Community Work/Storage Garage

[crisd]

I have no idea where to post this but I need a storage/workspace for my projects. I'm sure there are many others also.
So here is my idea. We collectively purchase some land and erect a massive pole-barn, or buy an old warehouse, and convert it with some lifts, private storage closets, etc. We form an LLC and charge a small monthly fee spread out over the entire membership. If for instance, we had 20 to 50 members, the cost would be relatively low. We could also rent out hourly time on the lifts for people who are not members.
I'm spitballing here but for example, the land is $100,000, pole barn with 8" concrete floor and storage lockers is $300,000, $100,000 in lifts, compressors, and equipment (rolled into construction loan (500,000 = $2,364 monthly mortgage payment)), yearly insurance is $5,000 a year; water, electricity, sewage, misc. is $1,000 a month.... so about $3,780... round up to $4,000 a month--- divided by 20 dues-paying members is $200 a month. With 50 dues-paying members, it would be $80 a month. And if you do side work for cash, you could make a profit.
The question is, is there enough interest to have a private 4x4 country club-style organization?

 

[Ron]

not the first time its been brought up here.
Just some quick thoughts, your insurance rate for a commercial venture is low by a factor of 5-10x.
Your power rate is low by a factor of 2-3x.

Even still it could work. But what about when 4 people need the 3 lifts at the same time?
Or what about when something breaks?

Or or or...
I think it could work. But the challeneg would be keeping a full roster and recruiting more without ever over filling and running out of space/time/slots.
If it works anywhere it would be Fayetteville.
Good luck

 

[CasterTroy]

not the first time its been brought up here.

Or even the 3rd

I seem to remember the last time it was, it grew several pages

 

[Ron]

this is the only one that came up on a 10 second search

Garage Yourself

I think deep pockets is a Hugh factor. Out fitting one bay even with the cheap harbor freight tools could run a couple grand. Two sets of all wrenches couple of evey size ratchet and sockets. Basic air tools and then the lefts are a couple grand a piece for cheaper one. Also agree it would...

nc4x4.com

 

[skyhighZJ]

I wouldn’t offer anything like this in Fayetteville unless it was strictly people I knew. Your shit will be stolen, broke, left a wreck, xyz. Then again I wouldn’t do it with people I knew cause in the end I only see it being a way to end friendships over issues.

I’m bad OCD about things so if stuff wasn’t put away clean/ right I’d tap out quickly from that situation.

 

[crisd]

Thanks for the input. First, it would NOT be in Fayetteville! I despise this God wretched cesspool. That's why I moved to Holly Springs. But now I live in an apartment... hence why I'm making the suggestion. I intend to move into a house soon, but all the houses in Wake County that I can afford... that are worth buying... do not even have a damn garage.
I'll check out the link.

 

[crisd]

Read the Garage Your Self link. That is completely not what I had in mind. My concept is more like a facility where you buy a yearly membership and bring 99% of your own tools. The facility basically only provides electricity, compressed air, and water.

 

[Loganwayne]

Id rather save my 200 a month 2400 a year and work in the cold rain and mud then be on a wait list to get my project into a building while I still needed to haul all my own tools across town anytime I wanted to do something.

your gonna say it’s not gonna be like that but with 50 people all wanting even a single storage spot big enough to work on your looking min. 16x20.
That’s 16,000 sf not including any room for drive lines though the building to access your spot no ones gonna wanna call 12 people to move their project to get one out.

Personally at 320 sf a person could get a small 2 car garage put up for a little bit more a month

And I don’t mean any of that to come off as a Dick. I’ve shared a shop and packed my shit up because I was paying half the bill and couldn’t even get my stuff inside to work on. Ended up having to do repairs to my truck in the gravel lot, at least my driveway has asphalt but all my tools were there. And some buddies and me looked for a shop for a while and we all agreed that if we were paying we each wanted a bay for ourselves. If your bay was empty and someone needed to do an oil change or minor stuff no big deal but you weren’t starting a project in someone else’s spot. We could never make it happen because building rent is so high.

 

[Caver Dave]

First, it would NOT be in Fayetteville! I despise this God wretched cesspool. That's why I moved to Holly Springs.

You've only traded one world-class shithole full of DGAF military persons for a larger cluster fawk full of hipsters...

IMHO, there are places your idea would work, but as pointed out, would need to be run as a business. Something along the lines of/run like a private sector version of "Base Hobby Shop".

NOW, the best scenario I've seen is group of friends that meet where ever regularly to build/repair.
20 years ago, me, @mbalbritton, & @dirtySouth met at one of their employers shops to collectively work on one of our rigs and we got shit done.
There's another group that does/did the same exact thing at one guys shop...

 

[UTfball68]

not the first time its been brought up here.

I think it could work. But the challeneg would be keeping a full roster and recruiting more without ever over filling and running out of space/time/slots.

