Thursday, January 13, 2011

And a lease is born...

... at least I hope so! It is hard to tell...

I had not heard back from the broker so I called Stan, the (I think) owner's son and we chatted for a while about the space etc and kind of hammered out a deal. The place has been empty for a while and I suspect it is because the mom is... a special snowflake. I think she might be Russian? Stereotypical old world matron. She is petite with hair that was once red I suspect but is now peppered with gray. Tonight she had on a flowered dress and a black knitted headband with a black flower with some silver glitter thread. Sensible low flats. Support hose. You get the idea.

He is handsome and soft spoken in a 40-something way. Baseball cap, jeans. Drives a big truck.

So I called Stein and asked if he wanted to meet over there to check out the place. I needed to do actual measurements and get the information on the water heater. We met over at the place as Martinez was closing up, 4:45, in this gorgeous drizzle. I love the downtown area. Old stone buildings, an old railway station and the Martinez Marina. I love the stone sidewalks and the potted plants on the patio that will be mine .

Stein brought his uber awesome wife, Alicia (she is a boat engineer in the Coast Guard, pretty cool huh!?) and we started talking about all the stuff. Stan asked me if I wanted to to talk in private about the lease stuff. I said Stein was welcome to hang out for that part... so then the mom started going back on the stuff the son and I had already agreed to! It was SO stressful.

I suspect that whatever culture she is from finds bartering an expected, and enjoyable, thing. I, however, was horrified. When I said we'd already worked something out with her son, she said, "Well you didn't work it out with me!" Stein and Alicia and I just looked wide eyed at each other. I just sort of said I was going to go measure stuff for a while and did not feel like battering ad nauseum. By the time we came back in, she was ready to go with (I think, her acccent is really thick) what Stan and I had agreed to.

I think it is hard for me to understand why she won't take the deal. I am offering more than twice the going rate for the area (but the spot is THE best spot), I am going to do some really cool capital improvements, I plan to be there for a long time. And still it is like this constant messing around. And the space has been empty for like 2 years! I cannot tell you how uncomfortable I am with that kind of thing. But I stood my ground. I won't really breathe until the lease is signed tho because of the constant back and forth she seems to relish. Plus... it is making ME really uncomfortable about the working relationship. I think this aspect is the single most stressful part of the whole thing. I get it they own the building outright and don't really have to rent the space. But still.

So I finally had all the measurements and could start equipment shopping (theoretically). I need small things that fit into small spaces. My cold display case needs to be X big. The Sandwich station needs to be X big. The fridges need to be X big. Everything has to be about as tiny as possible. BUT at least I know what I am working with!

Now I need to do an excel sheet of all of the equipment I need. I wish the craigslist ads had the specs, I can't tell how wide this stuff is from a picture. I should just go down to the Vallejo used restaurant supply place and look at everything and take measurements. Maybe after I go get my new stuffer tomorrow in Berkeley?

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