Garage 108 Kent

NO APRIL FOOLS: The time has come to hand over the keys to the new owners. Thanks to all those who followed our journey to this point. Even though we were not able to finish this project, renovations, or open the business .. we do hope these spaces of 108-122 buildings become something great!
Over the last five years there has been much blood, sweat, tears, and labor of love in trying to bring this idea to life. Dear Kent, we bid you farewell. Look forward to returning some day and seeing what you become.
Remember be kind to one another, support your locally-run businesses, keep dreaming big, and strive for the stars. Success is not a destination, it’s a journey. The only impossible journey is the one you never begin. The beautiful journey of today can only begin when we learn to let go of yesterday.

Looking forward to see you all.

FOR SALE: 108-122 W. College Kent Ohio 44240
https://www.loopnet.com/Listing/108-W-College-St-Kent-OH/28074817/

• 108 Building: 1st Floor: 3,150 square feet (17’ ceiling height)
2nd Floor: 3,150 square feet (12’ ceiling height)

• 108: Liquor Licenses (D2, D2X, D3, D3A, D6) available, Parking Spots (9-11), Land Survey completed, Full Architect Plans created, Zone Use: Assembly A2-A3, Several Commercial Kitchen Appliances, Approval on City Regulations from ARB, Zoning, Planning Commission boards, new Tundra™ Silicone roof, exterior painting, tuckpointing, new garage doors, landscaping, tree removal

• 122 Building: 1st Floor: 3,000 square feet (15’ ceiling height)
2nd Floor: 2,000 square feet (10’ ceiling height) newly cosmetically renovated, move-in ready, 2 ADA bathrooms

•108-122: City incentives include a tax abatement program, CRA Pre-1994, and a revolving loan fund

Multiple Uses include: community center, store retail, flex-warehouse, creative office, office space, storage, manufacturing, storefront, cafe, restaurant, speakeasy, bar, commercial kitchen, nightclub, event center activities, fitness, health club, co-working hub, gallery, wedding venue, event venue space

CONTACT: Valerie 312-479-2427

108 W College St, Kent, OH 44240 - Commercial 108-122 W College Kent Ohio 44240 | LoopNet 108 W College St, Kent, OH 44240. This Retail property is available for sale. Commercial Property Mixed Uses For Sale: 108-122 W. College

DREAMS: Life happens when you are busy making plans. After three years of planning, preparing, and executing approvals of future improvements for 108-122 W. College buildings, the situation and landscape of making those dreams a reality have changed. The buildings are currently up for sale. Check link in bio: https://www.loopnet.com/Listing/108-W-College-St-Kent-OH/28074817/
It is now time to pass the torch on to someone else and help make their dreams come to life. Hopefully good things are in-store for Kent and the future of these buildings is bright. It is such a good location and a blank canvas. What a labor of love, learning experience, and look how far we have come despite all the hurdles, challenges, and many different pandemic crisis issues.

FIRE & WATER: Unbelievable morning as the historic mill caught fire today. Our building is down the street, but we are relatively uneffected by the situation unlike our business neighbors , Franklin School of Dance, , , , Hometown Bank, and others.
First responders, other local city fire departments, and City of Kent Fire Department are amazing humans who responded so quickly to this unexpected tragedy. It is a sad day indeed.

PROJECT TREE REMOVAL: Finally finished clearing out the trees on the backside of the building. This is the first of many steps to work with the city to build a future public sidewalk and pathway for the community to use and enjoy.
Even though Kent is known for being the tree city, sometimes we have to clear out the old to make room for the new.

FRESH START: These humble beginnings start at the G122 building. GALERIE by is the first of three buildings set to launch Monday, August 1st 2022.
Galerie Wellness is yoga studio, fitness area, zen meditation space, wellness center, medspa, and more. We are hiring our team, growing fast, and so excited to meet you! Come say hello-bonjour-hola-hallo-ciao!
Big thanks to from LADD Signs for seemlessly creating, delivering, and installing our City of Kent ARB approved signs for both the front and backside of the building.
Everything is finally starting to come together. We can’t wait for you to see what we have been building and join our community!

GREEN LIGHT GO: Calling one, calling all fitness instructors, yoga teachers, wellness coaches, front desk people, and gym managers … immediate job openings and opportunities for Galerie Wellness by the first of many projects and businesses in our spaces!

FEARLESS FREEDOM: On National Flag Day, in honor of the holiday we added American flag banners to the G108 building windows as a sign of patriotism and pride for the freedom we enjoy daily.
The City of Kent is currently going through a flag redesign and we want to encourage the citizens and community to get involved in the project. In the coming weeks a few narrowed down designs will be out to the public to vote on the favorite.
Keep up with all the flag progress in our stories. Feel free to reach out, DM, and send us a message if you would like to get more involved.

