I'm curious...

I live in MI, where we cannot obtain a license for home food prep. I was going to ask the church if I could rent their kitchen, but I have doubts about their acceptance of that proposal.

Lamenting this to my husband, he started asking questions about what would be needed. I rattled off the usual kitchen equipment, space, sinks that pass code, other code requirements, etc. and I could hear the gears grinding in his head.

He has been wanting to purchase another rental property, but he asked me, "If I bought a commercial building for you, do you think other bakers/food prep people would want to rent out space?"

I don't see why not! What do you all think? I was thinking it could be a large building with several kitchens in it. People could fill rental slots on a regular basis (reservations) or on a first-come, first-serve basis based on availability. People could bring their own tools/pans, etc. and be expected to clean up, or we could have some supplies available. I suppose we could even have lockable cabinets for "regulars" who want to store their stuff there.

What do you think? Feasible idea, or dumb?

There is a facility somewhat near me that rents individual kitchens like you are proposing. I don't have any experience with it. It is a little too far away from where I live to really make it a feasible option, plus if I recall correctly, the price was pretty high. I think it is a really good idea, as long as the rental rate isn't prohibitive of making a profit on sales.

I currently am in the process of building just such a kitchen known as an "incubator" kitchen. I have 6 potential clients waiting for me to get my doors open. You can visit my site at www.thecookerykitchen.com to get ideas.

**edited to add that all 6 are wanting one or two dedicated blocks of time so they will be paying monthly. Which covers my rent and utilities and then some..so all my cake orders are pure profit after supply expenses. I own my equipment out & out since most of it came from the restaurant my mom & I use to own.

Cool!

Cakesdivine, if hubby decides to look into this further and we have questions, would you mind if I dropped you a line (since we're nowhere near in the same market)?

That's the key -- we'll have to make it affordable and convenient. Hubby was talking about buying a warehouse-type deal that we could multi-purpose.

We'll see. Michigan is a tough market for anything right now. Oh, and of course theres a little thing called MONEY that would come in handy.

It is a great idea. If you google commercial kitchen to rent, all types of sites pop up and most of the people posting are looking for space to rent, not offering space. It is not just bakers but candy makers, jelly and jam makers, etc. There are no incubator kitchens near me, would you move to NJ and open here?

I'm working on a back room right now to rent....

my comm.oven and freezer are back there in an until now just spare room....it's already plumbed, i just need to buy another 3 bay sink and some cabinets.....

i found this place to advertise maybe when i'm thru.

http://www.commercialkitchenforrent.com/wanted/

how did you find renters cakes divine?

i'm hoping to just find maybe 1 person i could trust to rent it...too bad no CCers aren't near me....i'm gonna try to give them a good deal.

LOL, I just put up a thread asking this same question for my area! Great minds do think alike I have been looking for a small place to set up a shop (just in the planning stages right now), and the lease rates are insane. So as I was perusing the adds, I found a small restaurant for sale (1500sqft) with all equipment. The location is crappy for a restaurant, but perfect for a specialty cake shop, and it has enough room to set up maybe two more kitchens. My thoughts were that I could buy this property cheaper than I can lease, and I can rent out space to help offset costs. However, before I incorporate this in my business plan, I wanted to see if there was any interest in renting comm kitchen space down here in Lafayette LA. So if there is, speak up!

If someone could do this in the Lexington area in KY, too, that would be splendiforous.LoL. There is NOTHING here. Nothing. Yar.

I am also looking at renting space here in Tulsa. If anyone out there knows of a place please PM me.

No problem you can call anytime you like...well not at 3 in the morning...LOL!

Wow! I have been looking to find a kitchen for rent in the Dallas/Ft. Worth area. The only place that I can find is in the north part of Ft Worth , so I imagine they have the monopoly in this niche in this area! I wish there were more places closer to my area to choose from...

I was thinking about the same thing here in NJ. Would it be worth it to open a share use kitchen. Seems more people are looking than there are places to rent from.

I was thinking about the same thing here in NJ. Would it be worth it to open a share use kitchen. Seems more people are looking than there are places to rent from.

You know many restaurants/ delis/ coffee shops are in financial dire straits. If you could find a sandwich shop or a place that would not be competetive, you could rent space from them...Recently, I approached several restaurant owners who do breakfast and lunch only, both were veryyyy interested...Of course I would still have to get a business license for my business, but I would work out of their commercial kitchen. Yes, I wold have to work in the afternoon (after their lunch crowd). Also, of course you would want to have an attorney draw up a legal agreement to ensure what the working agreement was, just to cover you both....

