Anybody rent commercial space?

[engineer2]

My tiny 2-car garage drives me nuts. Daily drivers outside most of the winter. Woodworking tools stored in the basement. My rollaround tool chest is in our living room so we can get one of our cars in the garage for the winter. You get the idea.

Me and a neighbor were kicking around the idea of renting some commercial space to work on our projects. Anybody done that? Hard to get prices from local commercial real estate agents since their job is to get you to pay as much as possible.

What can you expect to pay per month? How many square feet? I assume a 1 year lease is OK?

 

[nate379]

Really depends on location. My friend has a shop that about is 60x80 and he pays $450/month. Only thing is in the winter he looses 1 bay for bus storage.

Heat and electric are around $500-600/month on top of that too. Around $100 in the summer.

 

[laketrash]

I would talk to tenants of the places you're looking at, don't go for prices because sometimes people are reluctant there but ask if the managing company/landlord is fair about price and responsive about issues.

I've had both situations and a responsive person to talk to is critical.

Also - don't forget rental insurance if you do it... A lot of prying eyes in a place that you won't be at off hours to defend.

I personally went with just a close by 300 sq ft storage solution (much less expensive than commercial space). I rotate tools based on current needs.

 

[sledmods]

i've thought about it a few times in the end i have decided to build a larger shed next to my garage and keep my toy purchases to a min.

 

[ironheadtom]

I had a shop in a rough part of town here in So. Cal. was $525 for about 1000 ft. I moved to a nicer one brightly lit and with good tenants and was $825 for 1600ft. It was so nice to be able to work with the door open any time day or night and not have to worry. Second one had 3 phase power which is nice depending on what equipment you eventually want. It's also nice to have an office with heating & air in case the weathers a little inense

 

[farrbar]

Not sure what Chicago burb you are in? That will sway rents heavily. Depending on area, I would suggest your ANNUAL rent would be between $5-9 per square foot. One thing to watch out for is a lot of commercial deals are done NNN (i.e. tenant pays everything, including taxes and prorata share of "cam" (i.e. common area maintenance).

Thus if you are a 1,000 sq. ft unit in a 5,000 sq ft. building, your base rent might be ~$600 per month, but then you get stuck with taxes, utilities.... and then lets say he decides to sealcote the parking lot, you get a bill for 1/5th of that, so watch out, and try to avoid a NNN, especially in because taxes in Crook County are very high on commercial space. I owned a 2500 sf space in lake view and my taxes were about $24K per year!!

If you want to buy commerial space, I know of some cool 1500 sf. units (18 ft. ceilings) in Glenview for $150K, send me a PM.

 

[930dreamer]

I've leased a 30X40 building for about 4 years. It's parts of a business park where the owner has his cabinet shop. The cabinet shop 70X100 plus 4 other buildings make up the park. $500 a month plus I pay for gas(heater) only. It's south of town not a lot of traffic. O how quickly it fills with cars/stuff. 930

 

[engineer2]

Great advice so far. Keep it coming. Some of my in-laws live in Glenview, I'll ask if they are interested (sis-in-law works in property management). I'm in central Lake county. If it's too far from home I'll never go there.

 

[Nealcrenshaw]

Renting a garage or warehouse is what i've been looking into lately as well.
I've seen them from $500 1000sf shops to $2400 5000sf.

Its a good way to go if you don't have the funds to build or buy one(yet).
I'm also looking into maybe buying an rehabing an old building and doing some creative financing where the seller may take a note on it or maybe going through a bank.

Its easier to get the financing if the building is already standing versus having one built.

But renting is a great way to start.

 

[farrbar]

Great advice so far. Keep it coming. Some of my in-laws live in Glenview, I'll ask if they are interested (sis-in-law works in property management). I'm in central Lake county. If it's too far from home I'll never go there.

Not sure what is central lake county? Libertyville?

Check this out, http://chicago.craigslist.org/nch/off/1552254781.html

If lease price includes all utilities, might not be bad (although seems about $100 high to me). Plus, if you had a trusted car fanatic, you might be able to get a third partner or rent a parking spot for $125 per month.

I live near Glenview and have a good guy for 2 and 4 post lifts if you need any info on that.

 

[ironheadtom]

If you do a little repair work for others you could probably write off a portion of the rent if not all. You may consider talking to your tax man. It maybe well worth the legwork of getting a business license.

 

[BackAgain]

Around here they call it "flex space". With the economy the way it is, there are a LOT of empty buildings right now - it's a good time to get a good deal, landlords are getting desperate with empty buildings. Industrial zoning is nice too, you can get away with a LOT of stuff you can't do at home!

I rent a 30x50 commercial shop with 3 phase power and some extra outdoor yard space for $600. It's in an area of town that is like the suburbs for shops, and my shop almost looks like a little house. Same landlord has another place 3 times as big as mine for $1100 right now...been empty almost a year. (she started out at $1800!) I used to be in a smaller bay in a building with a bunch of other people, and I really love having my own seperate building WAY better. A lot of the smaller/cheaper shops have "shared" bathrooms, which lead to a little cold war with the freakin' Russians next door....

The problem with leasing is when you want to fix up the place it's not yours...which is leading me to make an offer to buy the place....

Craigslist is a great place to look up prices and find a good place. Look under the "office and commercial" real estate section.

 

[alberto]

I've been looking into this lately. I love the idea, but you guys in the midwest have no idea how cheap you have it. Cheapest in San Diego area (greater metro area, so to speak) is about $0.85 per sq. ft. per month. To boot, small sizes (<2000 sq. ft.) are harder to find. To buy a place is well over $120 per sq. ft. So not nearly as cheap as you guys seem to have it, unfortunately.

If you are gong to get yourself a "roommate", you'd beter be sure you are completely on the same page and compatible in terms of cleanliness, organizatino, etc. Otherwise it could quickly turn into a nightmare.

 

[KM1013]

I've also looked into it but the cost would exceed my mortgage which makes it a no-go. Yeah you could buy but expect to put at least 20% down (commercial). Can't buy cheap land around me and put up a building unless it's your primary residence. Probably what I'm going to do is buy a property -- grab the tax rebate -- build a pole barn seperate and rent out the house. Rent wil cover my mortagage, utilites and taxes. My cost will be construction of pole barn and costs of utilites. Seems like a better deal in the end then renting commercial. Just a thought. Good luck.

 

[jsalansing]

Cost of space is going to depend on so many factors. Location, local economy, how many other shops for rent in the area, ect.... A few years ago when work was good around here (Mid-Michigan) I had a small shop 1900 sq. ft. with 14' ceilings, a small 10'x12' office, a bathroom, and over head forced air heat. I Paid $600 mo. Heat and electric ran about $125 mo. cheaper in the summer but that was a good average. Now with the economy in the tank I see 2,000 sq. ft. going for around $450 mo. I never dealt with a agent I just keep an eye on craigslist until I seen something in the area I liked and dealt with the owner so you don't have to pay the extra that comes with an agent...

Joe....

 

[TCScustoms]

I rent a 30X30 storage unit for $500/monthstarted renting it with a buddy for a guy space to store our tools and work on our projects. This included heat (set at 50 just to take the edge off, water and electric. We put up some better lighting and a kerosene heater and it's perfect 80* in ten minutes and have gated 24 hr security with cameras. I just like being able to hang out and wrench at 3 in the morning. Only been there a month so far but am very pleased.