hey guys, ive seen that some of you have bought/rent warehouses and use them as m***ive housing/studio space. im sure that it varies state by state but what do you have to do as far as zoning to be able to live there? any link to were i could find out for my own city/state. the place ive found is in a residential area for the most part and isnt ji-normous just an x-busness and its got the gears turning. thanx in advance tim
I've been thinking about this same thing. I know where there are some perfect properties for this type of arrangement. Since I could care less about mowing a yard, t******* bushes, and **** like that, this type of place would be perfect for me. Check with the city to see how the codes for the area read. If you go to a section of town where they are promoting economical development, you may qualify for "special provisions" like tax discounts, renovation ***istance and so on. I had an uncle that renovated a section of downtown Wichita and made a fortune. That "section" is the equivalent to San Antonio's Riverwalk today. I'll be watching this thread for some tips. Good topic.
they're not common, but you need to find a place that is dual zoned- industrail/residential, or commercial/residential. Or, the old tried and true "I work late nights" excuse could get you by for a while. I knew a guy that lived in his karate studio for years and just told everybody he worked odd hours. Move in a motorhome that you're "working" on, and just kind of crash there once in a while
I lived in my hanger for 3 years, never got caught. The hanger had a 3/4 bath so that was not an issue, I cooked with a microwave and a electric frying pan, small fridge was the norm for everyone anyway. I slept on an old futon. No one ever questioned my stereo or TV. Of course this was in So Cal, didn't need heat or A/C.
We looked at this place today. It's an old feed mill. We've got a big decision to make. ScaryLarry will be able to give you some answers. Not only does he live in a cool comercial building but he is on the board for his township. Clark
oh man i'm soaking this whole thread up... me and two others are looking into a very,very old Brick(2 story) sewing factory that's been closed down and for rent/sale for a good 30 years... this is way out in the boonies,so i doubt i'd ever have a problem with the city...but there is a small police station directly across the street,hah
Ask the building owner or city hall what the property is zoned, it never hurts to ask. If they ask why you want to know just tell them your throwing around a couple of ideas in your head.
oh wow clark thats *****in. as far as dual zoning the area, it must be i asume because one side of the block is mainstreet downtown and the rest of the block is older apartment buildings and and houses with this building being on the oposite side of the mainstreet side. its definatly surounded by residential area other then that one far side of the block. ill have to check it out, would prolly only be a for a year or two but who knows. also if im parking cars inside and half of them are torn in half im sure itd be easy enough to say im just working on them late tim
If it's strictly for comercial you may be able to get a variance to make it both or just residential. It's easier to make a comercial property residential than make the residential property a comercial property. I have a great house in the country on 4 acres but I can't build cars for a living here. I could at the mill. Plus I'm out of room here. All my hot rods sit outside. I could build on here but my garage is already bigger than the house and adding on would not add to the value. The mill is still out in the country and on 3 acres. It's actually a little more secluded than my house. Downside is a train track right next to it. Upside is a bar within walking distance Clark
i've lived in two different warehouses for total time of about 9 years now. things to ask or look for if you're renting. does the listing say, "no live/work" "i work long irregular hours, that's cool right?" "i might crash out now and again, no biggie right?" what are the neighbors like? if they're mostly commercial they'll all leave around 6pm. no problem. renting on a commercial lease usualy means you cover everything. from the windows, to the hot water heater. but it also means no one is really going to be coming by and checking stuff out. if you're buying. needs to be zoned mixed use. you'll have to get everything up to code for living in it. this is not such a problem if you're renting, just don't burn down the place. heh. i've had really understaning land lords both times. it takes a lot of time and effort to find the right place. you'll know/feel if it's right. if they ever start asking about live/work or telling you there's no live/work. it's not worth trying to hide it. you want the don't ask don't tell policy. here's some pics, sorry i don't have any of the down stairs. we've got two parking spots, a bicycle shop, and a small wood shop. http://www.jessebruya.com/category/661-natoma-process-04/ found one of the shop, not very good though. that's the bike shop, to the left is all the wood tools, drill press, etc. all the way front left is where the falcon parks. http://studio4nine.com/house/house2/images/PIC00016.jpg http://www.jalopyjournal.com/forum/attachment.php?attachmentid=197224&stc=1&d=1150502967 here's my old warehouse in san jose. http://geocities.com/flipthekid/newhawk/pages/page14.html mostly pics of my motorbike, but you can see the shop side of that one. good luck. i wouldn't want to live any other way. can't imagine being in a tiny apartment and having to rent a garage somewhere. gary.
