INTRO.:
In Northern California -where I am from, the terms "live-work space," "lofts," and "life-style lofts" have come to mean nothing more -nor less- then what the speaker wants them to mean. Various communities allow developers to play games with various restrictions etc. For example, in San Francisco, the live work designation leads to relaxed parking requirements –despite the presumed need for parking for both occupants, (the "live" side of the equation) and customers (the "work" side).

The following then, is what I want the expression "live / work" to mean. My "vision’ if you will. (And this is an even slipperier word then the above. Indulge me.)

Begin with the romantic notion of the artist’s loft or garret. Moderately Spartan, but suited to the production of art. I don’t particularly want to have artists as tenants because they are often right nitwits.  (Some few are both artists and responsible businessmen.)  A better picture of my ideal customer might be an older guy whose wife has insisted he get his hobby out of the house. Imagine a successful semi-retired good-old-boy building his own airplane, renovating one or more classic cars, or a woodworker whose shop has outgrown the garage, basement, and much of the rest of the house. (See above about wives etc.) None of the proceeding eliminates a small or new businessman who needs to keep expenses to an absolute minimum and who needs to work 16 hours a day to get his or her business up and running. Nor, for that matter, does it eliminate a responsible artist / designer businessman.

Two important caveats present themselves; first, I don’t want mechanics in my building. Too much mess and liability / causality exposure. On the other hand –a machine shop doing custom vehicles one at a time might work. Secondly, I have every hope that some good-old-girls will find my space as desirable as the good-old-boys.

This vision attains sometime down the road. Initially, a well-occupied commercial building would serve. I will need one or two vacant spaces immediately. I will occupy one of them and remake it to my needs –and the needs of my theoretical artist / hobbyist / small (but presumably growing) businessman. As each unit is brought up to speed, I will lease it to one of my hypothetical ‘good-old’s….’ and move into another space where-in the lease is up and the commercial / industrial tenant has moved on. It should go without saying that the new and improved space –with apartment –Spartan thought it may be- will rent for more then the raw industrial or commercial space. The building exteriors and landscaping will be improved as well, particularly when there are no spaces currently available / scheduled for improvement.

I am hesitant to get too flowery in my writing, but in the long term I see a vital little community of (perhaps eccentric) talented individuals just swimming in synergy. I also see this as a desirable destination for customers. Finally, I would hope it would become a place that the community at large is proud to point to as evidence of the town’s forward thinking re. community planning and good land use.

• 5000 to 10,000 square feet divided –or divisible- into 1000 to 2000 square foot spaces.
• Tall ceilings –for mezzanine apartments / offices / showrooms etc.
• It is likely to be necessary to cut open the exterior surfaces therefore wood or metal construction would be ideal. Cinder block or brick are doable –but not as easily. Concrete tilt-up is problematic.
• Landscaping will be necessary and I want trees –preferably mature and shady.
• Plenty of windows –This is a tricky one. We have to both get light into the deepest part of the space, and allow for good egress of the sleeping areas. Consider the drawings below as possible solutions.

• Saw-tooth roof.  Front semi-sectional view.  
•  

The following drawings and descriptions are largely base don the saw-tooth roof paradigm.

Shortened Space -studio over office:

floor area -24 x 35 = 864, mezzanine 12 x 36 = 432, total 1296

living 12 x 24 (net of bath & kitchen) closet -4 x 5, deck 4 x 7, expanded bath w/ W/D

office showroom 12 x 18 = 216,  shop 684 w/ 10 x 10 o'head door

• If the building is narrow enough, one ‘end’ can be ‘work’ and the other end ‘live.’

Live end –front door, living room, kitchen etc. down –bedroom above with balcony for fire escape.  Fire-wall between live space and work space.

Work end –overhead and man door, office / showroom (to the front &/or above) and ‘work’ space to the rear.

Ground-floor living-room w/ separate ('back') entrance:

floor = 24 x 48 = 1152, mezzanine 12 x 42 = 505

Living space: living room 16 x 24 =384, small kitchen, half bath, dining area

Bedroom: 12 x 12 (on mez.) closet 4 x 5, deck 4 x 7, full (small) bath 

Office 12 x 24 = 288,  Shop 32 x 24 = 720, (10x10 o'head door)

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

• If the building is deeper and the space is -or needs to be- divided horizontally as well as vertically, (with most of the spaces have only one front exposed wall) the living space moves to the front of the building and upstairs. It would be accessible through a ground floor office. The work-space, (and customer’s bathroom), would be to the rear of the space –with skylights for illumination.

