We are now at 45 West Hastings Street, and VHS is now a 24/7 Hackerspace to serve the needs of the interested hacker/crafter/hobbyist/whatever. We anticipate that in a year's time, we will need to grow out of the space and into something bigger.

We are looking for a large space to grow the hackerspace. In the short term, we are looking to find a space in Vancouver that we can then sub-let to members of the Hackerspace, and other likeminded businesses. These offices will be approximately $300 to $500 per month for rent. In the long term, we are looking to subsidize the rent with various business ventures (i.e. Kit sales, Lazzor, etc).

Unlike our current space, the Hackerspace and other tenants will be separated by a wall. The offices will later serve as a lounge area or storage for larger projects.

In addition to this, we will be conducting fundraisers in the new year to help raise money for VHS. Fundraising ideas may include:

• Hacker Auction
• Classes
• Hacker Craft Fair
• Kit Sales
• Lazzor

We currently require the following out of our hackerspace:

• Approx 1000 to 1500 sq ft (the more square footage, the better)
• M2 or I2 zoning (Need to check with the city)
• Three Phase Power
• 24 Hour Access
• Ability to control access to the space
• Bathroom (pref with shower)

Things that we want to have include:

• Kitchen/Chem Lab Area
• Emergency Safety Shower
• Rooftop Access (for HAM, and other Radio/Wireless experiments)
• lounge

These current areas are where we are looking:

• East Vancouver (Strathcona, Hastings-Sunrise, Grandview Woodlands, Mt. Plesant)
• Burnaby (on Skytrain, preferably in an industrial area like what Gilmore)
• New Westminster (On the Skytrain, with two commercial-district stops, tends to be Cheap and the old buildings tend to have large spaces.)

We currently would prefer to not go to these places:

• Surrey: Surrey is in a 3rd Skytrain Zone, that's $135 a month for a 3 zone pass. This affects Vancouver residents, as well as any potential North Van/West Van members.

• How much is the rent? Does that include heating and hydro?
• Is there a lease? Is it a triple-net lease? (Most Commercial and Industrial in BC are, but please check)
• Can we customize the access?
• Is it possible to get 24 Hour Access to the space?
• Who were the prior tenants? (Important for BC Hydro, we will be billed based on the last tenants)
• Who else has looked at the space?
• Ask about the neighbours? Which businesses/residents are nearby, and what do they do. A good design pattern is to have good neighbours
• Ask about parking. A lot of VHS members are transit dependent, but a fair number do drive. It's important to have parking where people's windshields won't get smashed in.

• Mergatroid Building - Good Landlord, Good Rent, Good Space, but lacked plumbing (unlike the rest of the complex, required a 2 year lease, and had issues with non-members accessing the space. If something else pops up, we need to grab it. There are other opportunities in this space
• 13th and Commercial Drive - Now home to PEDAL
• Cambie and Hastings - Access Issues
• 733 W Broadway - Giant Pillar in the middle of the space, zoned for Hospital use
• Empty Lot - It's an empty lot
• CASA Space - Good space, but not exclusively our space - A potential space
• 2000 Sq Ft space at 3rd and Ontario - $2000 with no bathroom. Too expensive
• 17th and Main
• hastings in buranby.. sign shop, call -6048052098

• http://xrl.us/bem3s6
• Vancouver Zoning Map