[Noisebridge-discuss] space report: 83C Wiese

[Jacob Appelbaum]

Andy Isaacson wrote:
> Inspired by Tuesday's meeting, Shannon and I scheduled a viewing for a
> newly listed space today.  It was very positive, and we're scheduled for
> a re-visit at 1:00 tomorrow, Friday 9/25.
> 
> http://sfbay.craigslist.org/sfc/off/853914124.html
> (note that the last photo on this post is of a different unit.)
> 
> http://web.hexapodia.org/~adi/pix/200809-83c-weise/
> http://www.flickr.com/photos/60801485@N00/sets/72157607497772735/
> 
> 

This looks GREAT!

> The space is a ground-floor loft space that's literally 200 feet from
> 16th/Mission BART.  The front door opens on Weise St, the very first
> tiny alley branching north off of 16th St west of Mission St.  The
> building is 4 commercial lofts, two ground level + two above.
> 

That's a good location. It's right next door (in the same building) to
Station 40 even!

> The space consists of two levels.  The ground floor is about 30'x30'
> wall-to-wall, but the bathroom and a built-out room and a utility locker
> (not part of the space, PG&E access from the street) take up a
> significant chunk.  The floor is tile over concrete, and there's major
> tile damage that the landlord says will be fixed "this weekend".  The
> loft is about 30'x12' and carpeted.
> 

This sounds good. The tile sounds like it could fit what we'd like and
we can always put a rug over it if we care...

> The landlord seems incredibly cool.  "What do they do upstairs?"  "As
> long as the rent gets paid I don't ask questions."  "We'd like to put in
> card access."  "It's your space, do what you want."  "We don't have
> papers yet."  "It's fine for individuals to sign the lease... it is no
> problem to transfer to the corporation once it exists."
> 

That's great for us. Any idea what the people upstairs do?

> There are three spaces:
>  - the big downstairs room, 30'x20' (plus bathroom and kitchen)
>  - a smaller downstairs "fishbowl" room, 10'x12' approx + closet
>  - the upstairs loft, 30'x15', shoji sliding screens + closets
> 
> The upside:
>  - electric service looks solid, I counted 8 20A breakers + 1 30A
>  - kitchenette with electric stove, dorm fridge (stocked with Guiness!)
>  - ventilation to roof from stove (easily extended to a fume hood or
>    machine room)
>  - lots of leftover startup wiring, we probably want to tear it all out
>    and start over (eventually)
>  - lots of room for presentations
>  - 4 closets total (big, too); lots of nook and cranny storage space
>  - "bike cubbyhole" near door
>  - bathroom + shower (drain in middle of floor, ghetto but workable)
>  - private entrance, we can do our own access control
>  - incredibly convenient to BART and food and fun
> 

It sounds like the major thing we need to do is pull net and get a nice
keycard access system. The power sounds overkill for what we'll be using
from the start.

How many bikes would fit in the cubbyhole?

> The downside:
>  - small, only 1ksf or so -- I'd be much happier with 1500.
>  - not very much isolation; you'd have a hard time having a workshop
>    upstairs while a presentation was happening downstairs.
>  - front door opens on Wiese St, which is a crackhead urinal.
>  - space opens directly out front door; crackhead theater in the street
>    sounds very nearby.
>  - space apparently has flooding problems (flooded in big rain in 200x)
> 
> The landlord would like to move fast; if we give her a check for the
> deposit before the beginning of next week she'll knock $100 off the
> rent.
> 

The space is a little small from the descriptions and photos. It is
however much larger than the current space of Nada at the corner of
nothing. :-)

We can take a few approaches to the crackhead theater issue. I
personally like the idea of an art installation out of the window. How
about a soap bubble blowing machine? Perhaps some Merzbow to go along
with it?

If we're really lucky, we can prepare for flooding before it happens.

It seems like we have some local friends (grey-) in the area that can
give us a network drop for the time being...

Over all, I want to go for this space and I'll know this for certain
tomorrow at 1pm!

Thank you so much Andy!

Best,
Jake