Learn me finding rental workshop space

In a little less than a month I am losing my (free) parking spot for my motorhome.  I'm currently spending about $200/month for a 10x30 garage to store the trailer and some household things in.  I can maintain my spend at the storage facility by pushing the RV and trailer to an outdoor spot and then getting a smaller storage locker (or I can reduce my cost by just forgoing the storage locker entirely, which is a possibility).  As I thought about it, though, I've got two other guys that would definitely be interested and I could probably find at least two more that could pool together 200-250/month.  That would give us about $1000/month plus $250/month for utilities or whatever to find a place that had a decent outdoor lot for motorhome/trailer storage and then a warehousey kind of place with a garage door or multiple bays.

The problem that I'm running in to is that all the places that seem to be advertised are being advertised as places to operate businesses and generate revenue -- not as clubhouses for gearheads.  I'm looking for basically a dump with a good roof and terrible location -- but of course, if it's way far away from the center of town, it would just be too inconvenient to use.  

Has anyone else had any success in trying to find this kind of place?  Where and how can I put up a want ad?  I was going to put something in the office/warehouse section of craigslist, but my guess is that the kind of place I'm looking for isn't really going to be advertising.  The specific location that I'm looking for is Northern Kentucky/Cincinnati, OH but if I could find a guy in the sort-of sticks with a pole barn he's not using all of, that would work too.  Any suggestions on how to find this kind of thing?

Ironic, yesterday I found this looking for a decent size storage unit for my jaguar and conquest. Thought it was a cool idea but the site has no actual pictures. So, I drove by there and it doesn't even exist. 

Anyway,  are there any drive through indoor rv storage local to you? 

In reply to yupididit :

That is a pretty cool concept!  If such a thing existed, it would probably be exactly what I'm looking for.

There's an indoor RV storage place nearby, but they're very much focused on just the RV storage market.  They've got a 20x50 unit for 435/month.  Of that 1,000 sqft, I'd use up 450 for the motorhome and trailer, leaving 550 for "other stuff".  A compact car would take up about 90-100 sqft, more if you need room to work on it.  The table saw, band saw, drill press, lathe, shop press, blasting cabinet, and other stuff would consume most of the rest of the space, without much walking around room.  That would be way more than enough room if it were just me, but I need a roomie to keep the cost down and it wouldn't really be big enough for that.  I also get the feeling that they're not really keen on the idea of doing anything but parking and washing RVs and boats.

That does highlight another thought that I had, though.  I could go with a traditional storage lot and pay the $80 to park the RV and maybe the trailer outdoors and then look to a shared garage in the same facility.  I know that the unit next to mine in the current storage lot was actually two units that were combined by taking down the center wall so that the old guy could park a couple classic muscle cars of some sort in there along with some workshop space.  Maybe there would be an option to get real power run to a combined unit and split it up so that it was about $120 a share.  I may go over and talk to the owner of the place tomorrow.

I was recently searching for space and whenever I thought I found a space, they didn't want vehicle repair there, or it wasn't zoned for it.  those spaces that would allow it/zoned for it wanted about 2x the going rate for the same regular space.  

I ended up with a space that is part of an office building but has a large overhead door, triple basin sewer (illinois requirement)  and a couple thousand feet of indoor space.  Sadly I can't use any of the outside space.

I found it through craigslist mostly, you may be able to check loopnet also.

How about this place and a few old shipping containers...

https://cincinnati.craigslist.org/prk/d/gravel-lot-for-rent/6390937125.html

Adam Brock was looking for someone to share shop space at one time. I believe he has since moved to a smaller shop but he may know where to look in Cincinnati. 

Patience, patience, patience.  Unfortunately, a skill you may not be able to use.

I heavily searched Craigslist for a year or so looking in the for-rent sections with the term "garage" as a search item, both in business and residential.   There are a lot of options for vehicle storage around here that are not freely accessible, so I got a whole ton of bad hits.  Jumped on the first good hit I got, and that's where I be today.  It's only 620 square feet but it's also comparable per square foot to what storage lockers run around here, and I'm allowed to work in it.

