WEBVTT 00:00:08.980 --> 00:00:12.019 Hey Syracuse, are you a creative person who wants 00:00:12.019 --> 00:00:14.859 to be part of a creative community? Would you 00:00:14.859 --> 00:00:18.059 like to live and work in the same place surrounded 00:00:18.059 --> 00:00:20.800 with people just like you? That's what's happening 00:00:20.800 --> 00:00:22.920 right here at the Gear Factory. I don't know 00:00:22.920 --> 00:00:25.579 if you heard about this, but this is one of the 00:00:25.579 --> 00:00:29.120 most incredible places for creative folks of 00:00:29.120 --> 00:00:32.039 all sorts, whether you're musicians. photographers 00:00:32.039 --> 00:00:34.899 every kind of medium you can imagine there's 00:00:34.899 --> 00:00:37.359 a home for right here in the gear factory right 00:00:37.359 --> 00:00:41.100 in downtown Syracuse in what will soon be known 00:00:41.100 --> 00:00:44.820 as the art district right here in our area this 00:00:44.820 --> 00:00:48.159 place has got everything man here is a shared 00:00:48.159 --> 00:00:51.740 living space everybody's got uh kitchen areas 00:00:51.740 --> 00:00:54.520 but so many that you don't have to fight over 00:00:54.520 --> 00:00:58.380 them they've got this beautiful wide open communal 00:00:58.380 --> 00:01:03.880 living space There's a gorgeous balcony. There's 00:01:03.880 --> 00:01:05.939 a dining room table where you can come together 00:01:05.939 --> 00:01:10.019 with your roommates, if you will, your floor 00:01:10.019 --> 00:01:13.319 mates. and just celebrate things. And there's 00:01:13.319 --> 00:01:15.200 also a gorgeous room that you have to yourself 00:01:15.200 --> 00:01:17.120 when it's time for privacy and you want your 00:01:17.120 --> 00:01:19.700 own aspects. Let's check that out. So this is 00:01:19.700 --> 00:01:22.439 one of the actual rooms that you can have here 00:01:22.439 --> 00:01:24.480 at the Gear Factory. As we talked about, they 00:01:24.480 --> 00:01:26.959 got this incredible communal space out there, 00:01:26.959 --> 00:01:28.900 but also sometimes you want your own space, you 00:01:28.900 --> 00:01:31.620 want your own stuff. You can have a gorgeous 00:01:31.620 --> 00:01:34.620 room like this. All of them don't necessarily 00:01:34.620 --> 00:01:36.980 have quite as many windows, but they all have 00:01:36.980 --> 00:01:39.719 big gorgeous windows. They all have your own... 00:01:39.879 --> 00:01:42.280 full -size refrigerator. Ain't nobody gonna mess 00:01:42.280 --> 00:01:45.819 with your food. Your dedicated heat and air conditioning. 00:01:45.840 --> 00:01:47.680 You can control your own temperature in your 00:01:47.680 --> 00:01:50.099 own room. That, to me, would be a deal breaker 00:01:50.099 --> 00:01:53.379 if I couldn't control it. It's just this place 00:01:53.379 --> 00:01:55.260 is really the most incredible thing. You really 00:01:55.260 --> 00:01:57.159 should check out The Gear Factory if you're looking 00:01:57.159 --> 00:01:59.959 for a new place to stay. Hey guys, Matt Maescher 00:01:59.959 --> 00:02:03.219 from Good News York. I am very excited because 00:02:03.219 --> 00:02:06.239 we are on site with a good buddy of mine, Rick, 00:02:06.280 --> 00:02:09.189 here at The Gear Factory. If you don't know what 00:02:09.189 --> 00:02:11.469 the gear factory is, well, you should probably 00:02:11.469 --> 00:02:12.909 keep watching. We're going to give you a tour. 00:02:13.250 --> 00:02:15.810 This is one of the most incredible places for 00:02:15.810 --> 00:02:19.650 creative folks, anybody, musicians, artists. 00:02:19.789 --> 00:02:21.509 I mean, we're going to hear all about it. But 00:02:21.509 --> 00:02:24.189 first, Rick, thank you for bringing us here. 00:02:24.590 --> 00:02:26.849 If you could just introduce yourself a little 00:02:26.849 --> 00:02:29.629 bit and just give us a minute or two about what 00:02:29.629 --> 00:02:33.189 this place is and what's going on here. Thanks, 00:02:33.310 --> 00:02:36.500 man. This place most people know as the gear 00:02:36.500 --> 00:02:44.979 factory. Had it for about 20 years now. I've 00:02:44.979 --> 00:02:46.719 had the gear factory for about 20 years now. 00:02:46.740 --> 00:02:48.460 It's been a long process as far as developing 00:02:48.460 --> 00:02:53.159 it. But the core idea was how can we kind of 00:02:53.159 --> 00:02:55.039 create that scenario where artists could be more 00:02:55.039 --> 00:02:57.240 successful here in Syracuse rather than somewhere 00:02:57.240 --> 00:03:00.560 else. So the building is a combination of artist 00:03:02.379 --> 00:03:05.800 work studios, musician rehearsal studios, and 00:03:05.800 --> 00:03:08.840 artists live work apartments. So there's regular 00:03:08.840 --> 00:03:11.120 studios for people to be able to do their work, 00:03:11.379 --> 00:03:12.979 make messes, things like that that you can't 00:03:12.979 --> 00:03:15.939 normally do in an apartment. The rehearsal studios, 00:03:17.020 --> 00:03:18.520 bands need to practice. When you turn on the 00:03:18.520 --> 00:03:20.219 radio, it doesn't just come from somewhere. It's 00:03:20.219 --> 00:03:23.379 actually, you know, that takes time and energy 00:03:23.379 --> 00:03:25.319 and practice and everything to sound good for 00:03:25.319 --> 00:03:29.340 us. So musicians are able to practice here. 24 00:03:29.340 --> 00:03:32.240 hours a day whatever they want and be really 00:03:32.240 --> 00:03:33.719 loud not have to worry about anybody calling 00:03:33.719 --> 00:03:36.960 the cops on them and then for the people that 00:03:36.960 --> 00:03:40.620 want to live and work in the same area that's 00:03:40.620 --> 00:03:42.800 on the fourth and fifth floor we have that too 00:03:42.800 --> 00:03:46.300 and that kind of that kind of really covers the 00:03:46.300 --> 00:03:51.020 I think the the best parts about a creative community 00:03:51.020 --> 00:03:54.240 are all the in -between times it's not when you 00:03:54.240 --> 00:03:56.400 show up to meeting or show up to this or it's 00:03:56.400 --> 00:03:58.860 all the in -between times everybody's guard down 00:03:58.860 --> 00:04:01.060 as you're just kicking ideas around and talking 00:04:01.060 --> 00:04:05.460 and hanging out. That's awesome, man. This is 00:04:05.460 --> 00:04:07.840 a massive, what's your total square footage in 00:04:07.840 --> 00:04:11.500 this place? 65 ,000 square feet. 65 ,000 square 00:04:11.500 --> 00:04:14.000 feet. And you said it's five floors total? Five 00:04:14.000 --> 00:04:17.120 floors up and one down. Okay, that's right. Wow, 00:04:17.180 --> 00:04:20.519 wow, this is incredible. We're right, I guess 00:04:20.519 --> 00:04:22.259 you'd say on the outskirts of downtown, is that 00:04:22.259 --> 00:04:23.740 fair to say in the description? I don't know, 00:04:23.740 --> 00:04:25.720 to me it's all downtown Syracuse, but... Yeah, 00:04:25.779 --> 00:04:28.079 originally it was... Just outside of downtown, 00:04:28.279 --> 00:04:30.980 I'm trying to make that part of downtown. Gotcha. 00:04:31.139 --> 00:04:33.680 It's been a goal of mine. And there's incredible 00:04:33.680 --> 00:04:36.019 development all around here. So I think you might 00:04:36.019 --> 00:04:39.220 be on to something. And if we could just before 00:04:39.220 --> 00:04:41.579 we move on, we give a little spoiler alert. You've 00:04:41.579 --> 00:04:43.980 also recently picked up the historic property 00:04:43.980 --> 00:04:47.199 next door as well, right? Yeah. 208 South Guetta 00:04:47.199 --> 00:04:49.720 Street. Historically, that's known as the the 00:04:49.720 --> 00:04:51.959 light shop. Recently, it's been a hardware store. 00:04:52.040 --> 00:04:55.819 But in the late 1800s, there was this guy, Charles 00:04:55.819 --> 00:04:58.949 Light. He was a graduate of Cornell, a local 00:04:58.949 --> 00:05:03.649 inventor, and he bought the place, had more than 00:05:03.649 --> 00:05:05.350 enough space in need of it for himself, so he 00:05:05.350 --> 00:05:06.949 started running out of space to other inventors 00:05:06.949 --> 00:05:10.490 and creative types. It was basically an informal 00:05:10.490 --> 00:05:16.470 incubator. Over 360 patents came out of these 00:05:16.470 --> 00:05:20.009 two little buildings here. Everything from pneumatic 00:05:20.009 --> 00:05:23.670 tires to movie equipment to bicycle gears to 00:05:23.670 --> 00:05:27.040 transmissions. It runs the gamut. A lot of things 00:05:27.040 --> 00:05:30.019 we still use today. That's incredible. And then 00:05:30.019 --> 00:05:31.759 are you going to use that space? Is it going 00:05:31.759 --> 00:05:34.699 to be more for creative folks? Or is it a blank 00:05:34.699 --> 00:05:37.000 canvas for you at this point? It's going to be 00:05:37.000 --> 00:05:41.680 a little bit of a mix. I'm thinking the apartments, 00:05:42.240 --> 00:05:45.759 some smaller apartments upstairs. I already have 00:05:45.759 --> 00:05:48.639 a photographer and a clothing designer that moved 00:05:48.639 --> 00:05:52.980 into one of the units. So it'll be maybe a hybrid 00:05:52.980 --> 00:05:55.040 version of this and a few other things. Maybe 00:05:55.040 --> 00:05:59.060 lean a little bit. Here there's more arts and 00:05:59.060 --> 00:06:00.560 music and things like that. Maybe over there 00:06:00.560 --> 00:06:03.100 we'll lean a little bit more into entrepreneurship 00:06:03.100 --> 00:06:05.379 and things like that. That's incredible, Rick. 00:06:05.819 --> 00:06:08.379 Well, listen, let's explore this place a little 00:06:08.379 --> 00:06:09.459 bit. What do you say? Yeah, let's go. You give 00:06:09.459 --> 00:06:12.579 us a tour? Yeah, let's go. All right. All right, 00:06:12.600 --> 00:06:20.860 buddy. If you're here, you go that way. You can 00:06:20.860 --> 00:06:36.430 see the cut on the floor. Yeah, so So basically 00:06:36.430 --> 00:06:38.170 I could talk about whatever whenever and then 00:06:38.170 --> 00:06:41.149 you could you separate the audio and the video 00:06:41.149 --> 00:06:46.689 and yeah mesh it together, okay Matt welcome 00:06:46.689 --> 00:06:49.230 to the gear factory as you come right in the 00:06:49.230 --> 00:06:52.850 front entrance here I'll point out the stairwell. 