Renting Shop Space

Anyone have experience with this? I'm thinking of trying to find some space to work on my cars- the driveway is really not conducive to getting work done as well as keeping my neighbors happy. I can't find anything on Craigslist that's not either storage only or bigger commercial spaces. I'm thinking something more garage sized and cheap.

Or- anyone in the Merrimack valley area of mass interested in splitting something, if we find it?

I began renting my warehouse space five years ago now after discovering its availability through friends that crew for a local rally team. A lot of the best spots don't advertise on CL for fear of attracting messy hoarder types; our entire building is full of racing and auto enthusiasts and every building tenant was referred by another building tenant.

I also found out very early that it is much more practical, and cheaper in the long run to just rent a real building with a few friends than it is to spread your stuff out across multiple garage-sized spaces. It is typically very difficult to work out electricity in rented non-commercial garages as they are usually tied to a residential unit, and the landlord won't want to go through the hassle of splitting the bill or setting up an independent meter.

So, I would find out if any enthusiasts locally have access to a space like what you're looking for, and go from there.

I know a couple of different groups of guys who have gone in on larger garage spaces or commercial building spaces with garages together and split the rent and it has worked out great for them. Not only are you getting a presumably heated and powered workspace that you can use all winter long to work on your car in cold climates, but chances are you are going in on said space with a group of friends with similar interests in cars and you are benefiting from other people's knowledge and elbow grease to get projects done. Nothing better to me then the idea of showing up late on a Friday night to the garage and finding 3 or 4 of your friends their wrenching on projects, drinking beer, and BSing.

I have nothing to add to this other than I knew someone who did this and it worked out great (and his rent was silly-cheap for a maybe 4-car+ sized space, like $400/mo) and I sold some Evo parts to some guy who was renting a HUUUGE space for something like $800/mo, and there were ten cars and gobs of room to spare in there too.

And that if anyone in the Cleveland area is looking to go in on a place that they know about, let me know.

In reply to Knurled:

I need a deal like that. Unfortunately I don't have a ton of car nut friends. Guess I have to get more involved in motorsports, then I'll find out where the good spots are.

We rent a 4000sq ft space with electricity included for $800, so they are out there. We just have to pay for our own heat in the winter, which usually works out to $50-100/mo thanks to the included gas heater mounted on the ceiling.

I read every post hoping to see someone doing this in Atlanta. The concept sounds awesome

I have a 40x60 airplane hanger that I put a lift in and is heated. They can bought pretty cheap at older small private airports. you might want to see if there is one to rent in your area.

Wish I was still in MA!

SlickDizzy wrote: We rent a 4000sq ft space with electricity included for $800, so they are out there. We just have to pay for our own heat in the winter, which usually works out to $50-100/mo thanks to the included gas heater mounted on the ceiling.

I'm about 5500 square feet, and just a touch over $5k a month, heat, light and water on top.

Apparently real estate is a bit pricier here.