I've considered that very thing or a cheap steel building with that gravel lot in Taylor Mill, actually.  My biggest concern with that is the fact that Taylor Mill is a little yuppity and may have some stupid RV storage ordinances.  It seems big enough to be able to have a little testing area for rallycross cars though...

Patience is actually something I can afford to have.  The place I currently rent storage from is very likely to have a spot for me on December 1st and it's a month-to-month agreement, so I'll go ahead and move there as soon as I can and when and if something better pops up, it's no big deal to move.

Loopnet seems a little more focused on places that are commercially desirable, but I'm keeping half an eye out there as well.  I may call some commercial Realtors next week and see if they have any places that might fit.  

I'll have to reach out to Adam and see if he has any ideas.  His place (or at least the place of his that I most recently saw) is actually almost exactly what I'm looking for.  No RV parking capability and no way to get a trailer up there.  But almost.

In reply to wae :

Adam's in Hyde Park now.  Not in the multistory warehouse.  He may know of other locations, though, since he just recently moved.

Ahh storage and/or workspace.   Found this within three hours of me at not a bad rate.  I guess loopnet has its use. 

City of Petersburg, Va.

Not workshop but a storage site.

Found this from my googling. 

Any chance one of the area airfields would have a hangar for rent?

In reply to eastside Utah Johnny Montana :

That's what I'm doing. 

I found a 12x45 unit a few miles from my house with really high ceilings. It a drive-through unit so I can drive my Excursion and trailer through one side out the other. It has 24/7 access, lighting, and power outlets. $185 a month. I'm on the waiting list! Once I get it, I can go pick up my Jaguar and Conquest from California. I wish my trailer was long enough to fit both. 

https://cincinnati.craigslist.org/prk/d/barn-for-rent-475-felicity-oh/6404306019.html

Something like this?  Too far away?

I wonder about the "no automotive repair businesses", would hobbyists be ok?

Car condo

I drive by one of these every day, but they are all sold.

Superbump! 

I looking for something in the DC area or within an hour. I had a petential near Summit Point but it looks like the owner wants to sell and I dont have 4 million bucks.

In reply to nutherjrfan :

If Petersburg is on the table, Roxbury va is just on the other side of the river, 2 exits east of 295 on 64. There are no retail stores in the "town" but an industrial park was built on the middle of nowhere. Arthur Dean and his son built sever 2 to 6 bay buildings. I lived in one 25 x 60 foot bay (22' ceilings) from 04 to 09. Three phase power. Only left cause I moved to AL when I met and married my wife. 

If you aren't operating a business, most of the zoning stuff won't apply, and it should be cheaper. I rented a 3000 sq ft garage with a lift with a few guys for some years. We found it on Craigslist.

I solved the problem twice...  Our first incarnation was to find a self-storage lot with an owner that was okay with people working out of their garages.  We took two 10x30 garages that were next to each other and he took down a portion of the wall.  The studs were still there, but it gave us a little bit more room.  That solution had the benefit of being fast, but the only bathroom was a port-a-potty that was a 100 yard walk each way, there was no insulation or heat, and power was very limited. 

We were planning to move into a new pair of units that he was going to make a little bit special for us when he opened a new facility - this one would have 220 power and a little more space with a little less wall.  But between cruising craigslist and looking for signs as we drove around, we found two different places that looked like they would work for us.  One was a stand-alone building with good power, sort of insulated, and running water and bathrooms available across the street in the main building.  The other was the place we chose: 20x70 with a 12' garage door and a man door, mostly insulatedish, plenty of power, an option for 3-phase (which we didn't take), a small office with a window A/C, and its own bathroom in-unit.  Still can't park the RV here because there just isn't the room for it, but overall it's been working out well.

