Apologies in advance for this derail but if anybody here's within striking distance of southwest Michigan and dreams of bootstrapping a Secret Underground Lab of their own, there's a woodshop shutting down in Battle Creek and wants to Invalid Link Removed. Heard about this through a friend, and after you read the webpage you'll know exactly as much as I do; I don't have any connections there.
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Inside The Secret Underground Laboratory
- Thread starter Bruce Johnson
- Start date
Unfortunately, the news here is mostly bad. The owners and management company are refusing to write any new leases for us small shops, or give us any guarantee on how long we can stay here. They are still figuring out what they want to do with the building, and keeping us craftsmen shops here obviously isn't part of those plans.
The somewhat-good news is that they are going to respect the remainder of my current lease on my shop. I can stay here for about 22 months. So, I don't have to immediately shut my business down and move out in a panic. That gives me a reasonable amount of time to find a new home and do a slow staged move. And I can keep building my Scroll Basses during most of that time.
They aren't insisting that I move out, but they aren't, at this time, willing to guarantee me any place here beyond that. There's a chance that they may settle their plans in the next few months, and make me an offer of a long term lease to stay. But I'm not going to count on it.
And honestly, I'm just sick of this whole mess of dealing with a larger industrial building in a small California city. When I moved in here 10 years ago, I thought this would be an enjoyable thing to do in my retirement. Help to build up and manage an old time building full of craftsmen, while I was happily building basses. And it was fun for a few years. But then it turned into continuous work and disruption and frustration. And it turned out to all be for nothing. The current owners are going to kick us all out and destroy the building and turn it into something that generates higher revenue. I was foolish to think that the good times were going to last for the rest of my life.
I was hoping to never have to move all my stuff again, and build up a whole new shop. That's an enormous job. But I'm settling into the reality of it. I'm now starting the process of looking for a new home for the Secret Underground Lab. It probably won't be underground, but I think I'll keep that name.
I'm working with several of the other Tenants here, my friends, to find a smaller building and go in together. Something in the 5000-10,000 sq ft range. Concrete floor, 3-phase power, reasonably secure and insulated. Preferably here in the central Ventura County area, within 50 miles of here. And definitely not owned by a Development Company.
That's the news here. For the near term, I plan to continue building machines, building Scroll Basses, and writing here on TalkBass. And I'm hoping that I'll be able to continue doing that in a new home. But there are a lot of uncertainties right now.
The somewhat-good news is that they are going to respect the remainder of my current lease on my shop. I can stay here for about 22 months. So, I don't have to immediately shut my business down and move out in a panic. That gives me a reasonable amount of time to find a new home and do a slow staged move. And I can keep building my Scroll Basses during most of that time.
They aren't insisting that I move out, but they aren't, at this time, willing to guarantee me any place here beyond that. There's a chance that they may settle their plans in the next few months, and make me an offer of a long term lease to stay. But I'm not going to count on it.
And honestly, I'm just sick of this whole mess of dealing with a larger industrial building in a small California city. When I moved in here 10 years ago, I thought this would be an enjoyable thing to do in my retirement. Help to build up and manage an old time building full of craftsmen, while I was happily building basses. And it was fun for a few years. But then it turned into continuous work and disruption and frustration. And it turned out to all be for nothing. The current owners are going to kick us all out and destroy the building and turn it into something that generates higher revenue. I was foolish to think that the good times were going to last for the rest of my life.
I was hoping to never have to move all my stuff again, and build up a whole new shop. That's an enormous job. But I'm settling into the reality of it. I'm now starting the process of looking for a new home for the Secret Underground Lab. It probably won't be underground, but I think I'll keep that name.
I'm working with several of the other Tenants here, my friends, to find a smaller building and go in together. Something in the 5000-10,000 sq ft range. Concrete floor, 3-phase power, reasonably secure and insulated. Preferably here in the central Ventura County area, within 50 miles of here. And definitely not owned by a Development Company.
That's the news here. For the near term, I plan to continue building machines, building Scroll Basses, and writing here on TalkBass. And I'm hoping that I'll be able to continue doing that in a new home. But there are a lot of uncertainties right now.
22 months should be sufficient time to tunnel under the sun-basement, and create a new workshop that is literally underground, and it's location kept truly secret.
Best of luck.
Come to Florida, get a couple of acres of unincorporated land. Be your own landlord. No more dealing with rich industrial real estate moguls.
Property values and rents are so overinflated in CA and we are all being squeezed from all ends. I hope something good comes to you from all this frustration.
Good luck with your plans. Been there myself, it sucks, but you will come out of this stronger.
Best of luck Bruce. Sometimes the “powers that be” are actually guiding us toward happiness, even when it seems they aren’t. We just have to trust that we go through hardships for a reason. If anyone can come out of this better off, it’s you.
