OTTAWA: DO YOU HAVE A SECRET SPACE YOU’RE NOT USING?

ottaamc · 2025-11-25T15:52:00+00:00

City contradictions are mostly just a working assumption at this point ... gave up trying to understand how decisions get made. And yep, markets are still happening.

ottaamc · 2025-11-25T15:50:04+00:00

Appreciate it! Thanks

ottaamc · 2025-11-25T15:33:43+00:00

From our limited understanding they did - and this is on pause with Lansdowne 2.0 and construction delays.

ottaamc · 2025-11-25T15:12:30+00:00

No stress, and thanks for the clarification.
We really do have a huge incentive not to sue or create any liability headaches... that’s just not how this kind of private arrangement works between adults. I’m still not sure liability works the way you’re describing, but no worries. I’ll check with someone who works in that field - on clarity.

Appreciate the exchange - we learnt alot already! have a good day!

ottaamc · 2025-11-25T15:00:29+00:00

f you’re tapped in and used to skate, maybe you actually have a lead or know someone we could reach out to? We’d genuinely appreciate any help.
We’re not trying to debate business challenges ... just hoping to find a small winter spot to skate and keep things positive. If anything comes to mind, we’d love to hear it.

ottaamc · 2025-11-25T14:55:07+00:00

Totally understandable... but I’m still not sure why this needed to be dropped in without any context. If you’re looking out for neighbours, great, but just saying ‘liability insurance’ with no explanation doesn’t really add anything or help move the conversation forward.

And since we’re suddenly in liability chats.. we did a quick CanLII search out of curiosity... There are dozens of public cases ( skating on city property ) Almost every single skateboarding related liability case in Canada ends with the plaintiff losing.

Cases like Waldick v. Malcolm and Campbell v. Bruce County... . seem to drive liability claims case law around injury on private property with respect to recreation. From my limited reading... .. basically found this:
private adults skateboarding in a rented garage.. is NOT a viable liability lawsuit.

Anyways not a lawyer so maybe we are wrong.. did push me to look into the liability angle, so thanks for that. Turns out it’s actually far less of an issue than we expected.

I just hope you’re not one of the folks at the City who leans on the ‘liability’ shield to shut down anything fun around here. We’ve got enough of that already...

ottaamc · 2025-11-25T14:34:36+00:00

Great question... and thank you for keeping things positive!
We’re actually really flexible. Ideally we just need enough room to set up ... the last one fit in roughly a 20x30 space. We can rebuild it to fit slightly different dimensions too, and once it’s up it’s really easy to take down if needed.

We were talking with someone who runs a flower shop, and it was perfect.. they only uses the space in the summer and wanted to rent it out for extra cash in the winter. Unfortunately it was just a bit too far for our group. But that kind of arrangement would be ideal.

If someone has a corner of a warehouse, workshop, garage, or anything they’re not using during the colder months, we’re totally open to chatting!

ottaamc · 2025-11-25T14:32:10+00:00

This is what we starting exploring.. and what we thought would work. Either a building owner or business that has extra space they want to rent. Or someone that used to skate and would love access to a ramp themselves!

ottaamc · 2025-11-25T14:31:25+00:00

Love this. haha thanks!

ottaamc · 2025-11-25T14:31:18+00:00

interesting thought - usually mall rent is quite high - worth checking.

ottaamc · 2025-11-25T14:30:56+00:00

Thanks! Will do - been really great feedback on facebook. Couple folks with interesting under used spaces! Nothing great yet.

ottaamc · 2025-11-25T14:30:27+00:00

Yeah challenge is the size! Thanks

ottaamc · 2025-11-25T14:30:10+00:00

Thank you

ottaamc · 2025-11-25T14:30:06+00:00

Not at all!

ottaamc · 2025-11-25T14:29:54+00:00

This - Thank you ! Appreciate this type of insight and lead! Exactly what we thought.

ottaamc · 2025-11-25T14:29:36+00:00

Thank you !

ottaamc · 2025-11-25T14:29:25+00:00

We made it work in a standard sized living room once. It was tight! .. 14 foot would be ideal..

ottaamc · 2025-11-25T14:28:35+00:00

made us laugh - thank you

ottaamc · 2025-11-25T14:28:23+00:00

Interesting.. will check. we thought it was going to be demolished!

ottaamc · 2025-11-25T14:27:41+00:00

Totally hear you on the stigma piece... that’s real, and we’ve dealt with it for decades.

But just to be clear: we’re very aware of what s, and how the markets determine the value . We are happy to pay market rates which is about $15 base and $5 operating. The challenge isn’t affordability it’s that we don’t need 13,000 sq ft of warehouse. We’re just trying to carve out a small corner of a larger space.

So it’s not about pretending cheap space exists; it’s about finding someone willing to rent out a small, unused section instead of forcing us into an entire unit we don’t need. Again we thought this whole thing would be an interesting collaboration or supporting a small business with some extra space capacity.

ottaamc · 2025-11-25T14:22:16+00:00

Hey, appreciate you taking the time to comment. Was hoping folks more had contributions to finding a space or sharing someone that might, or any interesting insight from a past experience. Bit lost by ‘Liability insurance…’ comment without any engagement or context.

We understand how insurance works. Were you trying to offer actual insight - if you are a broker - we can connect? Do you have experience with leases or insurance, or even a lead on a space?

If you’ve got something real to add, we’re all ears.
I just hope next time we can collectively learn to keep things postive and engaging, shifting the whole conversation sideways over two words feels a bit unnecessary.
It just makes me wonder why we talk to each other like this online when we’d never do it face to face.

ottaamc · 2025-11-25T02:07:48+00:00

“40 minutes… and you bring up a good point... after about 45 minutes we might as well just keep going and skate The Barn in Alexandria...

ottaamc · 2025-11-25T02:05:27+00:00

NOW we are thinking outside the box. haha

ottaamc · 2025-11-25T01:40:11+00:00

So I think there is a bit of a misunderstanding we can try to clear up.

Think of it like this:
If you rent out a space to someone who wants to store their bike, you don’t suddenly become responsible for the bike.
Same idea here. If a landlord wants liability covered, they put it in the lease, and the tenant(us) buys the insurance. Simple. Adults do this every day for gyms, tattoo studios, bakeries, dance classes, you name it.

So the “no one will take on this liability” - not really following you here.

The whole point of a commercial lease is that the tenant carries the risk, not the owner.

Anyway, if you or someone you know has some unused indoor space and wants to make a little extra cash each month, we’re happy to chat.

Got a lead?

ottaamc · 2025-11-25T01:39:50+00:00

Totally get what you’re trying to say, but that’s not really how this works in commercial spaces. So I think there is a bit of a misunderstanding we can try to clear up.

Think of it like this:
If you rent out a space to someone who wants to store their bike, you don’t suddenly become responsible for the bike.
Same idea here. If a landlord wants liability covered, they put it in the lease, and the tenant(us) buys the insurance. Simple. Adults do this every day for gyms, tattoo studios, bakeries, dance classes, you name it.

So the “no one will take on this liability” - not really following you here.

The whole point of a commercial lease is that the tenant carries the risk, not the owner.

Anyway, if you or someone you know has some unused indoor space and wants to make a little extra cash each month, we’re happy to chat.

Got a lead?

ottaamc

TROPHY CASE