Entire living area on mezzanine:

floor 24 x 48 = 1152, mez. 12 x 48 = 504

Living space: bedroom 10 x 12, closet 4 x 5, deck 4 x 7 small full bath

Work space:  office showroom 12 x 24 = 288, shop 864 w/ overhead door

Floor 24 x 48 = 1152,  mez. 12 x 48 = 504, total = 1656

Living space: living space 16 x 24 = 384, small kitchen, half bath, dining area.  bedroom 12 x 12 on mez. closet 4 x 5, deck 4 x 7

Work space:  office / showroom 12 x 24 = 288, shop37 x 24 = 720 

I am aware that conventional financing may be difficult to get for a mixed,  non-conforming, or simply a unique use. For this reason, the seller’s willingness to carry some of the paper would be helpful, but not essential. I have a fair amount of cash on hand and have two partners that are interested in being involved in the project. At least one of them, however, will want to pull his cash out once we have convinced the bankers etc. that rents are reliable enough for mortgage financing.

I do not anticipate marketing nor renting to yuppies, therefore proximity to trendy bars and restaurants is not necessary but nor do I want to go too far off into the woods. A brief exploration of LowHi, (HiLo? -higher in elevation and cheaper then LowDo) as well as the industrial area north of LowDo (NorthDo?) strike me as interesting areas.  I understand the 'High-lands' to be hopelessly trendy & expensive?

I half suspect that there is somewhere in the metro area a wonderful old building that the Historic Society (we call them the "Hysterical Society" here abouts) has gotten itself in an uproar over. A building that really needs to be flattened and redone with something more easily taxed, but one that has historic significance. Such a building in San Francisco was adopted / stolen by a group of artists who have –over many years and much negotiating & litigating- turned it into a center of artistic coolness. Arguably they single-handedly turned around a decaying (used-to-be) industrial neighborhood. Despite all this high-minded community concern, it is exceedingly problematic as to how long my patience –and the patience of my partners- might last if the municipal powers-that-be grow overly recalcitrant.

CASE STUDY:

This following pictures are of an interesting little neighborhood just off the waterfront in Oakland.  It lies in narrow belt between the I-880 freeway and the bay, (actually, the water is the Alameda Estuary.)  It is just south-east of Coastguard Island, directly above the 'A' in the word 'Alameda' in the middle of the map.  The neighborhood is industrial, but not the heavy industrial of the Oakland Harbor to the north-west.  In many ways, this neighborhood is more of Alameda Island then Oakland. Alameda defies easy description.  The Alameda Naval Air Station -the blank area to the northwest end of the island- has been the center of the economy for many many years, but the navy has been winding down its operations there for the last 10 years, leaving something of a vacuum in Alameda.  This vacuum was being filed with high-tech businesses, and yuppies before the dot-com implosion.  

The pictures essentially show a stroll down one city block, a left turn at the end and a peek up the alley behind it all.  The first picture shows the commercial end with a generous parking-lot.  These are small businesses that have an air of what I might call prosperous hippie casual. 

The parking lot tapers off and there are 3 or 4 live-work businesses fronting the street.  These spaces stress the casual more then the prosperous. but they have their own charm -quite beyond the nice greenery.  Just beyond the buildings with the clear-story roofs is a large block building with historic significance.  This building is being redone into life-style lofts. 

The last building in the row is so unattractive that I didn't take a picture of it from the front.  At the end of the block, however, there is what I think would have to be called a sculpture garden.  This garden is appealing in it's own way -California Urban Eclectic- but not quite what I want for my community -or certainly not one quite so large and so eclectic.  The garden turns the corner to the alley and you can see the back of the historic building and -at the far end of the last picture- the backs of the clear-story spaces.  

COMMENTARY:

While there are appealing bits of improvisation and hippy abandon, I plan on a more restrained exuberance.  My development will be different -and have it's own appeal, but less of the hippy, and more of the turn of the century main-street architecture and landscaping.  Parking is a necessary evil in this day and age, but too much urban architecture and planning is for the auto at the expense of the human.

NEXT STEPS:

If you have any questions, drop me an email -or phone me, but email is easier in some ways.  If you have any  ideas -I'd love to her about it.  For my purposes, I'd like a photograph from the street, some short description of the construction, and -ideally- a floor plan -even just a sketch.

Finally, I'd be grateful for any advice you might offer as to how to proceed, where to look, and how to make this page serve your and my needs better.