As soon as we closed on the building the first thing that we did was contact a surveyor. And then we waited.
And waited.
And we waited some more.
With emails every few weeks asking for an update on the progress and then phone calls asking for information. And then, four months later when we asked for our deposit back so that we could work with another surveyor, we received our site drawings.
During that time, we began working with an architect to lay out the interior. We had grand plans of three different practice spaces including a hot yoga room and an aerial space. Showers, a sauna and an open lobby. Oh, the yoga we would do!
The architect informed us that we would need to work with a civil engineer to layout the parking lot. As soon as we had the drawings from the surveyor, we contacted a local engineer. This happened right before Christmas and he informed us that he could probably help us, but not until the new year. Throughout January, we tried to connect with him and we finally did give him the survey and explained what we were looking for. He was making progress, but of course it was not as quick as we would like. At least, there was progress.
And then the shutdown due to the Covid-19 pandemic happened.
Here, in Pennsylvania, that meant we were home bound for 3 months. While we were still working through the yoga studio; producing yoga videos, creating an online video platform and keeping busy, we assumed that the architect was still working as well. Probably not at 100%, probably not in the office, but we assumed he was working.
We were wrong. In fact, he became a bit indignant when we asked what sort of progress had occurred and he explained (like we were 5 years old) that the office was closed. I guess that meant no work was happening?
As patiently as we could, we waited. Eventually, the shutdown orders lifted and we met with the architect who gave us the drawings. During the shutdown, we had dramatically scaled back our intentions to one practice space on one floor and we would figure everything else out later. This decision was made due to financial constraints and other challenges.
Around this time the engineer that was helping us with the parking lot decided that another engineer might be able to help us out more efficiently (I am not sure what that means). We were disappointed, of course because it meant starting all over, but hopefully it meant that the new engineer would be more responsive. The new engineer was very responsive and she answered our emails within 24 hours. She even returned phone calls. Until she didn’t. After 4 weeks of reasonable communication, she ghosted us. No returned phone calls or emails. It took us 4 weeks to realize that she was no longer communicating with us.
Eight weeks had passed and we had no engineer and no progress. We still had the surveyors drawings, but nothing had moved beyond that point.
That was when we began our long and fruitless search for another engineer. Most never returned a phone call or email. Some would respond to the first one or two emails or phone calls, but then would stop responding. The problem with being ghosted is that you are never sure that it has happened until a significant amount of time passes.
If they respond to the first email but not the second, maybe the are on vacation. Perhaps there was a family emergency. What if their favorite fish died and they needed some time to grieve? That is why no response is easier to deal with than a few contacts followed by no contact. If no one responds after a few days of an initial contact, you know that they are not going to respond. When someone responds at first and then stops, you consider the possibility that something has come up and that they will respond as soon as they can. And you wait. Usually for too long.
While searching for an engineer to help with the parking lot, we also sent a retainer to a local lawyer in anticipation of needing his assistance with the zoning change that the township would require. Apparently, a yoga studio is a different zoning code than a retail or repair shop. In passing it was mentioned that a small cafe would not require a zoning change.