Hi. I was curious about how to go about renting kitchen space. I have contacted a local bakery that is possibly interested in letting me rent space from them. I live in California, so it is illegal for me to bake out of my home. I have no idea how to go about this though. What is a fair arrangement (price)? How/What things need to be done/discussed to do this legally?

Yes, I would love to hear any suggestions b/c I am considering doing the same thing.

bump

Well, you're one step ahead of me! I'm trying to do the same thing right now. I live in MN, so you can't be licensed from home. I'm currently looking for somewhere to rent from, but so far have had no luck. I've tried a couple different VFWs near me, several churches, schools, etc. and just can't find someone willing or able to rent me kitchen space. I'm starting to get really frustrated, as I REALLY want to make this happen but with the economy and all, I can't justify opening my own shop until I at least have a good solid customer base in place. I can't do that until I can start to spread the word and advertise that I even make cakes! Urgh!

Angie
Freezing in MN

I know!! It can be sooo frustrating! I just happened to find a bakery here in town that is willing to offer me space. What do you think is a fair rate? I was thinking along the lines of an hourly rate (at least at first)

Hi,
I own a beautiful cake studio in Orlando and posted a bulletin last week to see if anyone in town wanted to rent my space for a couple nights a week to help offset the rent cost but no takers so far.

completely furnished and awesome.. Go figure

MIchael

Here is a website that list kitchen space for rent
http://www.commercialkitchenforrent.com/
How it helps!

I would personally weigh out the pros and cons of renting hourly vs. monthly.. In CA it is illegal to do ANYTHING for the public in your home, so technically you are supposed to do the entire prep and dec. of the cake in the kitchen. ASK the owner what they are thinking and see if it seems feasible to you.

Just a thought. If you pay by the hour and you make all of your icing/filling and bake your cake one day (say 3 hours) and then decorate another day another 3 hours. and you pay 25 bucks per hour. you have just spent 150.00 on kitchen time.. that is probably a way inflated time line, but then again maybe not.

If you have a co-op kitchen in your area, call them and see how much they charge. There is one in the bay area, northern ca that is about 18/hour in 4 hour blocks of time, so if you use it for 4 hours and 15 minutes, you pay for 8 hours.

thanks for the kitchen rental website! I actually found a kitchen that is near where I live...

I posted earlier about not being able to find kitchen space to rent near me. Here's an update... after many frustrating calls and being turned down repeatedly, luck finally landed on my side. For the moment anyways. We'll see how it plays out. Completely out of the blue (long story), I got a lead into a commercial kitchen that no one uses and would possibly be willing to rent. This is kind of long so bear with me...

In our town, there is an old main street that is lined with the old (built in the 1800s) tall 3 or 4 story buildings. One of those buildings houses an upscale restaurant that has been there a long time. The restaurant is on the 1st floor of the building. The 2nd floor is a large banquet room that has a seperate commercial kitchen attached, although seperate from it. This whole 2nd floor is rented by the same restaurant as on the 1st floor. The 3rd and 4th floors are rented out apartments. Anyways, the 2nd floor is only used occassionally (few times a year) for smaller things like groom's dinners, etc. The commercial kitchen on the 2nd floor was originally designed and installed to accommodate the banquets held on the 2nd floor, but is no longer used for the banquets. They use the restaurant kitchen downstairs and just carry the food upstairs now. More convenient for them I guess.

I talked to the restaurant manager about being able to rent the 2nd kitchen that they no longer use. He seemed really receptive to the idea, but said it was ultimately up to the building owner who isn't entirely sold on the idea yet. However, the building owner told me to write up a proposal to submit to him and he'll consider it. That's where I need your help. The kitchen itself would be perfect for my use. My husband and I took a look at it today. It's about 200-250 square feet total. No one else used it so I could store all of my things there and could meet with clients upstairs in the banquet area for consultations if I wanted. I could work there whatever hours are convenient for me too. I asked who would be responsible for any maintenance issues on the kitchen appliances and the restaurant manager said they would cover that, along with utilities, since it's technically all a part of the restaurant. The kitchen hasn't been used for the last 7 years, but every 6 months it's inspected by the Health Department, along with the kitchen downstairs, so I'm not really concerned with it passing the inspections it needs to to get licensed.

What I'm looking for is help in writing up a proposal to rent this kitchen that I can hand to the building owner. He wants all of the details spelled out in writing, which I agree is a very good idea. I need a list of must includes from those of you who currently rent kitchen space, so I don't miss something important.

Thanks,
Angie

Angie... you may want to start that in a new thread... I think it's getting lost on the back end of this conversation!

Bump!

If anyone in the Marietta, Georgia area has space to rent, I'm looking! I've contacted the one listing on the kitchens for rent website, but haven't heard back yet. Any other options in the area would be greatly appreciated!

KPOW
It's funny you should mention that catering kitchen. I live in Austell and called that number. I left a message weeks ago and never got a call back. They should take their phone number off that list

I actually had to write a proposal to rent a private school's kitchen. I basically introduced myself (briefly). Explained what I would need the kitchen for, how many days and the hours. I included the possibility of an employee or two. I then listed the permits that I would get and keep at my expense plus liability insurance. I also added some references that were familiar with my work--one of them happened to be on the school's board. I then propsed what I would pay for the use of their kitchen.

That;s it in a nutshell.

This sounds like a PERFECT place for you!

I have no experience in this area, but as a business owner (not a bakery) my advice would be to offer a price that you think is lower than fair. They can always come back with a higher offer to you.

They are currently getting no income from this space, so they may be willing to take very little money.

I hope this works out for you. Let us know!

I dropped off my proposal on Tues Dec. 16th. I left it with the manager of the restaurant. He said that he would pass it on to the owner that evening and they'd give me a call. I didn't hear anything, so I called the manager Friday the 19th. He said that the owner wasn't in much that week, but was coming in that night. He said that they'd call me. Today is the 25th (Christmas) and I still haven't heard anything. It's driving me crazy!! What should I do? I hate being a pest and keep calling them, but I'd really like to know if it's going to work or not. I don't have any of the contact info for the owner, only the manager, so going directly to the owner isn't really an option.

Angie

Angie: Try this ..... After the holidays, call the manager and tell him you'd like to stop in and talk to him and the owner about your proposal. "I'll be in your area on Tuesday morning and on Thursday afternoon .... which day would be better for the both of you?"

This is an old sales tactic that I've found works VERY well. Never ask "what day is good for you?" but ask instead for them to make a choice between two dates that you offer them. (I used to sell a cosmetic line and used this method to book my consultations .... I was with the company only 3 months when I came in 2nd in a sales contest ... and it was the last 3 months of my pregnancy, too! So this really does work.)