You will have to check with the local county/town zoning person/board no matter where you are doing this. Most will give you the general information with a phone call. The town I live in has the property as either a commerical or residential...NOT a combination. BUT for a little extra money you can get a variance by seeing the zoning board to do the combo. I had to show so many parking spaces and a floor plan...pretty simple stuff. Just up the road in York combined use is no problem, just has to meet code. Some towns are a breeze...some are a real *****. You just hope the people in charge will be happy to see you improve the property. Letting as many local government people know what you are doing to improve the horriable rough building cant hurt either. THEN be sure you can find an insurance company that will cover your property. I have to have a commerical policy with renters insurance for my junk inside. ****s, but that is the way it works with this type of property. Regular homeowners is a couple hundred a year here, commerical is $1300+. Just remember two things 1. do things the right way with paper work as not to screw yourself down the road. Try to think of ANY pitfalls that could bite you in the *** down the road. 2. Once you live in a warehouse, you will NEVER want to live in a regular house again!! Any other questions PM me.
Wow that's really cool to hear that you guys are doing it! I know about 10 years ago there were *really* shady areas in downtown LA you could rent a loft/warehouse, as of now I dunno. It would certainly solve my workspace problem! Great topic!
i'm in the process of buying a warehose now,its in Ga. its zoned light industrial,i got a copy of the zoning regs and read them,in the regs there was a small paragraph that said that a residence for a night watchmen was ok. hahaaa!!i called the planning office,they checked into it and i can build a house in the building,as long as i have a business in there as well.perfect!! randy
yep, you got's to have the insurance too. forgot about that. our lease demands carrying that type of insurance. we carry a general liability policy - $900 a year. it's something like a 2 million dollar umbrella type deal. and i also have renters insurance for the tools and etc. we have 5 folks here though, so the price is split up on the liability. there is alot of work to do to get your self set up, but once it's up and running, you can beat the living environment. gary.
[Light bulb goes on above Jeff's head] Wow, that's a great idea Tim. I've been thinking about finding a different place where I could actually work on stuff, it never occured to me to do do it this way. There are tons of old brick farm storage buildings around here. For these commercial/residential places, do you need to have a currently operating business there? can I just set up an LLC and call myself a business withouit actually having one?
Yeah, I'm very interested to hear everyone's input on this topic too. My meat market is kind of a dumpy place, but it was ultra-cheap and it wouln't take that much to fix it up nice. I stand to make some pretty nice coin on my current house and I've really been thinking of fixing up the shop with a partial apartment and (ideally) paying it off with the $ from the house, so I could live debt free. I don't think I'd have any zoning issues, but it's just getting the work done that's gonna take some time and effort.
Don't know if this helps out, but we rent a hangar off of a small air field. Half business and half residential. They have a few rules and regulations but as for working out of it, we haven't really had a problem. Besides the typical don't block the drive so that planes can p*** by and ya can't have cars on blocks outside.
Ha, I'm going to look at a 720 square foot shop tommorow at 11am. It has running water and a heater. I can't wait!!
i tried it in trumbull county ohio NOT ALLOWED. i just got the building and started living in the offic part it had a shower and all. fire dept came when a neibor complaned about paint fumes. only thing i painted was the dam building , anyway they asked for my home address for the fines? i told them this is it they told me they were going to fine me 200 a day if i stayed and i owned the dam building just me sleeping on the couch in office for a week. so i sold building. lost my ***! kewl idea just this state is screwed up!!!
