Indeed, here’s my post on the pros/cons of Grant Cameron Centre (my main concern is building access - the kind lady who let me in wander around aimlessly said their group requires two pass holders to open up after hrs):
There looked to be the remains of a busted one. ACTPG weren’t able to confirm for us yet if there is one. I believe they are going to email @jellyware once they confirm.
Far left is two brick storage rooms which I think would make good heavy work rooms. Mid left is a large room that looked like it held a small fire truck at some stage. It’s the one with the big rollerdoor type thing that is manually operated (but it’s spring loaded so it’s not too hard). Then there’s the small entry way and the bathroom (with a shower). Then there’s the kitchenette room and a small office off that.
Pros:
mix of officey space and workshopy space
nice separation between areas
not too close to neighbours
no stairs
VDSL2 might be an option
Close to two bus routes (30 goes to civic or belconnen, 250 goes to gungahlin or belconnen)
24 hour access
has been reasonably well secured (no break-ins in at least the last 8 months)
has a kitchenette
has a bathroom which we can easily designate as unisex and likely make wheel chair accessible (I hope)
there’s a bit of hard stand which we can likely do some building/extending onto if we decide to try to grow that way and ask permission to build on it.
there’s an oval right out the back for Quads and other projects which need open space
Cons:
A bit smaller than we’re used to but I don’t think it’d be too limiting
share some of the property with people who store stuff in containers and a shed (Giralang Scouts and someone else)
the giralang shops are closed at the moment (the shops over in Kaleen are really good though and are only 1Km walk away)
parking will probably get a bit tight on busy nights
I’m not in a huge rush to move in to this place (I think that’s mostly because Ginninderra house is pretty amazing), but I think it is a very viable option and I suspect we could be in there for years if we accepted it. Long enough to consider extensions and/or building on the hard stand.
I asked some more questions with regards to the other people who use the space - it’s only for storage. The Scouts aren’t there anymore, but their old shed is used by an Orienteering group I believe to store their equipment. Likewise the shipping container is only used for storage by a similar group (or vice versa).
I quite liked the space. seemed open and friendly to me.
my recollection is that we currently have 139 sq m and this space is 134 sq m. this did not sound right, the space feels a lot smaller…
the lease will be longer at either giralang or grant cameron, actpg are talking about 5 year leases at both places. rent will be more expensive though, they have said at grant cameron it will be $131.69 per sqm, per annum, ex GST. I have not yet figured out what this will be monthly
even if vdsl is available in the area, can we get a port in the exchange?
I applied for vdsl in watson two weeks ago, they tell me all the ports have been taken at the exchange. they don’t know when one might become available
I have uploaded to the shared gdrive (in a folder called “new location”) a floor plan of the grant cameron building and a draft lease agreement for us to look at
To be fair, we need a space first. We can improvise internet if we must Ordering any DSL service is subject to port availability for a given provider. Stay positive
they are having a meeting this week to discuss how much rent will need to be paid on this property. they also need to measure to see exactly how much room there is
our regular property manager is away 25th March until the 4th April. they have given me another contact in case we need them but I dare say this process may take a little longer than we originally expected