I think the last time this came up there was a small chain in Florida or something that was semi-successful at the time.

Quick google search I came across this and I think I like this concept better:

Garagetime | Rent a DIY garage or lift | Work on your car or motorcycle

We're the easiest way to renting DIY garage workspace near you. Find garages, specialty tools and vehicle lifts to help you work on your car and motorcycle.

bookgaragetime.com

 

[Bebop]

@crisd
I've looked into something similar.
This is one of my long term plans that I need a green card to make happen.

I'm not gonna spread my whole research on here, but I believe the demografic you're trying to appeal to isn't the right one.

Look into Matt Farah's WSCC facility.

 

[crisd]

Id rather save my 200 a month 2400 a year and work in the cold rain and mud then be on a wait list to get my project into a building while I still needed to haul all my own tools across town anytime I wanted to do something.

your gonna say it’s not gonna be like that but with 50 people all wanting even a single storage spot big enough to work on your looking min. 16x20.
That’s 16,000 sf not including any room for drive lines though the building to access your spot no ones gonna wanna call 12 people to move their project to get one out.

Personally at 320 sf a person could get a small 2 car garage put up for a little bit more a month

And I don’t mean any of that to come off as a Dick. I’ve shared a shop and packed my shit up because I was paying half the bill and couldn’t even get my stuff inside to work on. Ended up having to do repairs to my truck in the gravel lot, at least my driveway has asphalt but all my tools were there. And some buddies and me looked for a shop for a while and we all agreed that if we were paying we each wanted a bay for ourselves. If your bay was empty and someone needed to do an oil change or minor stuff no big deal but you weren’t starting a project in someone else’s spot. We could never make it happen because building rent is so high.

There's a storage place in Fuquay-Varina that uses an old tobacco drying facility, and that place would be awesome. Except they don't allow you to do any thing that would cause a spark. And for good reason, it's all made of wood. But that's basically my vision, where there is a driveway that goes down to the center and to the left and right there are caged-in storage rooms. You would put your tools and all your shit in your bay. And it's lockable. Outback there was a place that you could please things outside, but that place wouldn't let me leave my vehicles out there either. They certainly don't want their facility to start looking like a junkyard. But that place is more or less my vision. But made of steel and specifically for car people.

 

[Caver Dave]

@crisd A buddy was working on a similar business model for motorcycles only...

The scenario he shared was to utilize unutilized (quasi-abandoned) former retail/chain store space (read: cheaper) using RFID card access ONLY (no "codes"/keys to share with friends for free ) for gates/doors/resources and a shitton of cameras... hopefully negating having a live body (babysitter) on-site 24/7. Don't pay your bill = total lock out until account is paid in full

Basically, each caged space would be strictly for storage only (monthly, catering to apartment dwellers with bikes & no covered/secured on-site storage) and schedule-able resources, both short & longer-term use (lifts/specialized tools/etc. that you would card swipe in/out on a reasonable hourly rate) for any maintenance needs (oil changes/repairs) with very defined/specific penalties for abuse/misuse (like leaving your junk on a lift, not emptying the waste oil containers, general douchery)...

Unfortunately, he was hit on his motorcycle (stopped in the road making a left-hand turn) long story short... left hand amputated/reattached/basically immovable now and after years of criminal/civil litigation (duder fled the scene) lost ability/inspiration to make it happen. He had the know-how/ability to do ALL the work, now can't unzip his fly...

 

[crisd]

@crisd A buddy was working on a similar business model for motorcycles only...

The scenario he shared was to utilize unutilized (quasi-abandoned) former retail/chain store space (read: cheaper) using RFID card access ONLY (no "codes"/keys to share with friends for free ) for gates/doors/resources and a shitton of cameras... hopefully negating having a live body (babysitter) on-site 24/7. Don't pay your bill = total lockout until the account is paid in full

Each caged space would be strictly for storage only (monthly, catering to apartment dwellers with bikes & no covered/secured on-site storage) and schedule-able resources, both short & longer-term use (lifts/specialized tools/etc. that you would card swipe in/out on a reasonable hourly rate) for any maintenance needs (oil changes/repairs) with very defined/specific penalties for abuse/misuse (like leaving your junk on a lift, not emptying the waste oil containers, general douchery)...

Unfortunately, he was hit on his motorcycle (stopped in the road making a left-hand turn) long story short... left hand amputated/reattached/immovable now and after years of criminal/civil litigation (dude fled the scene) lost ability/inspiration to make it happen. He had the know-how/ability to do ALL the work, now can't unzip his fly...

An abandoned old farm with a barn would be perfect. It needs to be outside of the city limits and in the county. I'm more interested in storage and being able to work on my eyesore projects whenever I feel like than I am in creating some sort of do-it-yourself hourly rate garage. I would rather get a group of people to chip in and purchase the property than rent it out, but whichever works. At least if you purchase it, you can buy and then sell your share just like you do condos.