Summary of discussion around moving from 2169 into 272
For many weeks now, at our weekly Meetings, we've been discussing moving from 2169 Mission (hereafter, 2169) to a new location at 272 Capp St (hereafter, 272).
Partly due to the set of participants rotating from week to week, a lot of the same arguments and rebuttals and facts have been brought up in one meeting after another. This meeting is an attempt to gather that information in one spot so we can make an educated decision without spending another two hours rehashing things already said, particularly as the Consensus item around signing the lease approaches.
Relevant Slack channels include #new-space, #inspection, and #nbremain.
Format
This page takes the style of a FAQ, with information sourced from the Meeting Notes of previous meetings. Wherever possible, it should be attributed to a specific speaker in a specific meeting, like so: {{cite|meeting=2020 05 19|speaker=So-and-so}}. (Note the date format: Year, month, day, separated by spaces. Any other date format will not work.)
Q&A
Do we need to move?
Yes, we need to move.
The landlord: Our current landlord is not happy with us. They got hit with an issue that landed them in court, due to NoisebridgeRyan in the 2020 02 11 Meeting, and put them on the hook for monthly fines from the City. We were going to sign a four-year lease extension, but that went off the tableRyan in the 2020 02 11 Meeting and the landlord has since been unwilling to provide more than a 1-year leaseTyler in the 2020 03 03 Meeting.
The sprinklers: If Noisebridge were to somehow stay in 2169, we'd need to upgrade the fire sprinkler systemRyan in the 2020 02 11 Meeting, which is estimated at more than $150k, and the landlord isn't interested in such upgrades. For us to stay, the building needs to be fully sprinklered on all floors, including the basementTyler in the 2020 03 03 Meeting. To fully make the building legal would be about a million dollarsRyan in the 2020 02 11 Meeting.
The “no hot work” restriction: Until 2169 is fully sprinklered, it can't be used for F1 “hot work”, which includes woodworking, soldering, certain sizes of sewing machines—almost everything we do at NBTyler in the 2020 03 03 Meeting.
The elevator: We also need our elevator fixed. It's “Uniquely Fucked”Naomi in the 2020 03 03 Meeting. Supposedly the landlord is “on it” but we're in the dark on statusTyler in the 2020 02 25 Meeting. 2169 is currently not an accessible space because of this; even besides the very real legal and moral problems with our space being inaccessible, we have at least one community member who has been unable to enter the space for over a year due to being a wheelchair-user.
The unpermitted construction: Also, the City wants us to remove “unpermitted construction” such as the SparkleForge and potentially the bathroomsTyler in the 2020 05 19 Meeting.
Back in March, we established a timeline of 60 days that would have ended in early MayTyler in the 2020 03 03 Meeting. That timeline got disrupted by the pandemic and the shelter-in-place order, which has given us breathing room, but it's a paused clock—none of the above facts have changed, so we still need to move.
What if we bought 2169? Like, the whole building?
This is the #nbremain counter-proposal: Create a new cryptocurrency, sell off that cryptocurrency for enough dollars to buy 2169 outright, and then remain at 2169.
Back in March, the estimated cost to buy the building outright was $10–12 millionTyler in the 2020 03 03 Meeting. It's possible that that cost has declined as the pandemic has wrecked the economy, including the property market, but that's speculation and we don't know for sure what the cost would be. To nail down a real price, we would need to make an offer to the landlord, which (a) the landlord doesn't like us (see above) and (b) we don't have anywhere near that kind of money.
Buying the building also just gets you a building. We'd still need to fix the elevator (another millionpyconaut in the 2020 05 19 Meeting). We'd still need to fully sprinkler the building so it can be used for “hot work”. And anything in the future that a landlord might be on the hook for, we'd be on the hook for. This includes expenses as well as ADA complaints/lawsuits, inspections, zoning complaints/other trouble with the City, etc.
Also, becoming the owner doesn't resolve problems with the City. Anything the City is currently mad at our landlord for (such as SparkleForge and the elevator), they would switch to being mad at us for.
It's not all downsides. Being the landlord would mean no landlord to deal with. We'd also become the landlord to our downstairs neighbor, who have a 50-year leasepyconaut in the 2020 05 19 Meeting, so that'd be a revenue stream of whatever they're currently paying in rent.
But as of right now (mid-May), this is a tall order. We would need to convince the landlord to sell, convince the landlord to sell to us, and have enough money to buy.
Where are we moving to?
Our current best shot is 272 Capp. It's literally just around the corner from 2169; you can actually see it from 2169's back windows.
272 is 6000 sq ft, with a ground-level garage and an upper levelTyler in the 2020 03 10 Meeting.
We are looking at leasing 272 for ten yearsTyler in the 2020 03 10 Meeting. Noisebridge would have a secure home for the next decade, as long as we remain able to make the lease payments.
Previous prospects
We were looking at 1077 Howard, but it's a sublet, so it's contingent on the current lessee being able to remain there—more tenuous than if we were the lessee directly.Noah in the 2020 03 10 Meeting