00:06:53.329 --> 00:06:55.370 We had to add this for a second means egress 00:06:55.370 --> 00:07:00.250 during our bigger renovations. But for that, 00:07:00.629 --> 00:07:02.810 I'd like to point out the building is the first 00:07:02.810 --> 00:07:05.410 reinforced concrete building in the city of Syracuse. 00:07:05.629 --> 00:07:07.449 Kind of like there was a time when reinforced 00:07:07.449 --> 00:07:10.410 concrete was like the wild, wild west of like 00:07:10.410 --> 00:07:13.769 internet or whatever. But what that really did 00:07:13.769 --> 00:07:17.430 is that allowed for larger spans between columns. 00:07:17.509 --> 00:07:20.079 So you had a much larger workspace. wide open 00:07:20.079 --> 00:07:22.480 workspace. It allowed for the gigantic window 00:07:22.480 --> 00:07:24.420 openings, so you had tons of natural light, tons 00:07:24.420 --> 00:07:27.800 of natural ventilation, and the architect was 00:07:27.800 --> 00:07:30.040 Albert Kahn. He's one of the first architects 00:07:30.040 --> 00:07:32.399 really pushing factory owners from sweatshops 00:07:32.399 --> 00:07:34.680 to, hey, you know what, maybe if you have a happier, 00:07:34.860 --> 00:07:37.019 healthier work environment, not only will it 00:07:37.019 --> 00:07:38.779 be good for you, but it'll be good for your employees 00:07:38.779 --> 00:07:43.819 too. Wow. So when we cut this stairwell out, 00:07:44.199 --> 00:07:48.120 I wanted to leave the... Open raw edge so you 00:07:48.120 --> 00:07:50.980 can see the construction of the building the 00:07:50.980 --> 00:07:54.139 hollow clay tile and it's kind of a concrete 00:07:54.139 --> 00:07:57.379 truss system and I wanted to leave all that exposed 00:07:57.379 --> 00:08:01.379 and all the steel work that was done by a local 00:08:01.379 --> 00:08:05.439 Mac Brothers Boilermaker company. I wanted the 00:08:05.439 --> 00:08:07.220 Boilermaker company to build the stairs instead 00:08:07.220 --> 00:08:09.500 of a stair making company so it looked more raw 00:08:09.500 --> 00:08:26.879 and industrial. And then to add a little bit 00:08:26.879 --> 00:08:29.699 about the light shop next door and the relationship 00:08:29.699 --> 00:08:34.139 between the two buildings. So that building became 00:08:34.139 --> 00:08:36.500 known as the light shop. The area became known 00:08:36.500 --> 00:08:38.419 as the cradle of ideas, the cradle of invention. 00:08:38.879 --> 00:08:42.919 Basically, if you had a problem, you need something 00:08:42.919 --> 00:08:45.200 invented or something worked out, you came down 00:08:45.200 --> 00:08:47.419 to the light shop on South Gettys Street and 00:08:47.419 --> 00:08:51.370 somebody there would figure it out for you. one 00:08:51.370 --> 00:08:53.570 of the many good inventions, but one of the inventions 00:08:53.570 --> 00:08:57.889 that really helped them to expand was they developed 00:08:57.889 --> 00:09:00.710 a really good bicycle gear system, which slid 00:09:00.710 --> 00:09:03.090 right over into the automobile industry at the 00:09:03.090 --> 00:09:05.649 same time. And that's basically where this building 00:09:05.649 --> 00:09:09.529 came from, the Brown Light Gear Company. They 00:09:09.529 --> 00:09:12.590 became the largest gear distributors in the world, 00:09:12.629 --> 00:09:14.549 making transmissions, transfer cases, things 00:09:14.549 --> 00:09:19.110 like that. And about the light shop, I would 00:09:19.110 --> 00:09:21.500 also just like to point out where maybe he had 00:09:21.500 --> 00:09:23.419 something like Thomas Edison where he had groups 00:09:23.419 --> 00:09:26.539 of inventors working for him and basically his 00:09:26.539 --> 00:09:28.279 name ended up being the name on all the patents. 00:09:28.860 --> 00:09:31.840 In this case, for the light shop, if you go down 00:09:31.840 --> 00:09:33.480 through a history of the different businesses, 00:09:34.559 --> 00:09:37.500 a lot of it was Brown Light Wilkinson, Brown 00:09:37.500 --> 00:09:42.080 Light Chapin, Brown Light this, Brown Light that, 00:09:42.220 --> 00:09:46.379 and you would see a lot of the same people getting 00:09:46.379 --> 00:09:52.399 shifted around in company organizational. like 00:09:52.399 --> 00:09:54.840 president, vice president, things like that. 00:09:55.899 --> 00:10:01.440 They weren't taking ideas for their own. They 00:10:01.440 --> 00:10:03.840 were taking on new people and they were helping 00:10:03.840 --> 00:10:06.019 to develop them and develop their businesses. 