We have an incubater kitchen in my city and let me tell you....They are booked for months...They operate 24 hours a day 7 days a week, and even the middle of the night times are booked!!!!!! I guess everyone wants to be a cook!

I think it's a good idea. Where are you at in Michigan? I live in Oakland County.

sharedkitchens com

To get an idea, here is a structure of one that is up and running that I am looking to rent space in . HTH

Oh boy do I wish we had something like that in NJ. I should rewrite that I wish there was something like that in NORTH NJ. I think there is something in S. NJ, but nothing near me. I approached several restaurants and 2 bakeries about renting and was told no. I've spoken to my DH about starting one, but he doesn't think there would be enough $ in it. Men....*smack on the head*.....!

To the Michigan cakers...I live in Macomb County but rent a space in Ferndale. It's a VFW hall and they are fantastic to work with. The charge me almost nothing and I have a locked cabinet and keys to the place. All I do is shoot them an email when I know I need the kitchen to make sure no one else is using it. I've never had any conflicts yet. The kitchen is old but in good shape and the oven works great. I was able to get my license using their kitchen as well.

I was thinking about doing this in city, too. There's a great building just a few blocks from my house that's been empty for a couple of years. It was an appliance store and they moved a few buildings over to larger premises.

I am going to start looking into this as an idea - city permits, start-up costs, equipment costs, rent, etc., but most of all, viability in my area.

Every rent by the hour commercial kitchen I've found was $25 an hour. Being a beginner baker that's a hefty price tag when you're just getting started so for me I can't make it work cost wise. If I ever seriously decide to start a business I'll be hitting up churches and now the VFW...great idea

My VFW hall charges me a flat rate for the day. They had the rent listed for $60 a day and I negotiated a bit on that. They don't mind if I'm there for an hour or 14 hours. Same price. I looked into a lot of options and this was the best for me. It's a pretty good way to kind of start up a business without any overhead really. I already had all the supplies since I had been baking at home so it's just a location change and the license fee. Presto! A fully licensed business with little money.

I'd do it in a heartbeat, but there are no incubator kitchens close to me. I'm on the border of Macomb and Oakland county. Where are you located cuz I'd definately be a regular.

Where in MI are you? I am currently dealing with the same issues in MI. Depending on the location and cost I would be interested. I live in Kent County, but of course be willing to drive to neighboring communities. I have people trying to order from me all the time, but I like to follow the law. It is difficult to turn down money when I could really use some more!! Keep me posted.

Where in MI are you? I am currently dealing with the same issues in MI. Depending on the location and cost I would be interested. I live in Kent County, but of course be willing to drive to neighboring communities. I have people trying to order from me all the time, but I like to follow the law. It is difficult to turn down money when I could really use some more!! Keep me posted.

hi I was wondering where at in Michigan do you live??? I live in hillsdale Michigan like near the Indiana border and I live pretty close to the Ohio border. so I would love it if I was close enough I would rent a space for sure. I know the only way to make it in this buissness is to have word of mouth and being able to advertise.... I wish u the best of luck.

In MI you can contact [email protected] They started or helped to implement one incubator kitchen in West Michigan, not sure if they have plans for others, you could check on their website miffs.org.

I looked into an incubator kitchen and it is really expensive to me. I just recently moved so I don't have the clientel to support that cost and pay for daycare. My minimum would have to be like 500. But in answer to your question I would love to rent one and if I could find one that would be a little bit more affordable I'd do it in a heart beat.

I too live in Michigan
I want so bad to open a food cart type business,,and need a kitchen to get going for a few hours a day.
I have a friend that his sister was thinking of doing the same thing but its a money issue for many of us.
There are some ideas out there they may help. But I think the first thing you need to do is get opinions on the food to see if it will be sucessful.
Get back to me on a update did you go ahead and do this?
Maybe a group of us can get something started.
Cheryl

After looking into the availability of rental kitchens in my area, I too wondered if opening a small shared space would be beneficial. I can only find a few scattered throught my area which aren't really convenient. I'm in the SF bay and they are available in the larger cities but 30 miles out, not so much. I checked a few churches in the area but have "not for profit" availability. The community center rents by whole day blocks and is NOT cheap. I've been wanting to post a separate forum asking those in CA how they do it and justify the rental costs (25-40 / hour). As a small start-up, that's just not feasible. I called the DOH and they were really not helpful. I have more contacts for more research but I bet there are a lot of home bakers looking for this type of space, especially it there are none in your area.

i think that is a wonderful idea and i would rent from you as long as your close to were i live.  i need a space for cooking and i thought about the church as well but i dont know if they are really equiopped forwhat i want to do.  Good luck in the adventure.