Moving to Camberville in May or June, looking for interesting industrial living space

[sparr0.livejournal.com]

For reference, I currently live in the office of a live/work-zoned 11000 square foot warehouse with 16 foot ceilings and a loading dock that floods in heavy rain, with no central heat/air. I like it, but could do without the flooding, and don't need nearly so much space.

What I'd like to find is something with a commercial/industrial feel, perhaps a Live/Work permitted space in Somerville, or an Article 14-17 or Residential Overlay or MXD zone in Cambridge, or an appropriately permitted MU or PUD zoned space in Arlington. My budget is around $2000/mo, and I'd prefer to aim a bit below that.

My target area is a 1 mile radius from the red line stations from Davis to Kendall, inclusive.
PS: I'm ALSO looking for more mundane accommodations, but I won't begin that search in earnest until April.

Comments

[marphod.livejournal.com]

You're looking for mixed commercial space for 2000$/month. Near the Red Line. In somerville or cambridge.

You're looking at costs around 40$/sqft/year in Somerville. That's like 500 sqft. And from reading the Somerville Zoning law, I think you'll need a permit to live in a mixed use industrial building, regardless of zoning.

Cambridge is going to be more expensive.

Good luck!

[sparr0.livejournal.com]

It could also be a mixed residential space. Or an overlay district. Lots of possibilities, and I've found a bunch of random places that meet my needs but aren't available. I'll watch all those patiently, but I figured it couldn't hurt to ask. I'm not looking for the sort of place that costs 40/sqft/yr, which I suspect would be places with frontage, high occupancy, etc. Regarding the permit, that's something the building has, not the tenant. Thanks for the info, though.

[londo.livejournal.com]

You're moving here? Awesome!

[inahandbasket]

These spaces are extraordinarily few and far between in camberville, and highly sought after. I suspect you're not going to find much square footage for $2k.
Look up in East Somerville, that's where you might have the best luck. (Outside Union sq. and over towards joy st., along the east end of Broadway...) The old Ames Envelope factory is renting space, but I highly doubt there are live permits.

[sparr0.livejournal.com]

Union Square would actually be great. It's well within my search zone, and a good location for unmentioned reasons. By a huge coincidence, one of said unmentioned reasons is located in the Ames Envelope factory :)

[ocschwar.livejournal.com]

If you're willing to compromise on living where you work, you can find an apartment for $1k and work space for much less since you can rent it by the square foot, effectively. Have you visited Artisan's Asylum yet? The workspace there sounds within your price range, and if that's still not good, it is the place to get informal scuttlebutt about the market in this area.

[sparr0.livejournal.com]

I am willing to compromise, but I don't see a reason to stop looking for exactly what I want. I'll keep searching once I'm up there. I actually already found a space that is ~4x as big as I want and ~2x my price range (9k sqft, $3900/mo mortgage+condofee), so I'm confident there are options out there for 1/3 that price and 1/4 that size :)

Doing work at Artisan's Asylum is definitely on my to-do list. However their waiting list for personal workspaces is long enough that I can't hold out for it. I'll also be reaching out to the other members there about opportunities once I'm in town.

Artisan's Asylum

[aynatt.livejournal.com]

I might be wrong about this, but I think there is currently a waiting list there.

[sparr0.livejournal.com]

I may have misused the term. I'm looking at almost all of Cambridge and Somerville, plus east Arlington and southwest Medford.

[inahandbasket]

Check out Everett as well, a bit further out but lots more of those buildings...

[secretlyironic.livejournal.com]

There's some live/work places (or maybe just "work" places where artistic-type people can get away with "working late all the time" and having a "nap room" in their "office") over near Sullivan Square, too. Charming view of the train tracks/I-93 overpass. Cheap.

[sparr0.livejournal.com]

Sullivan square would work well, and I know there are numerous blocks and buildings near it zoned appropriately (I dare say I know more about the zoning maps and ordinances of the towns surrounding somerville than most residents, after poring over them for a couple of days). Do you have the address or name of any of those properties? I'm still in Atlanta for now, so I can't just drive over and look :( One of my upcoming visits will involve a day of just that, and I'm making a destination list for it, so at least I'll add this to it, especially if you can be more specific.