00:10:06.460 --> 00:10:09.000 And I always like to point out for all those 00:10:09.000 --> 00:10:11.039 home runs that people like to get like the microns 00:10:11.039 --> 00:10:14.059 or the carriers or things like that, this was 00:10:14.059 --> 00:10:19.159 a situation where the area really fostered is. 00:10:19.289 --> 00:10:22.590 fostered its small businesses and entrepreneurs, 00:10:22.830 --> 00:10:26.769 and they ended up very quickly blowing up into 00:10:26.769 --> 00:10:30.490 the giant companies like the gear factory, Franklin 00:10:30.490 --> 00:10:32.289 motor car company, all those different types 00:10:32.289 --> 00:10:36.629 of places that we try to hook all the time, but 00:10:36.629 --> 00:11:27.850 this way they grew very quickly into those. You 00:11:27.850 --> 00:11:35.750 guys want to water anything? Yeah, thanks. I'm 00:11:35.750 --> 00:11:45.370 good. So Matt, you asked what came first, commercial 00:11:45.370 --> 00:11:48.389 space or the residential space. I got the building 00:11:48.389 --> 00:11:55.990 in 2005. And what I started out with was the 00:11:56.169 --> 00:11:59.250 Originally the the previous company had offices 00:11:59.250 --> 00:12:02.049 on the first floor in a certain area. So I converted 00:12:02.049 --> 00:12:06.370 those to art studios and Had kind of a hard time 00:12:06.370 --> 00:12:08.909 getting going that first year was not very fun. 00:12:08.909 --> 00:12:12.509 Sure, but then I actually ended up Hooking up 00:12:12.509 --> 00:12:14.009 with and getting to know a lot of more the artists 00:12:14.009 --> 00:12:17.610 in the area. We ended up doing our first our 00:12:17.610 --> 00:12:21.649 evolution show in 2006 that which helped me rent 00:12:21.649 --> 00:12:25.649 a ton of the studio spaces and then A lot of 00:12:25.649 --> 00:12:31.289 this is a combination of grassroots, community, 00:12:32.470 --> 00:12:36.690 and developing a property with people. And even 00:12:36.690 --> 00:12:42.809 as far as what it is, I have my thoughts on what 00:12:42.809 --> 00:12:46.809 something should be. But I'll give you an example. 00:12:46.889 --> 00:12:48.870 Every time somebody wants to talk about art stuff 00:12:48.870 --> 00:12:51.769 or a building or this, and somebody always has 00:12:51.769 --> 00:12:54.500 to bring up Build it and they'll come right? 00:12:54.500 --> 00:13:00.399 Yeah, which is kind of annoying but I I interacted 00:13:00.399 --> 00:13:03.480 with and I asked a lot of questions to the people 00:13:03.480 --> 00:13:05.860 that want to use the space the end -user Yeah, 00:13:06.120 --> 00:13:07.700 you know like the different artists different 00:13:07.700 --> 00:13:09.940 musicians. What does the space have to do? What's 00:13:09.940 --> 00:13:13.059 right here if in an ideal situation? What would 00:13:13.059 --> 00:13:15.320 that look like right? Let's start there and see 00:13:15.320 --> 00:13:18.460 how close we can get to it right so when these 00:13:18.590 --> 00:13:20.169 When I finally got to the point where I could 00:13:20.169 --> 00:13:22.070 build out the rehearsal studios, different art 00:13:22.070 --> 00:13:24.690 studios, and the apartment stuff, it wasn't a 00:13:24.690 --> 00:13:26.549 build it and they'll come. It was a build it 00:13:26.549 --> 00:13:28.870 and they're already here. Because they were part 00:13:28.870 --> 00:13:31.370 of the conversation the whole time. Wow. That's 00:13:31.370 --> 00:13:43.590 great. Starting without a lot of anything, it's 00:13:43.590 --> 00:13:46.330 one of the most valuable things I've ever had 00:13:46.330 --> 00:13:49.769 as far as learning how to really work with people 00:13:49.769 --> 00:13:53.789 and understand what their needs are and What 00:13:53.789 --> 00:13:56.710 a what a business plan has to look like and how 00:13:56.710 --> 00:13:59.389 to make those things work together That's that's 00:13:59.389 --> 00:14:01.769 incredible. You've come a long way That's for 00:14:01.769 --> 00:14:04.289 sure with all the things that that we've seen 00:14:04.289 --> 00:14:08.789 so far Rick you mentioned briefly an art show 00:14:08.789 --> 00:14:10.850 and I think that's something that that before 00:14:10.850 --> 00:14:12.730 we let it go we should talk about for just a 00:14:12.730 --> 00:14:16.429 minute because in addition to Folks who can rent 00:14:16.429 --> 00:14:18.149 a place or live here and all these other things 00:14:18.299 --> 00:14:21.220 You also really celebrate artists and have all 00:14:21.220 --> 00:14:23.179 kinds of different events like this, right? Can 00:14:23.179 --> 00:14:25.440 you talk about some of those shows? Yeah. Over 00:14:25.440 --> 00:14:28.980 the years, we've had Art Revolution shows, which 00:14:28.980 --> 00:14:32.519 those we had these big aviation engine crates 00:14:32.519 --> 00:14:35.059 around and machine gun crates that would basically 00:14:35.059 --> 00:14:37.220 would stack up and people hang artwork on them. 00:14:37.559 --> 00:14:40.539 For those shows, there was no no commissions, 00:14:40.799 --> 00:14:43.700 no door costs, no anything. And it was just a 00:14:43.700 --> 00:14:47.659 way really to get a whole community of artists. 