Thought about buying an old grocery store once already zoned comercial/residential. about 5000 sq ft for 65 grand! what was i thinkin to p*** on that! it even had a HUGE elevator to get stuff to the ba*****t that was wide open except for a row of pillars down the center! all of a sudden I am kicking my self! Oh **** now its worse, the 5000 was only the main floor, iwould have had 10000 sq ft....... damn! Im gona check up on this thread and learn more. .
I just did a craigslist search in LA for warehouse space...no dice there...tooooo expensive....but if anybody reading this thread has some available or wants a partner in crime, PM me! I might know a person or two as well that would be into it too. A man can dream...
I've lived in a warehouse on and off for the last ten years or so. In both situations I bought the building. The first was an older building, about 7k', and I converted the offices to about 900' of living space. Living room with a loft for sleeping, full kitchen w/ table & chairs, full bath, etc. I sold that building and moved to another town, where I purchased the second building; a brand new 4k' steel building. That building had a 16' high ceiling, so I built a mesamine on one end of the building, 8' clearance underneath. The "upstairs" was 14' wide, and ran the length of the building, 50'. Made a nice 700' of living space, and sacrificed no floor space in th shop below. As for "the man", the neighbors were always cool about it in both places. The first place the guy across the street was doing the same thing, and the second place a few guys were doing the same thing within a few blocks. I still always employed a don't ask don't tell policy with everyone. I don't think I ever really admitted it to anyone outside close friends and family. A lot of people ***umed it, but I never addressed it. It is a great way of life for a single car guy, no doubt.
i lived in my rented shop for almost 7 years and never had a problem, but there were apartments upstairs, and there were projects everywhere, and i covered up any obvious live-in signs when the firemen came every 2 years or so. However, the property i rent now is considered CR or commercial/residential, and the guy renting the majority of the space is getting hounded for living there, but it is a neighbor complaint issue. I don't understand how they could differentiate the building because next door both ways are live in houses, and CR is a large zone, not parcel. Check the city hall there are maps in the zoning or planning department if you are sketched. tp aka zibo
City or state building inspector would give you guidlines on living/working spaces and the laws that lie therein... and around here, that's a lot of 'em. The family and I looked into doing this also; living in the same building as my etching studio. Even though I'm not using any hazardous materials what-so-ever, the one law that killed my dream early was the fact that EVERY bedroom had to have a direct exit to the alley or street, if sleeping was done on the second floor, a fire escape had to be built, if sleeping was done in the ba*****t there had to be a window directly accessible to the outside... and between the "business" part and the "dwelling" part EVERY wall had to be an approved 3 hour fire wall (meaning made from **** that it would take a fire three hours to burn thru) and fire doors too... that's some expensive ****. Solution... if the house and shop are not connected, like a shed, barn, or warehouse NEXT TO your home... everything is fine. We are currently looking for a small country home with an implement shed or shop on the same acreage... screw 'em.
Some times it's how you put it to the bldg. dept.. you tell them you have a lot of valuable stuff that is easy to steal and you need some one there at night. they will give you a list of requirements and record the fact that someone is living there. In El Segundo you needed a bathroom, two exits and a limit to the size of the living space which you get around by having a large show room. The city has recently changed the code to let artists live in their shop. Pogo
I am glad this came up. I am looking into a building to live in but my shop/garage would be in a seperate building.
I've always thought it would be cool to have a old two story brick building. Not too big 'cuz I'm not going to do commercial work anymore, just the family toys. Imagine coming home from your job, crusing down the street, reach over and grab the remote, and open the automatic door going into the downstairs garage. You whip in, as the auto door closes behind you. You'll be in your castle. Fully equipped shop downstairs and a modern, clean, living area upstairs with all the comfortable essentials like cold A/C, kitchen, living area with fireplace, big screen....you know, all the essentials. It would have that urban/industrial thing going on. Or, if it's in the country....much better.
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