RSSOkay, I’m going to assume most of you know I “freelance” - and I’m also going to presume that that has led you to believe I mostly work from home (those of you who know me better would answer Charlies and be correct). The office life, believe it or not, has a few qualities desirable to me. There’s a lot to be said about the motivation inherent in having a location to commute to, standard office hours, and a change of scenery. Making your home your office lacks the disconnect that a workplace provides - motivation to get out of bed, not be constantly scoffing Chocolate Digestives and also being able to mentally associate that location with work, and your home with play.
A co-working space - which is basically shared office space for freelance-types - has been on the cards for some time here here in Belfast. About a week ago, Dave brain-dumped everything thats happened in relation to the space on his blog, with the next vital step being the search for a viable location. Yesterday, I took a walk around South Belfast, the City Centre and the Cathedral Quarter to get an idea of available properties and see if there would be anything worth looking into.
One location that did hit me from the dozens I spotted was located on Hill St in the Cathedral Quarter. A first floor, 2165sq. ft office with 3 car parking spaces - right beside the Duke of York (eyo) and within a 5 minute walk of the City Centre. All in, it’s £34,000 a year - which works out to be around £200pm. at average occupancy. I’ve requested more information - and am by no means considering this the end of the search - many more properties will be investigated and viewed I’m sure before we find somewhere suitable. This post is more intended to spark the next round of discussion - where do we go, what do we want and how much do we pay?
7 Comments
Thanks Darryl - it’s both mine & Dave’s first foray into commercial property, so it was just interesting to get a full list of details about a property so we know what to look for. I’ve been meaning to email you about the whole thing though - not the last you’ve heard by a longshot!
34K is a lot and one person will have to sign a lease. £200 pm is a lot to ask for especially if you’re going to have 15 people fighting for 3 car park spaces.
HAGGLE. I’d bet you could get it for 20K
Like I say, it’s a first step into looking at property - I’m going to call each of the estate agents on Monday to get an idea of other locations & prices. And I’ll definately be exercising my ability to haggle!
There are a couple of places on Botanic probably worth checking out too. I’ll have a look on Monday and mail you who the agents are. (Everyone knows that Botanic is much better than Cathedral Q!)
Yeah, I agree! So many good (+cheap) places to get lunch & close to almost everything, ever. Have you decided to stay put in the office you’re in now then?
Yeah, really like Botanic, it’s the new Hoxton! Rent is less than half the price per sq ft you quoted above.
