H&H’s Adventures in Commercial Real-estate. Episode 1: The Hollow Castle
During my last blog post I wrote about the landlord at our last location deciding not to renew the lease. We were given exactly 2 months to find a new place to run our business. Sadly I’m a better fencer than I am a real estate guru as our initial search didn’t yield a tremendous amount of results. We did however, get some solid leads.
Initial options
After throwing out feelers in a few places we settled on 3 options.
The Boys and Girls Club in Lawrenceville
The Kingsley Association in Larimer
An abandoned warehouse in Larimer
Boys and Girls Club
This was the location of the Unicorn Cup. The price per hour was actually super reasonable. With a great location, an option for storing our gear, this was a very solid option for a temporary location while we attempted to find a more permanent home. The problem however was the availability. They only had Saturday afternoons available and most of our students came on Wednesdays. We’d built up a really good amount of momentum with Wednesday night class and we didn’t want to lose people who couldn’t make it on Saturdays. Still though it was a good back up plan unless something else better came along.
Kingsley Association
Previously, I’d been a member of the Kingsley Association so I could swim regularly. After speaking with the planning coordinator we got mixed news. There wasn’t any secure location to store our stuff but we’d be able to buy a garden shed to store some stuff on site. The price was a little steep but considering the amenities the building offered there was a good bang to buck ratio to consider it a contender. But yet again the biggest issue was time slot availability. They only had Mondays and Fridays open and it would be 4 times as expensive as our last place. It would result in a price increase, but considering the students would get access to a pool and a gym it seemed like a really viable option.
An Abandoned Warehouse
Our last option we’d considered was an abandoned warehouse in Larimer. Was it the nicest building I’d ever been in? Hell no. Old ass exhaust fans, cieling full of non-functional fluorescent bulbs, a layer of dust as thick as a magazine covering all of the surfaces. It looked like the set of a zombie apocalypse movie. From what I’d gathered it used to be an autoparts warehouse. But what it lacked in polish it made up for in two areas.
The first was location. This place was 5 walking minutes away from Bakery Square. Right along several major bus routes. No other club in the city is as accessible or centrally located as this spot. Plenty of free on street parking and a 10 minute drive from our old location, this spot couldn’t be beat!
The second was space. We had around 4000 square feet in the main area alone to fight in. A whole separate area for storing gear. There was also a reception area for checking people in. It would have been 5 times more a month than our last location but we’d control the entire space 7 days a week! We could store ALL of our equipment there. Sure we’d be losing money in the first couple of months but we’d have the room to grow! With a location like this we’d become the Royal Arts Fencing Academy of Pittsburgh in that we’d have a location large enough to run our own tournaments. No more having to rent a larger space, meaning a much wider profit margin! It wasn’t an easy decision to make, but with the guidance of our Real-Estate Agent, we figured that the cosmetic issues would be a small hurdle to overcome.
Budding concerns …
After touring the place I expressed a lot of interest in signing a lease. I did; however, have reservations about the functionality of the lights. I asked our Real-Estate Agent if the Landlord would be willing to ensure those functioned before we moved in. He refused. According to him the sodium lights his electrician had installed were sufficient and if we wanted the broken lights taken down or fixed we could do that ourselves. I asked if he could at least ensure the fans in the back functioned. Again he refused, stating that the roof was insulated and that there was a garage door which could be opened to circulate air in the summer. It was at this point that I started to have a bad gut feeling about this Landlord. Still though, the place had a lot of promise and I didn’t want to throw the baby out with the bath water. I asked if I could have my general contractor look at the place and give me an idea of how difficult it would be to get the lights and fans functional again. After a second tour, my contractor stated that the motors would be at most a couple hundred dollars to fix and that the lights would be about $50 a piece to replace. The heaters worked as did the bathrooms, so the place would at least be livable. He did point out some issues like the door being too narrow and there needing to be a fire barrier between me and my neighbor, but nothing seemed like a major road block. It was at this point I figured the Landlord was just being cheap, and I wasn’t going to let a couple hundred dollar repairs get between me and our new location.
