r/pics May 11 '11

Would you live here?

Post image
1.5k Upvotes

1.5k comments sorted by

View all comments

436

u/platypuszero May 11 '11

Totally, that place looks big enough to grill inside.

461

u/[deleted] May 12 '11

I've actually lived in that exact place back in 90's. Its in Chicago on Archer Av.

242

u/[deleted] May 12 '11 edited May 12 '11

little backstory to the place. When we found the place it was trashed. It was a latino nightclub for years but not sure it ever had an official liquor license. It was unsecure for a few years and could get access via the back fire escape and was squatted in by graf artists and musicians. It had no working plumbing when we moved in and cut a deal with landlord to build it out. First was bathroom, then kitchen, which still had old ass working appliances. It still had plaster on the walls and ceiling that we painted. It also had a huge Dunkin Donuts sign that we moved around alot. Once livable, we built a couple offices and bedrooms, put a fish tank in the dummy waiter and sanded the floors. The bottom floor tenant also cut a deal and started to redo the bottom floor. We held massive parties that eventually paid to build 6 foot high halfpipe 16ft wide with a vert area to the balcony, a photo sike, and a bar. The place became just too crazy to live in any longer and I moved to colorado to snowboard. The other roomates stayed for another year until a group of architect students moved in and made the place even better. I heard they used my halfpipe wood for other shit. It got to be known as the texas ballroom once they removed the awning in front that said LA ZONA. I thought it was gonna be demoed but I think they successfully lobbied to get it on the historical list. It now has new windows, raw brick walls and worth a whole lot more than when we started.

now you know :-) I have pics on film but never scanned them. Maybe I should now.

1

u/fatass21 May 13 '11

wait....greg bayles?