00:14:47.960 --> 00:14:51.139 like regional artists all together in one room. 00:14:52.700 --> 00:14:55.100 And basically just through word of mouth, invite 00:14:55.100 --> 00:15:01.879 the public in. And it was great. Great. It was 00:15:01.879 --> 00:15:04.620 less like, for the artists, it's not as much 00:15:04.620 --> 00:15:06.559 like going to your house for dinner. It's like 00:15:06.559 --> 00:15:07.879 if you went over to your friend's house and you 00:15:07.879 --> 00:15:10.600 helped make dinner. So everybody basically contributed 00:15:10.600 --> 00:15:14.700 to those. That's so cool. Other shows that we've 00:15:14.700 --> 00:15:16.000 had on the first floor, a lot of times we've 00:15:16.000 --> 00:15:19.340 been doing like monthly or bimonthly art shows. 00:15:20.440 --> 00:15:22.759 Little bit of a delay over the last few months, 00:15:22.820 --> 00:15:26.259 but the big thing that we're doing for the month 00:15:26.259 --> 00:15:31.500 of December is the Delvan Center down the street. 00:15:32.500 --> 00:15:34.299 Harold from Boxcar Press, he owns that building 00:15:34.299 --> 00:15:37.259 now. And we talk and we work together on a lot 00:15:37.259 --> 00:15:38.980 of different projects, but we've been trying 00:15:38.980 --> 00:15:44.399 to really solidify with others. this stretch 00:15:44.399 --> 00:15:46.559 of West Fayette, basically from the gear factory 00:15:46.559 --> 00:15:50.840 to Del Van is Syracuse's genuine arts district, 00:15:51.299 --> 00:15:53.980 and that's including Light Bar Park. And what 00:15:53.980 --> 00:15:57.039 we've been doing for the past several years is 00:15:57.039 --> 00:16:00.559 a holiday open studios, which we're gonna be 00:16:00.559 --> 00:16:03.799 doing this year on December 6th from 10 in the 00:16:03.799 --> 00:16:06.559 morning to five in the afternoon. There'll be 00:16:06.559 --> 00:16:09.220 some food trucks, a lot of artists with their 00:16:09.220 --> 00:16:12.360 studios open. Right now, I think then that number 00:16:12.360 --> 00:16:14.559 is around 70 artists between the two buildings. 00:16:14.559 --> 00:16:17.019 Oh wow I think we're gonna have some more and 00:16:17.019 --> 00:16:19.919 that'll be a really good show and I know a lot 00:16:19.919 --> 00:16:21.860 of times when I do Christmas shopping, we're 00:16:21.860 --> 00:16:24.899 always Trying to buy local, but sometimes that's 00:16:24.899 --> 00:16:27.759 hard sure so in this in this situation You can 00:16:27.759 --> 00:16:30.559 just just show up and not only we be able to 00:16:30.559 --> 00:16:33.200 to buy something that you see if you like it 00:16:33.200 --> 00:16:36.059 But you'll also be able to go in and experience 00:16:36.059 --> 00:16:39.669 what some artists studios are like and some workshops. 00:16:39.889 --> 00:16:42.090 It's really cool. It's one thing to see a piece 00:16:42.090 --> 00:16:44.309 of art on the wall and be like, oh, that looks 00:16:44.309 --> 00:16:48.909 nice, right? But when you can see the amount 00:16:48.909 --> 00:16:53.370 of work and the time and the detail and the thought 00:16:53.370 --> 00:16:55.490 and the caring that goes into it, it definitely 00:16:55.490 --> 00:16:58.710 means a lot more. Yeah, that's incredible, Rick. 00:16:59.490 --> 00:17:02.070 So we should just take one moment and mention, 00:17:02.450 --> 00:17:04.890 where are we right now? What section of the gear 00:17:04.890 --> 00:17:07.170 factory are we in? So this is the second floor 00:17:07.170 --> 00:17:10.650 of the gear factory. It's my kind of like my 00:17:10.650 --> 00:17:12.970 last holdout. Yeah, all the other floors have 00:17:12.970 --> 00:17:15.069 been developed so far I've had my office here 00:17:15.069 --> 00:17:19.910 for a while and It's just the Clearly you've 00:17:19.910 --> 00:17:21.950 got you got some workshop space. You got some 00:17:21.950 --> 00:17:24.470 this is this is I could see it This is your this 00:17:24.470 --> 00:17:27.069 is your play space and you need that right? Yeah 00:17:27.069 --> 00:17:30.329 for everything that you got going on here This 00:17:30.329 --> 00:17:33.589 is such a cool place. Yeah, it's kind of bittersweet. 