In 2009 I came back to Gainesville from California. I just spent three years paying my craftsman’s dues; A year of apprenticeships and two years at the College of the Redwoods Fine Furniture School. I returned to a wrecked economy and a bunch of under employed friends, with excellent framing and construction skills. It was a perfect time to build.

As the framing went up we knew we were building a shared resource. None of us had a shop and we all needed one, or needed to know someone with one. Well the shop has been churning out projects and filling up with tools over the last 6 years and things have changed in ways that I didn’t expect and should have seen coming. We have out grown the shop. It’s a bit sad really, kinda like saying good bye to a blankie, a comfortable safe and secure bit of awesomeness. I have to move on.

I have to build Dream Shop 2.0, I have to ramp up and pull ahead. I’ve got to go into some serious debt and put it all on the line, again. As my friends and I have gotten older we are maturing, we are stepping into leadership positions within our community. Some are taking over businesses, some are creating businesses, some are involved in politics, schools, city boards, raising kids, we are growing up and taking over. We are the next generation of leaders, who is to do it if we don’t?  It’s a wonderful and scary process.

I was able to buy 3/8 of an acre almost directly across the street from the Depot Ave. Park off 4th st.. My neighbors are GRU and the fire department administration. I will be on a corner lot in a light industrial zoned area, 1.2 miles from my house, not a bad spot. I have designed the shop to have a showroom/office/living room/dining room/kitchen and bathroom. Everything in the showroom will be built, designed and used by us. Currently clients come to my home and get a tour of my house and the shop. They get to know me and my work on a personal basis. The new shop will still allow that with the added benefit of being a lot more professional. The Dream Shop 2.0 will be a metal building of contemporary stylings and plenty of space. My existing shop is 1150 sq. ft. with an added 250 sq. ft. of exterior covered space. The new shop will be 4085 sq. ft. with an added 1600 sq. ft. storage loft. We will also have over 1000 sq. ft. of covered exterior space and a restroom with a urinal. We will finally have a forklift, so no more driving to a parking lot and hand unloading freight deliveries like Colombian cocaine smugglers. It is going to be wonderful.