We have had the benefit of speaking with some very smart people prior to beginning our search for a location back in June. Since then, we have had a hell of a time finding the right facility - across six municipalities in North Carolina. Though state and municipal governments are business friendly and eager to have us join their community, finding the right facility has proven rather elusive.
In some towns, it's zoning laws. We've found two that have actually changed their zoning laws to try to attract us. Within those two towns, finding a facility that meets fire code is the trouble.
Our most recent building candidate has a lot of promise (fire inspector it meets code for our use - evidently F-1 use), but the electrician says he doesn't think the wiring is up to code (a 10,000+ expense), and we will need to do a fit up to put an electrical panel in the room where we want to do our distilling. We'll also need to route a water source. Both of these actions would trigger a review of the building by the trade and building inspectors.
Two questions for you - 1: is my quest to find the right facility reminiscent of yours? 2: Any advice for continuing this search if this building doesn't work out? One option that would be a good solution - throwing more money into real estate - isn't an option. We'd prefer to use our money for marketing once we are up and running.
Let me know what you think. Thanks for weighing in.