00:17:33.829 --> 00:17:37.490 It's like, I love this space all open and the 00:17:37.490 --> 00:17:39.450 way it was kind of originally intended to be, 00:17:39.930 --> 00:17:44.789 but it's not. You got to pair the usefulness 00:17:44.789 --> 00:17:50.359 and that together. Yeah, so my last holdout, 00:17:50.359 --> 00:17:52.660 we have kind of a DIY woodworking shop over there, 00:17:53.099 --> 00:17:54.980 but other people do different projects on this 00:17:54.980 --> 00:17:57.460 floor, too. Some people are just setting up to 00:17:57.460 --> 00:18:00.119 paint, or somebody was building a bunch of stage 00:18:00.119 --> 00:18:02.700 theater props and a bunch of things here a couple 00:18:02.700 --> 00:18:05.440 weeks ago. They just loaded everything up and 00:18:05.440 --> 00:18:11.420 out. I've had different graffiti artists do practice 00:18:11.420 --> 00:18:13.039 here. I was just going to ask you about that. 00:18:13.319 --> 00:18:16.079 So that's not somebody broke into the place. 00:18:17.849 --> 00:18:19.650 This is artwork that you've encouraged folks 00:18:19.650 --> 00:18:22.849 to let them practice. Some of this is before 00:18:22.849 --> 00:18:30.950 pre -windows. I wouldn't condone just tagging 00:18:30.950 --> 00:18:32.849 the building or anything like that. But as far 00:18:32.849 --> 00:18:37.170 as different mediums, spray paint, graffiti work 00:18:37.170 --> 00:18:42.170 is some of the most... It's my favorite thing 00:18:42.170 --> 00:18:45.529 because to see what somebody can do on such a 00:18:45.529 --> 00:18:51.349 large... detailed level and so quickly at the 00:18:51.349 --> 00:18:54.569 same time, it's kind of amazing. So it's really 00:18:54.569 --> 00:18:56.849 special to have these things just kind of hanging 00:18:56.849 --> 00:18:59.569 out. Yeah, I totally agree. It's really cool. 00:19:28.109 --> 00:19:31.549 I have to update it, but another thing that we 00:19:31.549 --> 00:19:34.150 added to our website last year, the year before, 00:19:34.230 --> 00:19:36.309 was the artist directory. Oh, cool. So there's 00:19:36.309 --> 00:19:38.109 really a good way for people to connect from 00:19:38.109 --> 00:19:40.049 outside the building, inside the building with 00:19:40.049 --> 00:19:42.029 individual artists. And they can even search 00:19:42.029 --> 00:19:43.890 between, like, if they want something that does 00:19:43.890 --> 00:19:49.430 woodworking or clay or painting or whatever. 00:19:49.690 --> 00:19:51.849 What a great resource. Yeah. That's awesome. 00:19:52.289 --> 00:19:54.329 Yeah, we're looking for a better way to connect 00:19:54.329 --> 00:19:56.170 the community with the people inside the building. 00:19:56.369 --> 00:20:02.700 Yeah. Cool Is this a big loop? Yeah, this is 00:20:02.700 --> 00:20:07.220 a big loop. Walk around if anything catches your 00:20:07.220 --> 00:20:36.339 eye. Lot of photographers and a Lot of photographers 00:20:36.339 --> 00:20:41.440 really like the natural light on this floor I 00:20:41.440 --> 00:20:43.160 only went up eight feet high with the walls so 00:20:43.160 --> 00:20:46.140 you'd have that That sunlight kind of like spill 00:20:46.140 --> 00:20:48.059 over into the hallways and all around and have 00:20:48.059 --> 00:20:52.819 this really big open airy kind of feeling This 00:20:52.819 --> 00:20:57.660 floor we did several graffiti jams on so I ended 00:20:57.660 --> 00:21:01.579 up it was it was There was no rhyme or reason 00:21:01.579 --> 00:21:03.859 anything on the walls here. So for this one, 00:21:03.920 --> 00:21:06.140 I was just like, let's just let's paint over 00:21:06.140 --> 00:21:09.680 everything as it was originally intended. So 00:21:09.680 --> 00:21:12.759 I have one floor that was kind of how the factory 00:21:12.759 --> 00:21:14.900 would have been with the gray going up a little 00:21:14.900 --> 00:21:17.660 ways and all the white walls or the ceilings 00:21:17.660 --> 00:21:20.160 and all that kind of stuff for when it was a 00:21:20.160 --> 00:21:27.539 factory. Wow. So the second floor where we were 00:21:27.539 --> 00:21:29.490 a little while ago. That's going to be a very 00:21:29.490 --> 00:21:31.589 similar layout to this except the walls are going 00:21:31.589 --> 00:21:34.630 to be floor to ceiling and that way people have 00:21:34.630 --> 00:21:36.230 a little bit more privacy. They can be a little 00:21:36.230 --> 00:21:39.869 bit messier and louder and dustier and not worry 00:21:39.869 --> 00:22:02.339 about disturbing their neighbors. Cool. All the 00:22:02.339 --> 00:22:04.180 new heating and cooling systems in the building, 00:22:04.279 --> 00:22:07.140 those are all air source heat pumps. So they're 00:22:07.140 --> 00:22:10.539 very energy efficient. All the utilities and 00:22:10.539 --> 00:22:12.359 Wi -Fi and everything are included with all the 00:22:12.359 --> 00:22:16.019 studios and the apartments and everything. That's 00:22:16.019 --> 00:23:01.299 awesome. It's like he knows that people are going 00:23:01.299 --> 00:23:11.339 to grab that. Cool. Want to go to the fifth floor? 