Oh, how exciting. This morning I got off the phone to a developer who has a 10,000 sqft property currently empty awaiting development. It is city centre (60 seconds walk from bar walls), light industrial, 50% indoor, 30% covered, and 20% courtyard.
The space has been made available exclusively to Social Vision, to make meanwhile use of it until March 2020 – giving us approximately six months. It’s weatherproof and ready for us to move in.
So, who’s up for a winter project?
There will be a modest and affordable rent to cover our overheads, and I’m looking for the following:
- creatives: artists, sculptures, jewellery makers etc etc
- kids and adult entertainers: puppet shows, theatre, spoken word etc
- health: yoga, pilates, pramfit etc
- retailers: small, local independent retailers looking for a home through the winter. Any trade/industry.
- beverage: alcohol and non-alcohol based businesses
- food: street food chefs
- anything else cool, quirky and unique….
I’m thinking of an indoor/outdoor creative space for independents – fulfilling all the senses and showcasing our city’s thriving creative scene.
But, we have to move fast. I can have the keys tomorrow – so need to know asap who is up for this project. You’ll need to cover your own set up costs, and until I have confirmation of our outgoings (business rates, utilities etc) I can’t confirm rental, but it will be roughly £50/week for creatives, £75/week for retailers and food, and £100/week for alcohol businesses, with no additional costs, service charges or commissions.
I’d like to curate this space as a co-operative model – so you guys design and run it (no micro-management) – so at this stage I’m looking for people who want to get involved in the design, feel and vibe of this space.
I’ll aim to bring you all together at the end of August. For now I need you to email me: spaceinvaders@social-vision.org.uk with your contact details and a brief bio of what you do and your social media handles/website. I’ll then invite you to the first planning meeting.
This is a mega-exciting opportunity. It happens all the time in bigger cities, and it’s exciting that we’ve got a local private sector developer who believes in our sector!
