As soon as we sold the building in Chattanooga, we decided that we were going to change plans. First, we would look for a building in our home town. Second, the business that would be in the building would be the existing yoga studio.
The big limitation when you are looking for a commercial space is the cost. The price tag becomes the primary reason for compromise. Maybe you sacrifice location. Maybe it is parking, maybe it is square footage or attractiveness. The price becomes the ceiling that you cannot move beyond. You decide on all the features in a space that you want and then you figure out which of those you will sacrifice for the price you can afford. Each is important and there is a sliding scale for each as well. Perhaps you move a few miles away from your target area, but you won’t move too far. You may give up some parking, but if you cannot find a parking space for everyone, there is a problem. Maybe it isn’t as cute as a cottage in a Thomas Kinkade painting, but at least it is not hideous.
After deciding on a criteria we began working with a realtor. We found the sliding scale of our priorities moving up and down as we looked at various properties. We looked for a few months, considered a few, but always found that the compromises were too great and so we moved on. Until we found a building that we thought would be perfect: 3427 Rt 611 in Bartonsville. It was around 10 minutes away from the existing yoga studio, it was close to an exit of Interstate 80. It was in a heavily trafficked area and it was close to our home.
We knew that the location would be too far for some of our regulars, and while that was sad, we knew that we would pick up new clients in the move. We were very excited when we closed on the building. We envisioned great things happening very quickly. Sadly, nothing in real estate happens quickly and this project was no exception.
