A few months ago Stephen and David helped me come to my senses and join Substance as a partner. My first task was to find new office space for the growing business, a challenge that I heartily accepted. The key was to find a space that felt right to the brand, was customizable to our unique needs, had enough square footage to accommodate growth over the next year, and would fit our budget. Basically it all came down to needing some raw industrial space in inner SE Portland.
Along the way there were a lot of lessons learned (and certainly more to come), which I’ll summarize at the end of this post. The first step was to set out driving through various neighborhoods taking photos of every for lease sign I could find. The options ranged from 60,000sf warehouses to scary “artist” spaces. We looked at old factory basements, remodeled Victorian homes, retail spaces and many things in between. Somehow along the way we found that for whatever reason veteran real estate brokers of the female persuasion tend to fancy me for one reason or another. I thought it was just my imagination, but it was witnessed and confirmed by Stephen and David on numerous occasions. But I digress…
At SE 11th and Division I found some available space in what used to be the Multnomah County building. It was under construction, so it was a longshot at best, but we made an appointment to see some combinable 250sf spaces in the upstairs of the building. Long story short, they weren’t going to work for us, but the broker took us to see some other space in the building. We immediately fell in love with some 3000sf loft space but there was no way we could afford it. On a whim he took us down to the ground floor to see an 800sf space with nasty old garage doors and bingo! We knew we’d found our new home. The broker proceeded to tell us that they were replacing the doors with glass which made the space absolutely perfect. But of course, we continued looking to see if we could find something better.
Negotiations ensued, leases were signed, and then the real work began. One thing that should never be underestimated is the amount effort it takes to renovate a space from raw and full of trash heaps to open for business.
Step one was sheet rock. Fortunately Stephen and David have some experience in this area so they knew what to expect. We spent the first couple of days working on smoothing out the walls to a “level 3 smoothness,” which in the end we decided was a purely subjective term given the horrid state the walls were left in by the previous construction workers. We determined that Level 3 simply means “good enough for paint.”
Logically, next came painting. Here’s another area where commercial real estate can take you by surprise. There was a clause in the lease that stated we had to use landlord approved colors for painting, however in this case the landlord only approved the most expensive paint in all of Portland. Sure, the stuff was pretty and all but $37.99/gallon? This is one of those times when you choose your battles carefully and simply move on.
Our friend Keith Danziger came over for an afternoon to help with primer and we were off and running. I should note that it was right around this point in time that I realized that I had morphed into a self appointed general contractor/architect/laborer/soon to be carpenter. Stephen and David had real work to do back at the office, so the only way the new office was getting done was to have the new guy spend his time looking after the ever growing task list. But I must admit, I was having a blast.
Next came the floors. After 7 moppings with a professional mop and bucket combo it was becoming quite clear that it was time for some heavy artillery. That came in the form of a rotoscrubber. Again a lesson in problem solving when we realized that planning to lift a piece of industrial cleaning equipment is quite different from actually doing it. Luckily for us the steel doors that were originally left in our space as garbage came in handy as a makeshift ramp to drive the rotoscrubber out of the truck.
And the final result after a thorough power cleaning and 3 coats of concrete sealant…
Early on we had talked about the centerpiece of the new space being a giant table that we could all sit around and share ideas. I made a few trips out to the Rebuilding Center and came up with some reclaimed 3″x16″x22′ headers for constructing a table top. The only trouble was that the Rebuilding Center only holds your lumber for 3 days and you can’t use power tools on site. That meant using a borrowed battery operated saw (which only lasted about 5 minutes) and an antique hand saw for cutting down four 22′ beams for transport in Stephen’s 6 foot truck bed.
We devised a plan to make the legs out of stacked 4×6’s and bolt the whole thing together to make it movable when it was time for a larger office space. I found a local wood shop where you can mill your own lumber (under expert supervision of course), making what started out as some rough and tumble pieces of old wood look shiny and new.
And what do you know, it all came together wonderfully…
Moving in happened pretty much on schedule. Granted, it was tough going there for a few days waiting for our phone service provider to expedite our installation (who knew it would take 3 weeks to get phone service). We found some stuff, bought some stuff, and built some more stuff, but all in all we got into our new home on time and (except for the new aeron chairs) pretty much on budget.
Now we’re settled, back from our first real business trip together, and looking fondly toward the future. You can find us at 2505 SE11th Avenue, Suite 107. Come on by and say hi, set a spell and enjoy a nice cold beverage. We’d love to see you!
Oh, and as promised, here’s my list of lessons learned…
-When your project is nearing completion and you need one last random piece of hardware to complete it, it will take multiple trips to various hardware stores to find it. You’ll find it completely across town just as rush hour is settling in.
-Budget for gas. Lots of gas. See above.
-No matter how many times you screw something up and tell yourself you won’t do it again, ultimately you will. Deal with it.
-There is no such thing as a 15 minute trip to Home Depot. Ever.
-Buying recycled materials at The Rebuilding Center isn’t always as much of a deal as you’d think. You’re essentially paying more to make yourself feel better.
-Every once in a while you’re going to need a truck, or at least a friend with a truck.
-When commercial real estate agents quote price per square foot they’re generally referring to the entire year. Divide by 12.
-Judge injuries according to how soon you need to get to the emergency room before you pass out. If you’re not at risk for passing out, suck it up and move on.
-Stain stains. Everything.
-There is no substitute for using the right tools for the job.
-You’ll discover things within yourself that you never knew existed. Make sure you don’t lose track of those discoveries.
-Scavenging should be a sport. And I’d win.
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