00:23:12.400 --> 00:23:25.660 Sure. So Rick, where are we right now? So right 00:23:25.660 --> 00:23:27.539 now we are on the fifth floor of the building. 00:23:28.340 --> 00:23:30.880 This is where all the live work apartments are. 00:23:31.920 --> 00:23:34.259 Basically the thing is like you had to be an 00:23:34.259 --> 00:23:37.960 artist to be here and the apartments are on the 00:23:37.960 --> 00:23:41.460 outside perimeter. The kitchens are set up so 00:23:41.460 --> 00:23:43.779 that there's basically six kitchen stations in 00:23:43.779 --> 00:23:46.220 one area and that way you can have two people 00:23:46.220 --> 00:23:48.380 or multiple people cooking at the same time not 00:23:48.380 --> 00:23:52.119 getting each other's way. Then everybody has 00:23:52.119 --> 00:23:53.660 their own refrigerator so there's no refrigerator 00:23:53.660 --> 00:23:56.680 drama. And the bathrooms are set up basically 00:23:56.680 --> 00:23:59.240 like a bed and breakfast. But this big, huge 00:23:59.240 --> 00:24:03.380 open area is kind of a workspace, hangout space, 00:24:04.059 --> 00:24:07.640 whatever kind of space. And then the apartments 00:24:07.640 --> 00:24:11.740 are basically just like one big studio. And one 00:24:11.740 --> 00:24:13.500 of the key things I did on this floor is that 00:24:13.500 --> 00:24:15.500 instead of doing it like a typical apartment, 00:24:17.200 --> 00:24:19.660 which only would allow for about seven apartments 00:24:19.660 --> 00:24:26.660 up here, this way to make the rents more affordable. 00:24:28.890 --> 00:24:32.829 and still get the project done, I broke it up 00:24:32.829 --> 00:24:35.029 into basically smaller studios. So instead of 00:24:35.029 --> 00:24:37.329 seven apartments, basically there's 15 studios. 00:24:38.430 --> 00:24:40.829 That makes it a lot more affordable, and there's 00:24:40.829 --> 00:24:43.130 a co -living component. So all these people work 00:24:43.130 --> 00:24:47.809 together and live together, and it allows for 00:24:47.809 --> 00:24:50.690 a lot more interaction, kicking ideas around, 00:24:51.369 --> 00:24:55.089 and hopefully all that in between time, and the 00:24:55.089 --> 00:24:57.069 good things that come out of that. That's incredible. 00:24:57.809 --> 00:24:59.569 That's incredible. So you said there's 15 units 00:24:59.569 --> 00:25:03.930 on each floor? Yeah. Wow. Yep. Yep. And everybody 00:25:03.930 --> 00:25:08.549 has a giant, huge window. And it's really pretty. 00:25:08.869 --> 00:25:12.789 Wow. I see we've got a dining room table over 00:25:12.789 --> 00:25:14.470 here. We've got some beautiful natural light. 00:25:16.690 --> 00:25:18.549 Yeah. A lot of times I think people cook together 00:25:18.549 --> 00:25:25.500 and eat together. It really seems like it's designed 00:25:25.500 --> 00:25:28.819 to foster a really good sense of community. Do 00:25:28.819 --> 00:25:33.160 you find that that occurs? Yes, yeah, definitely. 00:25:33.599 --> 00:25:39.420 I worked really hard with people to figure out 00:25:39.420 --> 00:25:43.599 that happy meeting between having your own private 00:25:43.599 --> 00:25:47.240 space where it really feels like you're by yourself, 00:25:47.240 --> 00:25:53.629 but also having that common space that's that's, 00:25:53.629 --> 00:25:56.910 you know, you can just in your everyday life, 00:25:56.950 --> 00:25:58.890 you're just kind of like stumbling across other 00:25:58.890 --> 00:26:00.849 other people or you're bored. You just kind of 00:26:00.849 --> 00:26:04.329 come out and it just it's really easy. Basically, 00:26:04.329 --> 00:26:05.789 anywhere that you want to go, you're crossing 00:26:05.789 --> 00:26:08.829 here, crossing there. So you're going to you're 00:26:08.829 --> 00:26:11.069 going to know all of your neighbors here better 00:26:11.069 --> 00:26:14.910 in probably a week or two than you would for 00:26:14.910 --> 00:26:17.730 years living in a lot of places. Yeah. And I 00:26:17.730 --> 00:26:20.700 got to. Imagine that it's likely that these are 00:26:20.700 --> 00:26:22.299 sort of each other's people, right? It's not 00:26:22.299 --> 00:26:24.039 necessarily like a random apartment building 00:26:24.039 --> 00:26:26.180 where you get all kinds of folks with all kinds 00:26:26.180 --> 00:26:28.539 of professions These are for the most part going 00:26:28.539 --> 00:26:30.240 to be a lot of really sort of like -minded