Later that week the Real-Estate Agent mentioned that we’d have to get a couple of permits. That it’d only be a few hundred dollars to file but it would be an easy process. I filed my permit applications, signed the lease, sent the rent check, and hoped on a plane to the Bahamas under the impression that I’d done the club a great service and secured us a new location to hold practice. It wouldn’t be until I returned that I’d find out exactly how wrong I was.
Architect Drawings
When I returned to the states, I’d gotten a message from the permit office that I needed architect drawings to complete my occupancy permit. I’d asked the Real-Estate Agent and the Landlord if they knew anyone who could do the job and they both said they’d get back to me. Neither did. After a whole day of calling architects I found one who I got to come out and check the place out and that is when I got my first round of really, really bad news. In order to run your business in a building, you need an occupancy permit which shows how many people are legally allowed to be in a business at one time. To obtain one, you need to prove to the city that the building has enough exits and entrances, that the building follows the Americans with Disabilities Act guidelines for bathroom size, door size, and accessibility standards. This building met almost none of them. The front door was too narrow for someone with a wheel chair to get in; meaning that the cinderblocks outlining the door would have to be cut in order to create a new door frame. Neither of the bathrooms were wide enough to meet ADA standards. The back door had a rickety set of wooden stairs with no guide rails or landing platform and that would need to be built. There was also no fire suppression system and all of the fire extinguishers were old enough to vote. He said I should have brought him in before signing the lease and that now I’d have to pay him to do a full code review on the space just to get an itemized list of all the renovations that were necessary just to open the doors.
When I spoke to the Real-Estate agent, she just apologized and said she couldn’t advise me any more because now this constituted a legal disagreement between the Landlord and I. And when I spoke to the Landlord, he said “I agreed to get the permits” and “I should pay the architect what he wants”. At this point, I’d begun to feel pretty justifiably outraged and deceived. So naturally I sought out a real estate attorney to weigh in on what dastardly scheme I’d fallen prey to and if they could get me out of it somehow.
Guess what. It’s perfectly legal. Shitty, but legal.
According to the real estate attorney, my Landlord is completely protected in what he did and how he’s doing it. Whenever a commercial tenant moves into a space and changes the nature of what the building is going to be used for, they have to have an architect draw up plans for how the space is going to be renovated to suite their needs. If they aren’t planning to do any renovations, there at least need to be architectural drawings on file with the city so they can review it and make sure it still falls in line with safety standards. The last time the building had an occupancy permit granted, it was in 1983, so even if the architectural drawings were available, they’d be over 40 years old and new ones would be needed anyway. Any business that wasn’t an auto parts warehouse was going to have to file for a change of use occupancy permit which would be different depending on which business moved in. Depending on the nature of that business, the occupancy requirements could change dramatically, which is why the Landlord didn’t do it ahead of time. So apparently that was a hidden expense I was going to have to pay regardless. Would have been nice to know ahead of time, but whatever. Live and learn I suppose.
Thankfully I met with an engineer who wanted WAAY less money than the architect to create an itemized list of what renovations need to be made for literally any business to operate in the building. Jared was a straight shooter and I really liked working with him. He was really good about laying out which modifications would definitely fall on the Landlord and which would fall on us. When he’s done, the Landlord and I will need to sit down with the proposal and figure something out.
In the interim
Unfortunately this won’t be resolved soon, and until we figure out a way forward or a way out we’ll have to have class at Ace Axe Throwing and Highland Park.
Wednesday Night from 6:30 pm to 8:30 pm is at Ace Axe Throwing
145 E 8th Ave, Homestead, PA 15120
Loaner gear is provided on site
Saturday Afternoon from 1:00 pm to 3:00 pm is at Highland Park
.Drinks and snacks provided.
Loaner gear is available upon reservation. Message us at least 24 hours before hand and we’ll bring what you need.
