,<br>
including looking at of some these properties with the broker's<br>
company. � There's no way I can look at all the properties on my own,<br>
so I'm looking for some help. � If you're interested in lending a<br>
hand, I'm going to try to schedule a couple of the broker's people to<br>
do tours of 3-5 properties and then host a dinner at the end of the<br>
day to get the impressions and opinions of the people who volunteered<br>
to help me make an informed decision of which properties to pay more<br>
attention to.<br>
<br>
The criteria that I'm looking to fit are:<br>
<br>
o) Property cost - $1M->$2.5M at the most. � The higher the cost, the<br>
less money available for equipment/renovation<br>
o) Can be subdivided - The intention is to have enough space,<br>
plumbing, and power to make 8-10 one to two bedroom units<br>
o) Has room for at least two common spaces big enough to turn into a<br>
workshop, and a lounge / collaborative space<br>
o) PARKING - Non optional on this one. �Must have enough room to make<br>
8 parking spaces, street parking sucks<br>
o) Easy access to public transportation and alternative transport<br>
o) Not Too Sketchy(tm) - People should feel safe living and walking<br>
around the area<br>
<br>
Bonus stuff<br>
<br>
o) Outdoor area to work in (parking lot, rear lot, fenced in area,<br>
park, garden, etc<br>
o) Extremely high speed Internet access available via fiber, radio,<br>
without a lot of rework<br>
o) Access to more than one leg of a power grid<br>
o) Heavy machinery like a crane, winch, hook & lift, car lift<br>
o) Truck/semi delivery bay<br>
<br>
There is _absolutely_ no rush to go buy a place. � Most of the<br>
financing that will go into investing into this concept will come from<br>
a property I still have to sell in NYC. � It's worth being patient and<br>
finding Just The Right Place rather than rushing into something<br>
because it meets some of the needs, but falls very short in other<br>
ways.<br>
<br>
If you would like to help with the search, send me an email at:<br>
<a href="mailto:martinbogo@gmail.com">martinbogo@gmail.com</a><br>
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</blockquote></div><br><br clear="all"><br>-- <br>I refuse to give up childish things.<br>