Openning a studio

[stigmundfreud]

Question for those of you that have your own studios.

I'm off to view a few artist studios on Thursday at a local business park. The prices start at around 250pcm for a 280ft square unit.

What sort of prices are people paying for studios?

[S. Gonzales Esq.]

I'm paying twice as much as that just for my Business Rates

Perhaps that's why I'm driving a £700 car...

[stigmundfreud]

I wonder if I misheard her and it was 250pw

It includes rates and building insurance too....

[stigmundfreud]

just confirmed it is pcm, there is a 400sqft unit for less than a 320 unit but it has less natural light. Will report back after the viewing tomorrow!

[DMAndy]

Crikey! Thats good. I've been on the lookout for something similar around my way. Do you mind me asking how you found out about these studios? Was this just a local property agent?

Best regards,
Andy.

[stigmundfreud]

I just did a search for "commercial studio" and "artist studio" plus town name in google.

Right now there is shed loads of office space lying empty. ITs almost worth just going to one of the units and making them an offer. I'm checking teh site out tomorrow, it has 24hour access and I'll confirm exactly what the rent includes and let you know.

where abouts in teh south are you?

[DMAndy]

Hmmm... interesting. I'd better have another search through Google. I've only found large offices and warehouses on there so far. I'm in Southampton.

Cheers,
Andy.

[stigmundfreud]

try anywhere! Way I see it is in a downturn if you have money you are in the driving seat especially when it comes to finding suitable office/studio space.

Imagine the possibility of a warehouse? Much better they rent it to you for 10 quid a month than let it sit empty

[nsa]

I am trying to find somewhere similar in Reading. I need about 500-1000 sqft and I'm getting prices of £10-12 per sqft rent per year. I thought about sub-letting warehouse space because I want to rent for a few months initially so I can pack up if it doesn't work out. The only issue with this is whether the renter would have problems with insurance etc.

[x5x3]

the prices may be a result of the governments planned tax on empty business premises, if they have to compare a low rent versus paying tax it means they have to go for full occupancy.

[nick_bbb]

I've been wondering if you can rent a warehouse for a day, would be cool to do a couple of car shoots. I know you could get a car studio but that's not my bag really, I would prefer the more dilapidated the better Must do some ringing round.

[bacchus180]

mine is 1000sqft with storage etc.. probably the minimum I can get away with, and thats for shooting products.. if I was shooting people or larger sets I would rent somewhere for the day.

its a self contained unit, the basic rent is 1000k per month.

with rent, rates, electricity, water, service charge, security, insurance etc.. probably no change out of 20k per year.. thats assuming I don't buy any new toys..

which obviously is all part of the fun...

Yes.. its always a mess.. and no.. you can't really fit a car in it.. only as a prop.

[mikee boy]

Rates.

If you sign a lease agreement for a building (or part thereof) you're responsible for the commercial rates payable on it. These can be very high, especially if the previous rent was high (rates are based on rental potential and are reviewed periodically).

Check out the rates situation before you sign anything.

[bacchus180]

I second that.. interestingly enough you should qualify for small business rate relief which in some cases is over a 50% saving..

Also think hard about why you want a studio.. apart from the obvious and just how much use you will get from it,

Mine is "My space" and I couldn't live without it, It has all my photographic gear in, to stop cluttering up the house. A place for all my processing, printers, puters etc.. and all the junk I'm not allowed to keep in the house.. everything I love that would be in the attic if I had one.. :-)

The irony is although work is done there, a lot of my work is on location so everything is packaged up to go straight in the back of the motor in a heartbeat.

Also bear in mind start up costs of running a photographic business.. if you have a big space you will need big lights to light it, backgrounds, tools to build stuff with, stands, and then IT costs, printers etc...

its not a small commitment by any means. and it all needs to pay for itself.

[mikee boy]

^^^

and heating. £kerching!!

[stigmundfreud]

I already have all the gear, lights etc so no issues there and initially it is just to enable a larger amount of space for me to move into. One thing I will miss though, if I go for it, is my wooden flooring.

[stigmundfreud]

mikee boy said:

^^^

and heating. £kerching!!

I'll make sure that they make me aware of all of the costs before I sign anything! Over the phone the price (and the advertised wording) indicates rates are included in the price, tehre is another photographer in there also so I will check with them to see how it works out.

It isnt intended as a commercial venture yet, I get money from rental incomes so I figured using that to cover costs initially

[andybuk99]

Not massive but it serves 90% of my studio shoots, any large roomsets I hire industrial units in Romsey as there are lots that are empty.

The shots were from a few years ago, now in the other part of the studio by the entrance is the digital room containing the workstations etc.

Edited by andybuk99 on Thursday 4th December 12:15

[S. Gonzales Esq.]

bacchus180 said:

Mine is "My space" and I couldn't live without it, It has all my photographic gear in, to stop cluttering up the house. A place for all my processing, printers, puters etc.. and all the junk I'm not allowed to keep in the house.. everything I love that would be in the attic if I had one.. :-)

It's not just me then! As my work has graduated towards smaller products I've filled the rest of the space with lots of stuff that 'might come in handy one day'. To be fair, I do actually use quite a lot of these items again, but I'm sure if I actually worked out what I was paying to store them I'd think differently.

Let's not even talk about the Mk2 Granada estate I've got parked in the warehouse downstairs...

[DMAndy]

bacchus180 said:

mine is 1000sqft with storage etc.. probably the minimum I can get away with, and thats for shooting products.. if I was shooting people or larger sets I would rent somewhere for the day.

its a self contained unit, the basic rent is 1000k per month.

with rent, rates, electricity, water, service charge, security, insurance etc.. probably no change out of 20k per year.. thats assuming I don't buy any new toys..

which obviously is all part of the fun...

Yes.. its always a mess.. and no.. you can't really fit a car in it.. only as a prop.

OMG! What a stunning studio. One interesting thing I've noticed is that some people paint their studio's bright white whilst others make every effort to black them out with curtains everywhere. Do you not find the reflective white walls a problem?

I'm dying to know how you were using the Ferrari as a prop though. Any chance of seeing some results of that shoot?

Andy.