I can see the headline now. "Florida Man Builds Underground Laboratory, Fills with Water During Storm Surge"
Thanks for the well-wishes, guys! I agree that I need to look at this positively. It's time to re-organize my shop, my retirement business, and my life. I need to slim it down, make it more efficient, get rid of excess stuff and outside distractions. Concentrate on what I really want to do for the rest of my life. This ten year project grew too big and cumbersome. I'm getting old and I'm slowing down, and I need to be realistic about what I can do in my remaining years.
I may as well make the change now, rather than continue to fight this for more years. It's not going to get better here.
Over the weekend, I was doing a lot of thinking about the layout of my shop. If I'm starting over, what would I really like my shop to be? Enjoyable, positive thinking.
I may as well make the change now, rather than continue to fight this for more years. It's not going to get better here.
Over the weekend, I was doing a lot of thinking about the layout of my shop. If I'm starting over, what would I really like my shop to be? Enjoyable, positive thinking.
That sucks about the tenancy Bruce, hopefully you can locate an ideal spot for a bunch of you guys and open a sweet new spot.
In the new place you could build a feature wall made out of stuff that would likely be binned/recycled - broken down machinery, unnecessary tools, unneeded wood. I'm sure the other tenants will have bits floating around, get everyone to add a "signature" area on the wall with their specialities.
In the new place you could build a feature wall made out of stuff that would likely be binned/recycled - broken down machinery, unnecessary tools, unneeded wood. I'm sure the other tenants will have bits floating around, get everyone to add a "signature" area on the wall with their specialities.
Making lemons into lemonade. Laying out a new shop from scratch can be exciting. You get to fix the issues in your current shop, add some new fixtures, better lighting. It's going to be fun. As you say, time for a change for the better. We are here to support you.
I think you guys should collectively purchase a plot of land, and using all the surplus machinery, that you won't have space for in the shop ; build a sort of "mechanical" Watts Towers monument ( it'll look cool, secure you a spot on the Atlas Obscura, and who doesn't love a terrible pun?).
Ladies, and Gentlemen ; The Kilowatts Towers.
You all could find one of the abandoned retail complexes that are all around flyover country, set up there and call it your woodshopping mall.
Bump in the road with so much visibility you can use it as a ramp to jump with style. No-handed backflip that bike, Evel.
A marginal benefit is it’s an excuse for some articles in your local papers & their sites. Free advertising for all your people’s products & services. Despite it not being something I’ve never read, post-sale has been a compelling read.
Would love to see some floorplan sketches of potential dream shops.
A marginal benefit is it’s an excuse for some articles in your local papers & their sites. Free advertising for all your people’s products & services. Despite it not being something I’ve never read, post-sale has been a compelling read.
Would love to see some floorplan sketches of potential dream shops.
What we're looking for is a small-medium size building, 5000-10,000 sf. Privately owned for a long time, not owned and run by a developer or pro management company. Preferably something that's an operating facility now, but has some extra space in the back. We're not looking for any retail storefront space. We're all small private small craftsman shops, almost all sales by mail order. Very few customers visit us. And we all work weird hours. Many of the other guys have day jobs.
I need 2500-3500 square feet, and I'm willing to pay up to $3000 per month for it. I'd really like to find 3500 sf for $2500. The other guys are mostly looking for 500-1000 sf each, and about eight of them are stepping up and saying they are in if we find the right building. The perfect thing would be 6000 sf of fairly clean industrial space for $4000. In a place that's willing to give us a 5-10 year lease. If we find something like that, I'd set up my shop in half of it, and split up the other half among the other guys.
The search is on. We've got some good leads and info already.
I need 2500-3500 square feet, and I'm willing to pay up to $3000 per month for it. I'd really like to find 3500 sf for $2500. The other guys are mostly looking for 500-1000 sf each, and about eight of them are stepping up and saying they are in if we find the right building. The perfect thing would be 6000 sf of fairly clean industrial space for $4000. In a place that's willing to give us a 5-10 year lease. If we find something like that, I'd set up my shop in half of it, and split up the other half among the other guys.
The search is on. We've got some good leads and info already.
Aw, Geez.......Today I got a message from the boss of the property management company, saying that I've misunderstood their intentions, and that they really do want me to stay here in my shop long term. And they'll work out a lease.
I guess that's good news. I really don't want the burden of moving, and I really like the historic underground part of this building. And I sincerely hope that they can sort out all the construction mismanagement and crap.
So all the move-out, new building plans may have screeched to a stop....
But stay tuned........
I guess that's good news. I really don't want the burden of moving, and I really like the historic underground part of this building. And I sincerely hope that they can sort out all the construction mismanagement and crap.
So all the move-out, new building plans may have screeched to a stop....
But stay tuned........
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Hope you don't have to move Bruce, If nothing else, to save you the pain of finding stuff you forgot you had, and later replaced. 
I do this every time I clean out my garage, and it's a one-car.
I do this every time I clean out my garage, and it's a one-car.I'm not your lawyer, but as somebody who's witnessed this saga taking a few turns over the past couple years, I'm suspecting you might want to keep a regularly updated relocation strategy in your ready-bag. It sucks and it's anxiety-inducing to move, but also sucks to keep getting yanked around like this.