TREE REMOVAL: Mother Nature’s storms this week prompted the first of many phases to slowly remove the large, wild trees growing on the backside of the building and cut down the tree branches hanging over ODOT highway 59.
It was a dangerous job with lots of dead tree limbs falling on to unstable rocky terrine hills and countless areas of the poison ivy. Big thanks to the tree arborist and professionals for making sure everyone was safe during this removal.
Clearing out these trees is the first of many steps for the city to build a future public sidewalk, pathway, and potentially a bike path for the community to use and enjoy. Crossing our fingers the city is awarded these grant funds sooner vs later for this project.

Garage 108 Kent updated their address.

FLOWER POWER: What a great start to Memorial Day Weekend sponsoring Adopt A Spot. Thanks for all those who came to participated and assisted in planting flowers with us.
We love our community and how strong we are together! Glad could participate and sponsor our corner block.

TILE TAILS: After the bathroom tiles finally arrive from an extremely delayed supply chain issues, my construction tile expert then has a family health emergency. Not ideal timing to say the least, but when you pivoit to building a medical-focused wellness center during the biggest health pandemic of the decade, it seems a bit cyclical!
Here is a sneak preview of the new bathroom renovations inspired by the 1920s French obsessed-style with hexagons and my new skills of tile installing I’m adding to my resume. All those algebra and math classes from high school finally got used this week. It was a bit more challenging and time consuming then it appears.
Working steadily to make all the deadlines in May and welcome the public for an official introduction and Open House of Galerie Wellness in the 122 building. Stay tuned, we are building you something great!

NO DAYS OFF: Working around the clock, evenings, and weekends to pickup where the construction and painting crew left off in order to meet deadlines and open on time. Might not get as much done by myself as I would like, but progress is still progress.
Very excited to unveil the Galerie Wellness Center filled with vetted medical professionals, holistic therapies, infrared sauna, nurse practitioners, dermatologists, cosmetologists, estheticians, massage therapists, accuputurists, chiropractors, weight loss specialists, and more.

HARDWOOD WORK: The construction work continues at the 122 building as we resurface, sand, stain, and coat the hardwood floors. This space will be the Yoga& studio among other wellness and fitness activities.

COSMETIC MAKEOVER: What does one do after discovering the sewage plumbing at 112 KCC space and 122 building are connected, backing up, and experiencing overflow issues?
Snake the pipes and give the bathrooms a makeover of course … time for some TLC. New flooring, tile, mirrors, wallpaper, paint, door handles, and lights coming up next — just waiting on the contractors!

SNOW REMOVAL SUNDAY: It might not look like much, but these snow mounds were 2-3 feet high. Clearing the business sidewalks for 108-112-122 block of College Street has been a challenge the last several weeks, especially after facing back-to-back snow storms.
Looking forward to the City of Kent service department and city council members to help make snow removal easier and more manageable for business owners. College street is changing rapidly and these 3 buildings will soon be vibrant and vibe’n with serving customers with new ideas.

COMING SOON: Check out Garage 108 Kent new studio space in the 122 W. College building called, YOGA& with classes starting in early 2022. YOGA& will be the first of many things G108 is planning to offer as we continue construction on the other spaces.
Even though there is an uptake in COVID cases which is dampering the opening plans, discounted $9 punch-card classes available for online purchase via garage108kent.com website. Regular $19 drop-in classes are available on the day of the event.
Until then .. Merry Christmas, Happy Holidays, Feliz Navidad, Joyeux Noel, and Wesolych Swiat!

MEDIATION COMPLETE: After eight months of preparation, another huge hurdle and road block was finally resolved. I’m not sad to twindle my speciality lawyer team down t-minus-two.
Finding resolution isn’t always easy. Clearly not much has gone as planned. Reaching peace through this madness and trying to wake up each morning with a positive mindset is the goal. Making the NEXT best decision without letting all the evil melivelence jade me in the process.
I don’t know exactly what will happen next, but this ride is anything except boring! Now back to “enjoying the journey” as it will be one hell of a story some day to tell my future children.

FILL-A-CRUISER: Happening now, Kent Police Department is collecting toys, games, and Christmas gifts to benefit the local families in Kent from 10am to 3pm today.
Please take the time to donate and give back to this local drive. It really benefits and means the world to so many Ohio kids and families to provide a happy holiday this season.

MERRY AND BRIGHT: Switching from turkey to Christmas trees. Stay tuned for all of the exciting things coming to Kent, Ohio.
G108’s new pop-up fitness classes called, “Yoga & ..” will feature an array of different kinds of fitness yoga with fun “& ..” activities (like coffee, plants, smoothies, candles, wine, art, pets) to pilates, barre, meditation, wall/chair yoga, candlelight yoga, and even blackout yoga.
Holiday sales for classes start on Monday Jan 3rd. Regular drop-in classes are $19 or save over 50% for each G108 $9 punch-card classes. Learn more at garage108kent.com website for details soon.
This will be one of many businesses to open in the 108-112-122 Garage 108 Kent spaces over the next year. Until then, just anxiously awaiting for the hardwood flooring to arrive. COVID is still affecting shipping, material delays, and supply chain .. but we are not letting those factors get us down.

