i have not had much of any time to blog due to the fact that i finally found a live/work space in sf!!!!!
that's right... good luck has finally struck like gold.
lombard and webster in sf, here we are!
ryan huber (drummer of battlehooch & multi-media artist of swanifant), grant goodrich (bassist of battlehooch), and myself signed a lease for the commercial live/work bottom floor of a residential building on lombard street. the spot was listed as a music practice space. once i opened the ad, there was mention of the potential to simultaneously rent out a separated back carriage house/loft. i called immediately after noticing the ad at 1am on a weeknight, the day it was posted. i had to leave a message. the next morning, i awoke with a call back from a very nice lady with a very thick accent. the next day, i went to see the space with ryan huber -- who was running ridiculously late because he had to turn in a bunch of edited clips for the next battlehooch album recordings.
we had very little time to check out the space and had to rush. granted, this was all during a mercury retrograde. things were chaotic. the lady who was showing it to us had to leave for work. i got a quick video of the space to show grant and any others and fled the scene without much thought.
after only being able to find a couple of potential spaces in oakland and no other leads in sf, this one seemed like it might be our only hope in sf. the address of the building on lombard was 2012.
"there's something about this space..." i thought.
mercury came out of retograde the last week of april. we had to be moved out of the battlepad on april 30th. time was pressing. we'd been searching together for over 6 weeks, knowing we'd all have to move out.
warehouse options were very limited and pricey, involving more work than i really imagined, and more work than anyone i knew could really afford to or even know how to put in. i realized my warehouse idea was going to have to be more long term or with different/more people. not to mention, most people don't legally allow live/work situations in warehouses... they're not really meant to be lived in (at least that's what they want you to think -- i disagree.)
the lombard spot was going to fit immediate needs. ideally, getting a place in sf was the more important thing going through my mind, at the time. i don't want to move to oakland now.... or ever really. i've fallen head over heels for sf. hard.
after indecisively discussing all of our options and details, we all finally agreed on the marina spot and went for it full force. contacted the landlord, made blueprints of necessary alterations, helped write the lease for the commercial live/work aspects, contacted friends, researched the neighborhood....
with 3 days left of the month to spare, having to pack and get ready to move to a place we weren't even sure if we had officially gotten, we met with the property manager and finalized the terms. the space was ours.
we did it.
we now have the bottom floor of a building on lombard street all to ourselves. it has no kitchen -- we're installing one ourselves, with the help of ryan's dad. we're going to build a wall to separate a section of the space to be ryan's room.
behind the main floor, which is actually half way under ground, and on a lower level than the street itself, there's a communal outdoor courtyard that we share with the other tenants of the residential building -- (there's about 4 floors above us, i believe, with a few residents living there.) there's a back carriage house -- that we have all to ourselves. grant lives on the bottom floor, with a communal room and a bathroom. upstairs, i have the big loft space, and right now, i'm sharing it with my painter friend won lee -- we're going to paint a mural on the main wall in there :)
we're creatively installing a wall to divide the loft space. it's big! above the loft, we have our own private roof access area, with a crazy wooden plank that you have to walk on to get to, attached to the main large building. our neighbors all have a view of our roof, so there will be no naked sun bathing, and i'm a little shy to put my bathing suit on up there, just yet, regardless of the miraculous sunny weather.
a lot of work has to be done. but it's going to be fun and a great learning process! i'm really excited! so many opportunities.... so much potential... so much creativity! my mind is literally exploding with ideas and has been for days now. weeks, even.
everything is happening really fast.
i've already spent two nights in the new space. so far, all is wonderful.
the neighborhood is lovely, yet funny. just a few short steps away from our front gate, there are a bunch of restaurants and two rowdy night clubs with live bands. drunken rich folk stumble about the streets on weekend nights. expensive stores are all just a block or two a way... armani exchange? yeah, it's ridiculous. not to mention a bunch of other great cafes, shops, etc... even a beautiful communal garden with flowers and veggies and fruits... a few blocks away is the gorgeous marina yacht harbor and view of the golden gate bridge/marin county. incredible running/biking trails alongside the ocean... sunsets to die for. fort mason. views of angel island. unreal!
may is starting off very sweet and i can't wait to see what else the month has in store. supposedly the planets are on my side. the universe is working things out in some beautiful ways for me and i can't be thankful enough each day of my life. i am in a good place.
