Finding a class B property rental.

December 10, 2007 11:48 PM

How do we find a home for our dojo?

My martial arts club is looking for a class B space to lease in the Washington DC metro area. We require basic utilities and enough room for weapons practice, in a space that's on the ground floor, or at least where neighbors won't mind the sound of people beating each other up. The closer to civilization, the better (main streets good, industrial back alleys not so much), as budget allows.

We'd enjoy building anything else we might need for the dojo, and we'd love to get started and get established. We've got dreams and plans, baby. There's just this one problem in our way.

What's an efficient way to go about finding a space we can use?

posted by zennie to sports, hobbies, & recreation (6 comments total)

Real estate agents?

Um, that's who would know in Australia. Don't know about Americaland.

Good luck.
posted by taff at 2:25 AM on December 11, 2007

Try looking on Craigslist for "live/work" loft space. But, yeah, real estate agent.
posted by iknowizbirfmark at 7:48 AM on December 11, 2007

This may not be what you are looking for, but I thought I would toss it out there. For a short while I took kendo with this club. It was very low budget. The teacher mostly taught for the love of it. Practices were in a church. I donno the deal with the finances but they provided a corner of a storage room and a bigger room, like normally used for sunday school or something, for practice. At the start of the practice we would move tables out of the way and get our stuff out. At the end, we moved the tables back and put our stuff back in the storage room.

Good luck
posted by d4nj450n at 8:35 AM on December 11, 2007

The thing is, we're not exactly a commercial eal estate agent's dream customer here, and experience has made me wary of approaching them without having scouted the area.

Hadn't thought of Craigslist.

d4nj450n: That's an excellent suggestion, but it happens to be the situation we're in right now!
posted by zennie at 10:57 AM on December 11, 2007

There are numerous old corner storefronts across the city's uptown neighborhoods that have given way to the modern supermarket. Many of these comercial spaces have either been converted into residential space or turned into small storefront churches, but there are plenty out there that need tenants. I know that in my NE neighborhood there are plenty that stand empty, and trust me, the sound of an occupied storefront, regardless of the tenant, sounds a heck of a lot better than the sound of abandonment and loitering.

Please consider the Brookland/Woodridge area! I'm at hotmail if you want some more specific addresses.
posted by Pollomacho at 12:04 PM on December 11, 2007

Oh, one more suggestion, the city schools are in dire need of money. Have you considered renting a school gym after hours?
posted by Pollomacho at 12:06 PM on December 11, 2007