Property Search Update from The Factory Bike Park
There has officially been No Factory now for 2 Full Months… It feels so odd to even think of that after so many years. Here is the latest news with our Property Search…
After touring dozens of properties, The Factory has now moved forward with leasing five (5) different buildings throughout the Twin Cities, however after many long and extensive weeks of time invested into each property individually, all have left us unsuccessful.
The very first property we began to move forward with leasing, Building Number 1, was right off 169 & 694 and turned us down due to the owner not being open to our type of use with the space. The second property, Building Number 2 was in a similar area, however as we starting moving forward another larger business came in and took more space than we could afford.
The next area we found interesting space was further south off 394, not far from 3rd Lair. This property, Building Number 3, was very open to us and our type of use, however as we started moving forward with a lease, the city required us to have sprinklers installed. The sprinkler cost was explored, and seemed reasonable at the time, however then city required us to build a third restroom in the space. We were now looking at six figures out of pocket before moving in to make this space up to code for us, so we decided to move on.
The next property, Building Number 4, was also in this same area, and was already sprinklered for us, with ADA restrooms ready to go. It looked very intriguing. As we started moving forward with everything at this property, the city eventually required us to add a 4’ high handicap ramp up to the entrance. This ramp would then span out back & forth more than 50’ so that it is legally not too steep. After receiving quotes from architects & contractors to do this, we started considering it. The city then eventually told us that this area is in a flood zone, and that we would have to now hire an engineer to show them where our new handicap ramp structure built in this existing flood zone, would now be flooding the water elsewhere onto other nearby properties when flooding… The property owner and The Factory both decided to move on. Thankfully with all the rain this summer, we’re glad this one did not work out.
We are learning more & more about commercial real estate by the week. And as properties continue to fall through, greater properties eventually seem to rise… This keeps making us believe that all of the previous properties are not working out for a good reason, and that we need to take our time with this big decision.
The next property we started moving forward with leasing, Building Number 5, turned into what we thought was the perfect property… The location was absolutely amazing in between Minneapolis and Saint Paul, right off 35W in Roseville. Highway access was prime. Brand new white walls and white ceilings, beautiful restrooms, a massive parking lot, completely sprinklered & ADA ready, even air conditioned, and an official entrance/sign for The Factory. Best of all, the price was the second lowest compared to the properties above. Everything was starting to turn around & get very exciting. After two weeks we agreed upon the terms of working together, followed by another two weeks later, our new lease for The Factory had been completely written up. We were going over our insurance requirements, visited the property many times, and finally had asked our attorney to review the lease. The building’s commercial broker even called stating “We have a deal!”. Shortly after we received our $1,182.50 bill for legal fees, and the lease was much more prepared to help protect the future of The Factory. We were very excited to continue moving forward, until the building called and said they had unfortunate news… They stated that this is not how they normally do business, and that a larger company had approached them with an offer in the same space that they couldn’t refuse. This was devastating news. Legal bills are now adding up, and completely useless.
We are now back to square one. That is what it feels like anyway. This has not been an easy process. However still, the best part is, we have a complete bike park all packed up & ready for our new home, we just need a place to put it. We still continue to explore all options at this point. Please reach out if you have any leads on building space, land, any open areas that may be open to what we love doing most in life.
Here are our Basic Building Requirements:
- We have been looking at the 7,000 sq ft range for amount of space based on what we can realistically afford
- 18-21’ clear ceiling height, higher is always better
- Parking Lot, Sprinklers, and ADA Handicap Access seems to be the requirement with most cities
- Within or around 494/694 is best, slightly more to the west side of the cities if possible, compared to further east due to member locations
Thank you all. -The Factory Team