Shopping

In addition to the initial list he made for me, my architect friend Mike recommended I contact Jason Linde, another young, very talented architect that he had worked with on several projects. One good thing about Jason was that he was a one-man operation with very low overhead. He could give us high design without the extra costs associated with a full-service firm. The hitch? He lived in Washington, DC and would only be available to work part-time on the project. I know, I was crazy to even consider it, but good recommendations are few and far between, and he had a lot of retail experience including working on the new Barneys New York in Las Vegas. In preparation for our initial meeting, I started researching inspirational designs and materials. After a walk-though at the site with him, he agreed that we should demolish the existing interior before starting to design. It would be much easier to visualize the space once it was stripped down to its shell. Eventually, all roads led to the architect for the Farm on Adderley (above), the Ditmas Park restaurant…. (more…)

Every week, Jennifer Mankins, owner of Park Slope- and Cobble Hill-based boutiques Bird, tells us about the new 2,500-square-foot store on Grand Street in Williamsburg that she’s getting ready to open. Last week, Mankins wrote about examining the storefront she ended up renting.

It took a few weeks to hammer out the details of the lease. There were lots of issues to be determined, some easier than others. It only took a moment to decide on the hours of operation, garbage pick-up, real estate taxes and liability insurance coverage, but other issues proved to be more complicated. For instance, the matter of alterations. My landlord wanted written approval of the contractor I chose, as well as written approval for all structural and non-structural alterations, installations, additions or improvements made to the space. I thought this was excessive and could easily lead to my being in default of the lease, for something as small as changing a light fixture or repainting. The landlord is very reasonable, and I didn’t think I would have any problems, but I had to protect myself from being in default of the lease. What if the building was sold, and a new landlord wanted to kick me out and raise the rent? After much back and forth, we finally agreed that written approval would only be required on structural changes or changes with a value of more than $10,000. What next? A 10-step game plan that included compiling examples of inspirational spaces from around the world, like those above… (more…)