[sparr0.livejournal.com]

Thanks! Charlestown is just a neighborhood of Somerville, right? I'm getting dizzy looking up zoning codes for all these tiny little towns.

Davis Square Lofts is prettier than I need, and significantly more pricey than I'm looking for, probably owing to the proximity to Davis Square. Thanks for the tip, though.

[tober.livejournal.com]

Nope - despite that Charlestown borders Somerville and is generally on the other side of The Charles from the rest of Boston, it is part of Boston. I don't know for certain but I would guess that in general zoning that allows for mixed industrial/residential (or otherwise living legally in an industrial/commercial space) is even more problematic in Boston than in Cambridge or Somerville. Somerville in particular seems to have at least somewhat embraced the notion of the live-in artist's studio whereas I don't really think Boston has.

[zaarwin-devolve.livejournal.com]

Yeah, I doubt Boston is the way to go. A few years ago, I knew some people who were living illegally (I think) in Allston in a warehouse. It burned down. They tried to reorganize in a new, legit space and worked with the city to make it happen. It was just an exercise in frustration. Last I heard, they found a space in Chelsea but that was almost three years ago and they never moved in. So, depending on how you feel about Chelsea, maybe you can try there if all else fails?

Good luck!

(Disclaimer: all I know is second-hand info, so take my post with a tractor-trailer-sized grain of salt.)

[cos]

I know the people from that space in Allston, sparr0, if you want me to put you in touch with them. Though I wouldn't be surprised if you already know some of them through other connections.

[sparr0.livejournal.com]

I certainly wouldn't mind!

[concrete.livejournal.com]

There is a 5ksqft work/live condo for sale in medford if you search on loopnet, the commercial property site. Other than that I got nothing.

[sparr0.livejournal.com]

Thanks! 407R Mystic Avenue? That's definitely the type of property I'm looking for. It's a bit larger and more expensive than I'd like, though. I could swallow a $3000 mortgage payment if it didn't ALSO have $900 in "condo fees". I'll hold out hope that I can find something exactly half that size and price... that would be close to ideal.

[nu-luba.livejournal.com]

We live in a loft in a mixed used building on Sherman Street but i do not think there are currently any vaccancies. We got our place in decemeber 2 years ago but we were lucky. The turnover is usually in september.

Our rent is 1650 for 1100 square feet/13 foot ceilings

[sparr0.livejournal.com]

That sounds like something I might be interested in. Are any of the old vacancy postings or a brochure online anywhere? I'm possibly going to be looking again (or postponing my decision) until August or September to get my lease in sync with my girlfriend's lease, so that's not out of the question.

[nu-luba.livejournal.com]

not any that i can easily find but your google fu maybe better than mine

the building is 147 sherman st, cambridge

[clevernonsense.livejournal.com]

Maybe check out Waltham? We moved here and absolutely love it. Old industrial city - On its own, I like South Side more than pretty much any hood in the Boston area, the drawback being if you live near Porter, you've also got all the other hoods of Cambridge and Somerville right nearby :)

But anyhow, what you're looking for is available in spades here and you could likely buy a place with that budget if you so wish. For renting, the old Watch Factory is just opening up--I think it might be zoned all residential, but they also have offices and restaurants opening in the building, so they might have some mixed use things going on.

[sparr0.livejournal.com]

I'm looking a bit closer to Somerville than Waltham, but thanks for the tip. The Watch Factory looks close to what I want, although a bit prettier than I need (added hardwood floors is a good sign of renovations that don't interest me and add to the price).

[cos]

Of all the places around here where you can get cheaper space to live, Waltham is one of the most convenient for someone who goes to Camberville often. It's a better commute than JP or Allston/Brighton, IMO, even though they're closer.

If you were looking in Waltham, contact the Waltham Mill Artists Association, located in a couple of the old mill buildings right in the middle of town, and see what space they might have.