people, 00:26:30.279 --> 00:26:32.440 right? Yeah, that's one of things that really 00:26:32.440 --> 00:26:34.559 makes it work You could just throw a bunch of 00:26:34.559 --> 00:26:37.579 people together and it could be a disaster but 00:26:37.579 --> 00:26:43.220 There's whether it's a normal world or in the 00:26:43.220 --> 00:26:46.839 in the art community there's a variety of different 00:26:46.839 --> 00:26:49.039 types of people, personalities, and all these 00:26:49.039 --> 00:26:51.380 different things. But the one thing that we have 00:26:51.380 --> 00:26:55.039 here, everybody has in common, is that artist 00:26:55.039 --> 00:26:58.900 component. So there's always something that connects 00:26:58.900 --> 00:27:02.819 people. Awesome. It's kind of like food, too. 00:27:02.960 --> 00:27:05.440 It's like, even if maybe you don't like certain 00:27:05.440 --> 00:27:07.160 kinds of food, you can at least have an appreciation 00:27:07.160 --> 00:27:10.920 for what goes into the different things. Cool. 00:27:11.720 --> 00:27:13.779 I love it, Rick. This is really, really incredible. 00:27:14.079 --> 00:27:16.619 So Rick, I got to thank you. We're now back to 00:27:16.619 --> 00:27:18.559 where we started on the first floor. We've gone 00:27:18.559 --> 00:27:21.039 through all five floors. We've seen the balcony. 00:27:21.640 --> 00:27:25.440 We've seen the live work spaces. I keep saying 00:27:25.440 --> 00:27:27.220 it, but the gear factory really is one of the 00:27:27.220 --> 00:27:29.450 coolest things in Syracuse. First and foremost, 00:27:29.769 --> 00:27:32.490 thank you for building this. I don't know if 00:27:32.490 --> 00:27:35.650 you get enough thanks for that, what you've done 00:27:35.650 --> 00:27:37.990 for the community here. And I think it's what 00:27:37.990 --> 00:27:40.089 you set out to do, which is incredibly honorable, 00:27:40.230 --> 00:27:42.089 is just to create something incredible and unique. 00:27:42.769 --> 00:27:45.450 And there's five floors full of people here who 00:27:45.450 --> 00:27:48.549 I think are very appreciative and more to come. 00:27:48.650 --> 00:27:51.009 So thank you for the tour and everything you've 00:27:51.009 --> 00:27:54.589 done here. And one more time, if you wouldn't 00:27:54.589 --> 00:27:56.960 mind. Tell people about the event coming up, 00:27:57.079 --> 00:27:59.640 and then give folks a website where they can 00:27:59.640 --> 00:28:04.960 find more. Thank you, Matt, for coming over. 00:28:05.299 --> 00:28:07.119 Aside from my place, I really appreciate how 00:28:07.119 --> 00:28:09.920 you've been highlighting so many local businesses 00:28:09.920 --> 00:28:11.819 and new businesses in the area. It really helps 00:28:11.819 --> 00:28:13.700 everybody in the whole community out. Thanks. 00:28:14.539 --> 00:28:18.359 As far as the event that we have coming up, it's 00:28:18.359 --> 00:28:25.279 the annual Christmas Open Studios. Together with 00:28:25.279 --> 00:28:28.359 Delphine in the gear factory same day same time 00:28:28.359 --> 00:28:32.380 December 6 from 10 to 5 p .m. In the afternoon, 00:28:32.380 --> 00:28:36.980 and it's just going to be Open to the general 00:28:36.980 --> 00:28:41.539 public there's there's a there's a cover charge 00:28:41.539 --> 00:28:44.319 of $5 but all of that is going towards public 00:28:44.319 --> 00:28:47.240 art and light park and then you're just gonna 00:28:47.240 --> 00:28:50.420 wander around and go in and out of people's studios 00:28:50.420 --> 00:28:54.210 and not just see art, but see a lot of how it's 00:28:54.210 --> 00:28:56.750 made and the stories that go along with it. It's 00:28:56.750 --> 00:28:59.670 really, it brings art to like a whole new level 00:28:59.670 --> 00:29:01.710 when you can see what goes into it. So yeah, 00:29:01.789 --> 00:29:05.509 December 6th from 10 to 5, and hope we see a 00:29:05.509 --> 00:29:07.470 lot of people there. Awesome. Rick, thank you 00:29:07.470 --> 00:29:11.210 so much, man. Website, the Gear Factory, SYR, 00:29:11.289 --> 00:29:13.910 is that the right spot? GearFactorySYR .com and 00:29:13.910 --> 00:29:18.349 also go to the Gear Factory Facebook page or 00:29:18.349 --> 00:29:21.559 Delavan and ticket sales are there. Perfect, 00:29:21.640 --> 00:29:24.380 perfect. And the same places folks can go if 00:29:24.380 --> 00:29:26.940 they're interested in maybe living or working 00:29:26.940 --> 00:29:29.480 here, right? Is that the same spots? Yep, absolutely. 00:29:29.960 --> 00:29:33.980 The gear factory website, my name and email and 00:29:33.980 --> 00:29:36.720 how you sign up, how you apply is all on there. 00:29:37.079 --> 00:29:39.519 Awesome. Rick, thank you again for joining us 00:29:39.519 --> 00:29:42.119 on Good News York, and we'll see you soon.