beginnings superconnected part 3

The loan was approved, now it was time to finalize locations. At the time, commercial real estate interest and availability were just starting to climb. My first choice was always Nuuanu Shopping Center (I had previously worked there at that exact spot where it was once Radio Shack) It was close to home, far enough away from the other intenet gaming cafe's and in a busy mall. There were other locations however, cheaper ones - which is probably the 2nd most important thing as commercial rent is much, much higher then say, apartment rentals or warehouse space.

The other options were:
Corner of McCully and Beretania: Too close to other icafes, but really nice wood floors (this became a payday loan place)
Dillingham Shopping Center: Another nice space, but in a lower income neighborhood.

Negotiations progressed on the Nuuanu space. They wanted $9,000 per month and 8% of the gross profits(!). At 'About 2500' square feet of space at $2.50/psf and $1.25/psf CAMS, I talked them down from this rediculous number. (I tell ya, these guys make bank on rental properties - owning and renting out property is the business to be in.)

The rent was still higher then I was comfortable with, but was way less then what they initially asked for.

It simply was the best location I could find. No other place was as good. Kailua and Kapolei were too far and according to Census numbers, only had about 30,000 people living in each area. Makiki sounded like a good spot, but there were no openings available at Makiki Village Center, and there was already a small coffee shop there.

I signed the lease.

The lease was good for 3 years, with increases in the rent every year and an option to renew the lease for year 4 and 5. This was in December of 2002. There was a problem: the landlord wanted a really huge (5 million umbrella) insurance policy, one that no local insurance provider covered. I had lease, but they wouldnt release the keys until I found someone to give me insurance to match the lease terms. 5 days after I was supposed to move in, the landlord finally gave in and sent a waiver after it was proven that it was just not feasible. (This setback was a sign of future problems with the landlord, but that comes later.)

At last I got the keys, the dream started to become reality.

Now what?

I opened the door and it was pitch black. There was no power.

"Well I supposed you call the electricity company and get the power turned on" the property manager gently suggested to me.

-- to be continued --