Ask HN: What should I do with 120,000 Sq. Ft in Butte America?
I have the ability to purchase a 120,000 Sq.Ft building in Butte, Montana that was formerly office space. The space is ripe with potential, but I also need to cover the ~$15,000-$20,000 monthly operating costs. So far we have a couple of code schools and local non-tech firms committed to using the space, but what else should/can we do? I should mention the space has a datacenter and we intend on bringing in a 10 Gbps connection to the building, and houses in Butte are highly affordable. Yes, there is a giant toxic mine near the city, but it's mostly contained ;)
# Some ideas we have tossed around: Hacker commune
* Accelerator
* Medical Marijuana growing facility (MT is a medical state)
* 24hr coffee shop on the first floor
* Corporate cabin offices (a la, Google buys a floor and allows employees to work out of Butte. Why? So they can hike/climb/fish/mountain bike after work)
* Free offices to open source projects
* Partial *coin mining facility
What would you do with even a portion of the space?
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2 comments
| 4 points
| on HN
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What does the butte community need? Commercial kitchen space is at a very high premium here in Missoula, might a commercial kitchen help start/accelerrate a foodtruck scene in Butte? The building could be thought more of as a maker-space instead of a hacker-space, so encouraging other forms of creativity (writing, cooking, etc.) which might draw in more folks.
Rooting for you guys!