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Massey Plugins in a bind after getting screwed on a lease by NADY

In a bind.

Feburary 22, 2010

Last month, my friend Bill and I viewed a commercial space with the possible intent of sharing the lease. It was listed on Craigslist.com in the "office / commercial" section as a professional recording studio ("non-parallel walls", "wired", etc.). It was shown to us by Toby Nady. She revealed to us that her husband, John Nady of Nady Systems, originally built the studio and that he was very proud of its construction and acoustics. We discussed with her at length our intentions for the space: to use as an office space for our audio software development work, as well as recording and mixing projects. After exiting the building, she pointed out the other tenants on the lot and said that we had great neighbors who we'd surely enjoy meeting: a tattoo shop, a small audio installation business, and some sort of theater set design company. (These are all cinder-block buildings joined by a metal canopy.)

After some discussion over logistics, we excitedly took the lease. The recording space wasn't perfect and a little raw, but nicely built out with a drum kit enclosure, large vocal booth, a control room, and some additional storage. It also had a couple skylights for some natural light, as well as a low noise floor (with the fluorescent overheads flipped off.) With some spring cleaning, extra lighting, and a little more acoustic treatment, we could create a neat space -- finally a real-world R&D lab for Massey Plugins! Since I've recently hired a friend (former Digidesign coworker) to join Massey Plugins, we sorely need a shared office space to work out of. I have high hopes of putting out a batch of fresh plugins in 2010!

During the tour, we of course performed some high-end acoustical hand-clap tests Within the vocal booth, I noticed there was echo through a former doorway, now sealed over with sheetrock. From the reverberation, it sounded like an empty chamber on the other side of the door. In our discussion afterwards, Bill and I figured we'd throw up some of his DJ records or a large bookcase to block the sound leakage.

During a subsequent visit to Toby Nady's office -- I believe prior to actually signing the lease -- I asked what the space adjacent to ours was exactly. I was thumbing through the lease agreement and there was a map at the end, which reminded me about the reverberant sound. She told me that she thought it was unused.

On the first day that I had keys to the space, I showed it off to my girlfriend. Upon arrival, the parking lot was totally packed with cars. "This is weird," I wondered out loud. But, we soon discovered why. A very large and loud salsa band was practicing in that "empty" space outside of our recording studio. Sound was blaring through the walls. I was a bit unnerved, but had no reason not to believe it wasn't some odd one-off occurrence. Toby seemed incredibly nice, accommodating, and frank -- and surely would have disclosed such details. The man watching the gate of that space seemed uneasy about our presence and chatted with us nervously. We suspected he was using it unauthorized.

On a later visit to the Nady offices, to amend the start date of the lease because of numerous roof water leaks, Bill asked about the salsa band. Toby seemed ignorant of their presence and was unperturbed by the story. She simply asked, "Well, were they any good?" I was a little put off by the lack of concern, but again, trusted we were being dealt with fairly.

Unfortunately, this wasn't a one-off occurrence. On the first day Bill and I began our cleaning spree, a booming drum kit started up in the "empty" space. Frustrated, we left to get lunch and called Toby to inquire. She returned Bill's call and told him there was in fact a permanent rehearsal space next door. This was an interesting omission of information only now revealed.

We have no idea why this fact was withheld. But, it's pretty critical information that we should have been given prior to signing a lease. As it stands now, we are stuck with an unusable recording studio and a really noisy office.

On subsequent phone calls, Toby was indifferent to our position and only stated that "it wasn't a problem for the former tenant" and that "we had a binding professional agreement in place." I was stunned by even the lack of consideration. I appreciate the former tenant's absent input into the discussion, but I feel that Bill and I were the right people to decide whether a loud rehearsal space next door would impact our operations. Had we walked into the building on the day of the tour with a blaring rock band, our decision about leasing would have been clear and concise: "Thanks, but no thanks." We were never given that opportunity.

Now, we're in a bind. We're being bullied by the Nady general counsel into either taking the lease or be in breach of contract (with damages up to $19,800 to cover full term of the questionable lease, plus other miscellaneous legal fees). If we take the lease, they are graciously allowing us to sublet the unit.

Anyway, I was hoping we could get some suggestions from the pro audio community from folks who've been in sticky studio-leasing situations before. What did you do? I've never leased a commercial space before, but know that the protections usually aren't as strong as they are for residential leases. This is in Oakland, California. Our timeframe to make a decision (according to their lawyer) is short. We have until March 1st, or less.

Perhaps, there's someone in the Oakland or Emeryville area that would be interested in subletting this as a rehearsal space or "studio with free backing tracks!" It's $1800/month. It's a very roomy spot, over 1000 sq. ft. I would guess. It could probably be shared between a couple of bands. I wasn't planning on branching out from the plugin business into rehearsal space management, but Nady Systems has more lawyers than I do. Greg, the handyman around the place, has been super rad -- patching up the leaks, fixing the door lock, and staying in touch on move-in issues. So, I think you'd be well taken care of, unless the space also contains a "portal to hell" they haven't bothered mentioning I can be reached at 415-336-0464, if you think you'd be interested -- I can email pictures.

The strange thing is, we've never actually met or talked to John Nady directly -- the person who owns the building and whom we signed the lease with. According to his lawyer, he refuses to talk with us personally. I guess this is what his wife is calling a professional agreement.

Sometimes, I think "professional" just means putting up a facade, so that no one ever has to take personal responsibility for anything. I've always refused to operate Massey Plugins "professionally." I deal with people -- personally. (And, if you ever feel that I'm not, I encourage you to hold my feet to the fire!)

But, this is why I've loved working in the pro-audio industry: It has its business side, for sure, but it's also a community -- a community of really interesting, smart, and unique people across the board -- from the gear manufacturers to the folks that buy and use the stuff. I've made a ton of friends around the country and the world. Going to AES shows and TapeOp Conferences are often the highlight of my year -- not because of the gear or commercialism, but because of the fun had afterwards at dinner and into the night: meeting people, discussing recording techniques, music, the meaning of life, the history of the recording industry, etc. So, needless to say, this situation is really bumming me out.

Steven Massey
Massey Plugins Inc.