Welcome to the DISGRACELAND 3.0 Blog Spot!

Welcome to the very first Disgraceland blog/update, what’s Disgraceland 3.0 you ask? Well let me fill you in.

Once upon a time, 2 friends sat around a wooden table in an every day dinning room and talked shit about the concept of living in a warehouse.

Through the blah blah blah blah one said to the other “ why not, other people do it” – and this is true, if you are reading this you most probably know someone or know someone who knows someone that lives in a warehouse, It can be done!

So hear we go! – The start

Any body can find a warehouse to live in, in their respective city. I suggest starting by finding the suburbs where the other converted warehouses are.

This is a simple concept and it works, think about it, if there doing it, and have been for a while, then the biggest hurdle you will find, council, laws, police ect ect must not be to strict on this subject.

In my case, this was a no brainer; the suburb I live in is a community minded, left leaning, fixi bike riding, sess pool of hippies and cock jugglers. Many of which live in converted warehouses, and have extravagant minimalist techno parties are bangin daytime mini festivals. Sorted!

Now look around on the net, check out sites that directly rent out warehouse and commercial space, search the suburb and surrounding suburbs, get an idea of prices, size (they talk in square meters not rooms :S) and what exactly a big blank warehouse looks like!

Now this Bit gets tricky, you need a really good convincing bullshit reason to move into this thing! Sure you may want the stage, indoor basketball court and tiki bar but that aint gonna go down with the suite that reads the lease application!

So really think about it, and get the warehouse to work for you, like owning a Ute, you can make money! – Store things, restore things, build things and rent space. Get the ABN, this is your business and as caretaker have every reason to always be there!

Finding my warehouse was a simple matter of “not questioning the luck” – and I shall explain.

At the end of my little dead end street lays 6 large roller doors, each roller door can fit a truck in and behind each roller door is a warehouse. Sum of these warehouses have been there for years and a some are new, by looking at them this is obvious. I checked them out, some were vacant, I had done my research, I new roughly how big they will be and how much they will cost.

These are not big warehouses by warehouse standard, my suburb was once the textiles hub of Australia during the 50s. These were sweat shops for WW2 immigrants. So not to big,

2 of these warehouses are owned by “THE GODS” as my good friend Lando would say. 6 bearded old dudes, who drive pce of shit cars look like bums, but inside their playground they rebuild 1920’s cars and bikes…the shit they have would blow your mind!

So one day I went over and bummed a ciggie from the said “GODS”..

They don’t smoke ciggies, they smoke white ox, that’s not tobacco, that’s cow shit dried and rolled in kitty litter. Then sprayed brown…awesome!

I asked “do u know who owns that” – and I pointed to the old warehouse

They replied” no, but Mr sunshine would, he knows everything”

I ask “ who is Mr. sunshine” and you could imagine what I was really thinking!

The “gods reply” he is the guy who owns these warehouses, he runs the fabric shop on the next street”

I said “ beaut!”

They said “ hmpf”

I left

…….Fast forward…….I talk to Mr. sunshine…..I talk to the owner………I am now emailing the financial department of the owner of the warehouse…we are nearly there!!!

SO in a nutshell

Find something you like the look of

Square meters! How much per square meters is the (standard dollar) rate in the area

Ask around Find the owner

Contact them.

Go have a good look!

At this point we had a chance to check out the warehouse, this is when the real planning starts. How many people are moving in, toilets, showers, rooms, what you want in the warehouse, what you need to build, and where everything is going to go.

If you have a big blank space, like in my case, it can be a little harder then getting a warehouse with an established office. Some warehouses have great toilets, showers, and heated/cooled office rooms. Unfortunately these will often be new, and pricy.

Important stuff must be considered; does the place have fire extinguishers’? Locks? Is it Secure? Power points? Hot water service, check (u can die from dodgy hot water!) go through your place and MAP IT OUT! Make lots of maps! This will help!

3d map of discgraceland

or check the map below with the photos of the inside!

By checking the photos above and the groovy 3D map, you can see what we are dealing with. So we built a list of what needs to be done, we put each list item in priority order, and we systematically went through and talked/goggled ways to do the jobs required.

The list will be up on the next blog!

But we haven’t got the warehouse yet!!

Through communication with the ------, that was all done on the wonder of the internet! Several things where identified by the owner, and that was rad!. He said that the front door needed fixing, the toilets were disgusting! The place needed a clean and the automatic roller door needed a service and that he was going to do this!

Early I asked something very important, I wanted my monthly rent to be “ALL INCLUSIVE” so that’s Rent, GST, Rates & Insurance all rolled in together, I will explain.

Rent – how much you will pay for the joint

GST – that 10% shit is always excluded and mentioned after the fact when dealing with a commercial property! DON’T GET TRIPPED UP BY THIS

Rates – Commercial properties pay there own rates, that covers your garbage, waste and council ect ect and is usually paid quarterly.

Insurance – every rented commercial property will have to be insured, that’s not going to protect you but to protect the value of the premises, the better the joint, the more insurance you will pay.

So make life easy and ask for an all-inclusive monthly price if available. I did, and it worked!

So the lease was sent, and we have a month to move in!