We happened to luck in to it - the guy keeps his sign up advertising "work space" all the time, even when there aren't any vacancies.  It just happened that when I called, one of his tenants had just told him either that day or the day before that he had outgrown the space and was moving out.  Obviously, it's too far for you but if anyone else in the Cincy area is looking for space, there's another unit here that just went on the market....

One thing that I did find is that since it's commercial space, you wind up having to play by a different rule set.  Utilities are more expensive because "business".  I've got to have the fire department inspect me every year which means I have to comply with things like having a flammables cabinet, marked exits, no extension cords, and dated fire extinguishers.  Not the end of the world, but it can catch you off-guard a little if you're not ready for it.  On the upside, however, FedEx deliveries are less expensive because it's a commercial address.  The weird part is that it takes them waaaaaaay more effort to deliver to me here because there's a 50/50 shot as to if they will leave a "no signature required" package here if they even suspect that I'm not here - sometimes they won't even come and knock on the door; they see the garage door closed and just leave.

Anyway, yeah, it seems like just driving around in areas where there's smaller light-industrial places can result in success.

I found mine on a random motorcycle ride... hey, let's see where this road goes!

The owner had one six bay building done, and all rented, and was 3/4 the way through second. I came back up the next day during construction hours to introduce myself. I found, along the way, that saying ya wanted to have a personal hot rod / motorcycle garage, and live in it may not be the best approach. Especially considering my appearance. (Semi reformed scooter tramp)

But I could tell the complete truth. "I have an older Airstream I need to do a complete restoration on, and no room for it at my house!"

As we talked, the owner mentioned he knew two guys that had rented a bay in Richmond, years back, that lived in the unit to save money. He told me "you could probably do that while you work on the camper." 
I mentioned the county might not approve of that...

He just gave a sly grin, said what they don't know won't hurt them. 
I got to really liking that man!!!

I really miss my warehouse 

I have been part of several such shared shops. Around here they are often related to or known by people who hang out at maker spaces. You might check with that community. Currently I rent 1/8 of a 5, 000 square foot building, it has power, heat, bathroom, internet, good insulation but no air conditioning.  There is a hoist and some CNC and other tools that my shop mates own. We put tape on the floor to mark our spaces but there are no dividers and we spill out into the aisles as needed and contract back into our spaces as we can. It's very dynamic, people and projects move in and out and grow or shrink. One good part is the comradarie and enthusiasm we share. One challenging part is working out what tools and resources are shared and on what terms, and what are not. We work it out but it takes communication. 

For me, I think this is much more fun than renting a cubicle where I work alone. I'm an introvert for sure but I like the energy of the shared shop and all my equally weird shop mates. 

eastside Utah Johnny Montana said:

Any chance one of the area airfields would have a hangar for rent?

Where he's looking the airports would be the worst possibility and may have prohibitions against non-airplane use.

That's a very common thing.  Otherwise you tend to find all the hangars filled with not-airplanes.  People with airplanes can't get hangars and your airport doesn't get airplane-related revenue.  If you accept money from the FAA, there are all kinds of regulations about hangar use.

I was actually at my friend's motorcycle hangout at the local airport last night.  It's a building located right against the fencing of the airport proper.  A couple of his flying buddies got together when the airport started cracking down on keeping all their bikes in the hangars (which were getting full anyway).

Following.  I've seen ads for shops spaces on FBM, but they have all been too far away from me to be of practical use as a shop or even storage.   

I live near a number of smallish industrial buildings and I could possibly rent one either in part or whole.  I also suspect the monthly cost would be somewhat prohibitive as a solo renter. 

Finding the "buddies to rent with" has been my challenge. The closest GRM member to me is Chris and he's over an hour away - and doesn't need additional shop space.  Only one of my close friends through biking is also into cars and I don't think he's interested in trying to set up a shop to work on his cars.  I'm sure he would like the idea, but actually putting up the $$ to do so is another matter.

My WAG is you would need to form an LLC (or something like that) with your buddies and then rent the space under the company name.  Then the landlord wouldn't need to necessarily know or care what you're actually using the space for, as long as the rent checks arrive on time.