that's right... good luck has finally struck like gold.
lombard and webster in sf, here we are!
ryan huber (drummer of battlehooch & multi-media artist of swanifant), grant goodrich (bassist of battlehooch), and myself signed a lease for the commercial live/work bottom floor of a residential building on lombard street. the spot was listed as a music practice space. once i opened the ad, there was mention of the potential to simultaneously rent out a separated back carriage house/loft. i called immediately after noticing the ad at 1am on a weeknight, the day it was posted. i had to leave a message. the next morning, i awoke with a call back from a very nice lady with a very thick accent. the next day, i went to see the space with ryan huber -- who was running ridiculously late because he had to turn in a bunch of edited clips for the next battlehooch album recordings.
we had very little time to check out the space and had to rush. granted, this was all during a mercury retrograde. things were chaotic. the lady who was showing it to us had to leave for work. i got a quick video of the space to show grant and any others and fled the scene without much thought.
after only being able to find a couple of potential spaces in oakland and no other leads in sf, this one seemed like it might be our only hope in sf. the address of the building on lombard was 2012.
"there's something about this space..." i thought.
mercury came out of retograde the last week of april. we had to be moved out of the battlepad on april 30th. time was pressing. we'd been searching together for over 6 weeks, knowing we'd all have to move out.
warehouse options were very limited and pricey, involving more work than i really imagined, and more work than anyone i knew could really afford to or even know how to put in. i realized my warehouse idea was going to have to be more long term or with different/more people. not to mention, most people don't legally allow live/work situations in warehouses... they're not really meant to be lived in (at least that's what they want you to think -- i disagree.)
the lombard spot was going to fit immediate needs. ideally, getting a place in sf was the more important thing going through my mind, at the time. i don't want to move to oakland now.... or ever really. i've fallen head over heels for sf. hard.
after indecisively discussing all of our options and details, we all finally agreed on the marina spot and went for it full force. contacted the landlord, made blueprints of necessary alterations, helped write the lease for the commercial live/work aspects, contacted friends, researched the neighborhood....
with 3 days left of the month to spare, having to pack and get ready to move to a place we weren't even sure if we had officially gotten, we met with the property manager and finalized the terms. the space was ours.
we did it.
we now have the bottom floor of a building on lombard street all to ourselves. it has no kitchen -- we're installing one ourselves, with the help of ryan's dad. we're going to build a wall to separate a section of the space to be ryan's room.
behind the main floor, which is actually half way under ground, and on a lower level than the street itself, there's a communal outdoor courtyard that we share with the other tenants of the residential building -- (there's about 4 floors above us, i believe, with a few residents living there.) there's a back carriage house -- that we have all to ourselves. grant lives on the bottom floor, with a communal room and a bathroom. upstairs, i have the big loft space, and right now, i'm sharing it with my painter friend won lee -- we're going to paint a mural on the main wall in there :)
we're creatively installing a wall to divide the loft space. it's big! above the loft, we have our own private roof access area, with a crazy wooden plank that you have to walk on to get to, attached to the main large building. our neighbors all have a view of our roof, so there will be no naked sun bathing, and i'm a little shy to put my bathing suit on up there, just yet, regardless of the miraculous sunny weather.
a lot of work has to be done. but it's going to be fun and a great learning process! i'm really excited! so many opportunities.... so much potential... so much creativity! my mind is literally exploding with ideas and has been for days now. weeks, even.
everything is happening really fast.
i've already spent two nights in the new space. so far, all is wonderful.
the neighborhood is lovely, yet funny. just a few short steps away from our front gate, there are a bunch of restaurants and two rowdy night clubs with live bands. drunken rich folk stumble about the streets on weekend nights. expensive stores are all just a block or two a way... armani exchange? yeah, it's ridiculous. not to mention a bunch of other great cafes, shops, etc... even a beautiful communal garden with flowers and veggies and fruits... a few blocks away is the gorgeous marina yacht harbor and view of the golden gate bridge/marin county. incredible running/biking trails alongside the ocean... sunsets to die for. fort mason. views of angel island. unreal!
may is starting off very sweet and i can't wait to see what else the month has in store. supposedly the planets are on my side. the universe is working things out in some beautiful ways for me and i can't be thankful enough each day of my life. i am in a good place.