MINDSET: No risk, no reward. Maybe I will go broke trying, maybe it will just fail, or maybe seeing if it does work will be the best adventure ever.
Years before I’d ever admit to calling myself an entrepreneur (or could spell the word without auto correct) I admired Sara Blakely the founder of Spanx HQ. I remember seeing her on Oprah Winfrey show. Only regret is how I was not at that taping/recording studio which was less than a mile from my condo at the time in Chicago so many years ago.
I dreamed of what questions I would ask her or what advice Sara would tell me to learn. I was always impressed how she built her startup from the ground up, alone, made plenty of mistakes, had only $5,000 of her own money, no investors or a business plan..just a problem she wanted to solve. It can be done. She is an inspiration for every female founder, women entreprenuers, and inventors alike.
Today I’m reflecting how when others tell you it can’t be done, it’s more of a reflection of their limitations and limiting beliefs not yours. Remember you will never be critized by those who are doing more than you, just those that are doing less.
Sara’s “Motivation Mug” shots remind me that entrepreneurship can be lonely, daunting, risky, hard, tiring, but if you never give up you start to realize that you are unstoppable. Believe you can do it, be your own cheerleader, protect your dreams, and stay focused. Each time you hear the word “NO” it is leading you closer to the “YES.”
Genius is 1% inspiration and 99% perspiration .. anyone can have a good “idea” but it’s the actions and effort behind the idea that brings success. Trust everything else will fall into place. If you want something you’ve never had, then you’ve got to do something you’ve never done.
Single may be my super power these days, but meanwhile I am going to check the box ✅ Building My Empire instead. Thanks Sara for the inspiration.

"City Leaders Delay a Ruling on the Kent Sportswear Color Question." — The Portager

https://theportager.com/city-leaders-delayed-a-ruling-on-the-kent-sportswear-color-question/?mc_cid=699924d60f&mc_eid=9f304d1b3f

City leaders delayed a ruling on the Kent Sportswear color question Ahead of Wednesday’s Kent City Council committee meetings, Kent entrepreneur Mike Beder was confident city leaders would overturn the Architectural Review Board’s recent rejection of the paint scheme on his new business, Kent Sportswear, located at 125 S. Water St.

ANCESTOR HISTORY: We have recently worked with the Kent Historical Society Museum and the ancestry family members who built the 108 W. College building in the 1920s. We are restoring and recovering old historic photos, items, and pieces from the past to keep the original heritage alive.
The very first business and company in the 108 building in Kent was a storage and moving company called May Bros. and Mayflower Warehouse.
When Garage 108 Kent finally open our doors next year, the space will be filled with a mix of the past, the present day, and glimpse of what we are building for the future.

The Portager RULING OVERTURNED: Kent City Council voted 7 to 2 in favor of approving Garage 108 Kent sign, making this the first overturned decision from ARB: Architectural Review Board since it was formed 11 years ago.
“I’m grateful that city council took the time and energy to review the sign matter,” Landis said after the vote tally. “Signs are the first thing patrons see, to know if there is an active business in the community. This is a fundamental issue for any business to thrive, especially during a pandemic.” Valerie Landis
https://theportager.com/after-another-signage-controversy-kent-city-council-overrules-the-aesthetics-committee/

“After another signage controversy, Kent City Council overrules the aesthetics panel.” —The Portager

https://theportager.com/after-another-signage-controversy-kent-city-council-overrules-the-aesthetics-committee/

After another signage controversy, Kent City Council overrules the aesthetics panel Kent City Council has never overturned an Architectural Review Board ruling. Until now. Council members Jack Amrhein and Roger Sidoti cast the only votes against Landis’ signage request.

OVERHEAD: Did you know that in 1921, a man named C.G Johnson, invented the upward-acting garage door and revolutionized the way the world entered their homes or business? Well thanks to Mr. Johnson, great designs like this, grace the esthetics of our building. Some day this area will be transformed into a fun happy hour patio, outdoor space, additional community sidewalk/bike path.
It has been a big week for Garage 108 Kent as finally all three of the custom overhead garage doors have been installed, our final exterior change requests with ARB: Architecture Review Board have passed, and our front-facing sign’s lighting appeal with City Council was approved. Let there be light!

TIMBER: The City of Kent may be known as the “tree city” of Ohio, but when structures like this prevent redevelopment plans or progess from moving forward, it has to be cleared and hauled away for something better to come in it’s place.
This honey locus tree is a tense and heavy lumber to remove from the Garage 108 Kent parking lot, but thanks to a small crew of good helpers were able to tackle the project in only a few hours and donate all the logs for firewood.
Excited to unveil the new structure and plans that will replace where this tree use to stand for the last 100 years. Stay tuned for the upcoming developments in the works next!

PLANT POP-UP: Join us today at Garage 108 Kentt building before for the City of Kent Octoberfest starts to check out Flourish Plant Mkt. plant pop-up to previewing first floor future market place space opening winter 2022 filled with vendors and entrepreneurs offering their retail items for sale.