Fundraising Efforts
Our prices are going up because now we have rent in two locations to pay until we figure this issue out. Several students have asked the following questions:
“What can we do?”
“Please sign up for class passes”! If you’re a regular, we have recurring versions of the monthly plan that bill automatically so you don’t have to think about it. A steady stream of guaranteed income gives us money to work with so we can finally turn our ware-house into a ware-home. Alternatively if you don’t want to come, you can donate to the club via this button.
“Should we start a Go Fund Me?”
As much as people love “Go Fund Me” we already have a method for people to donate to the club and we’d really rather not have to manage and additional source of potential income on top of the issues we’re experiencing with moving into the new space.
“What about a bake sale?”
I’m going to reiterate this for everyone who doesn’t know. I have a full time job as an electrical engineer. This job is fun and fulfilling, but it is very demanding on my time, attention, and energy. As the Jarl, I’m simultaneously fulfilling 4 roles in the organization:
Club president
Head Instructor
Event Coordinator
Web Master
One does not simply “have” a bake sale. A bake sale is an event which needs to be managed. Baked goods need to be collected from an army of volunteers. Donations need to be screened for redundancy and coverage so you do not wind up with 22 boxes of napkins and 1 pecan pie. A location for the bake sale needs to be found. The event needs to be advertised, prepped, initiated, then cleaned up afterwards. And for all of that effort, typical bake sales generate between $500 and $1000. And as wonderful as that sounds, you know how else I can generate $500 - $1000? By doing my day job!
I know these bits of advice come from a good place, but I promise you I do not have the time, energy, or bandwidth to add organizing a bake sale to the long list of things that are already competing for the finite amounts of free time at my disposal.
“What about applying for grants? Aren’t you an LGBT+ organization?”
We are a non-profit organization, but we are not an explicitly LGBT organization. Am I gay? Hell yeah, as gay as a handbag full of rainbows! Are a bunch of my volunteers trans? Hell yeah, and I’m damn proud of them. But we are not a LGBT+ group advocating for societal change. We are a group of people who got tired of having to deal with certain “toxic elements” within the Pittsburgh HEMA scene and decided to make a safe and inclusive space where misogamy, homophobia, transphobia, and racism wouldn’t be tolerated. Maybe that does entitle us to qualify for certain grants. But as the guy with 4 roles in this organization and a nightmare of permits and renovations to wade through I promise you I do not have the bandwidth to add finding, researching, writing up, applying for, monitoring, and pursuing grants to my already aggressively lengthy pile of duties.
If someone knows of a grant we’d qualify for, by all means send a link and description to hiltandhelm@gmail.com and I’ll do my best to squeeze it in between my rolling anxiety attacks.
“What about …”
Ok let me stop you right there, hypothetical person. I know you’re trying to help by offering suggestions, but we don’t need suggestions at this moment. Recently we had to demote three of our club officers back to just being students because the pressure of maintaining the club is too much to put on volunteers. That shifts their responsibilities on to the remaining officers and myself and we’re already stretched thin as it is. These new burdens involved in moving the club are adding stress to an already over loaded club administration. The only one who is capable of implementing anything new at the moment is myself, and my energy is devoted to resolving these permit issues. Suggestions at this point without any meaningful willingness to contribute either effort, time, or money to bringing those suggestions to fruition is at best adding yet another new initiative to the workloads of people who are barely treading water and at worst occupying their limited amounts of free time to explain why the idea isn’t tenable.
In Conclusion
I want this organization to remain as transparent as possible. If you have questions about how the club move is going, please feel free to ask either via email, discord, facebook, or Instagram and I’ll get back to you promptly. Any questions I receive, I’ll post in subsequent blog posts on this subject along with answers and updates to how the move is going. If you’d like to volunteer time, money, or expertise to helping us resolve these issues, please feel free to reach out sooner rather than later. And lastly, if you’d like to offer unsolicited advice, please title your emails with “What you aught to do is …” so I can promptly ignore them.
