7 ms·

Here is a buisnes idea Ive been thinking about lately for SF, Hong Kong, NY and other expensive places. Buy a smaller cruise ships and rent a pier to dock it. I

Here is a buisnes idea Ive been thinking about lately for SF, Hong Kong, NY and other expensive places. Buy a smaller cruise ships and rent a pier to dock it. I found a newly renovated ship with 72 cabins for 5.8 million. With the average rent in SF that ship has paid for itself in 2 years (yes there will be additional costs, but back of a napkin, its a good start). Then buy more ships and stack them. Renovate/remodel in cheep places, then sail them to the bay. This could create housing in months not years, without the need for planing and building. If i had the money I would do it in a heart beat. It would be so much faster and cheaper then what google is planing.

yters 7y ago
And then once the ship city state has developed enough independence it can quietly slip out to sea beyond national borders and become its own seastead mini-nation of Google.
calvinbhai 7y ago
Bottle neck: commute between ship and land. How do you factor for that?
- dmead 7y ago
  they'd be docked or anchored in the bay. daily ferries to the south bay and SF. duh.
stcredzero 7y ago
Here is a buisnes idea Ive been thinking about lately for SF, Hong Kong, NY and other expensive places. Buy a smaller cruise ships and rent a pier to dock it. This has been tried before. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Blueseed https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Blueseed EDIT: Oh, you mean as residences! There are people who live in the marinas. There is some gatekeeping for that. A high speed high tech ferry running between SF and the South Bay would be dandy.
the-dude 7y ago
This is already being done in Groningen(NL) to accommodate influxes of students to our university. edit: but I should mention, we have waterways reaching into the city. Being old Europe.
jsonne 7y ago
Last time I was in the bay area I stayed on a boat with some colleagues in a marina. There are a surprising number of people that already do this.
Shivetya 7y ago
You would run into the same issues which are used to sabotage any new development. I gave a list below, it really isn't meant to be in jest but it sadly does happen. The only way to get the issue fixed is with a state amendment and even then it would be years in court. It really comes down to two real reasons, they do not want those people in their city and second it makes so much money for all involved the longer nothing changes. 1) you would have to set aside a good number of units for low income residents 2) all work would have to be done by union member organizations 3) you would need to have multiple environmental impact studies to include traffic to and from the location 4) you would also have to appease groups concerned with the affect such a ship would have on naturally occurring views; this has been used against new construction as well as shadows cast 5) Plus a litany of politically associated special interest groups would have to be appeased, this is the primary method of wealth building among the political class.
- gamblor956 7y ago
  Literally none of what you said is true. 1 is required only for developers seeking zoning changes. Low-income housing allowances aren't required if a development falls within existing site zoning, which is something that LA developers have used to great effect. 2) This is completely false, anti-union FUD. 3) This wasn't true before CA law was changed to simplify the approval process. You only need 1 comprehensive environmental impact study, and if you're close enough to another planned development (generally within 1 block), you can incorporate parts of their EIS into your own. 4) Views are not protected in CA...Appeasement not required. 5) Both cynical, false, and also misunderstands where the political class gets its wealth from (lobbying, not real estate).
TACIXAT 7y ago
This is the best worst idea I've ever heard. A lot of the offices (Google) are along the water, so the commute could be pretty ideal.
toast0 7y ago
In addition to all the other problems, you may need to be a US-flagged and US-built vessel depending on how exactly your dock based cruise interacts with the 1920 Jones Act's restrictions on cabotage. Requiring a US built ship may significantly increase your costs.
josiahtu 7y ago
aka Seasteading https://www.seasteading.org/ https://www.seasteading.org/
Balgair 7y ago
You mean The Raft, but moored in the South Bay? https://sites.google.com/a/trinity.edu/snow-crash-fall-2016/technology/the-raft https://sites.google.com/a/trinity.edu/snow-crash-fall-2016/...
mewfree 7y ago
It's actually quite common in Paris: http://www.annmah.net/2014/04/08/life-paris-houseboat/ http://www.annmah.net/2014/04/08/life-paris-houseboat/
et-al 7y ago
This actually did happen in SF with the Maritol "Icebreaker" ship by Creon Levit and Brewster Kahle: https://arstechnica.com/tech-policy/2013/10/startups-aboard-icebreaker-ship-could-face-eviction-soon-san-francisco-says/ https://arstechnica.com/tech-policy/2013/10/startups-aboard-... I don't know what's happened to it after 2014, though.
no_wizard 7y ago
Like the "icebreaker" ? https://sanfrancisco.cbslocal.com/2014/05/11/tech-company-start-up-maritol-icebreaker-ice-breaker-floating-incubator-ship-full-of-start-ups-sets-sail-on-san-francisco-bay-after-delays/ https://sanfrancisco.cbslocal.com/2014/05/11/tech-company-st...
megaremote 7y ago
> Buy a smaller cruise ships and rent a pier to dock it. Oh yes, no one has thought of that before. It has even been implemented.
deepakhj 7y ago
https://www.independent.co.uk/life-style/gadgets-and-tech/news/google-solves-barge-mystery-a-floating-data-centre-a-wild-party-boat-sadly-not-8926399.html https://www.independent.co.uk/life-style/gadgets-and-tech/ne...

yters 7y ago

And then once the ship city state has developed enough independence it can quietly slip out to sea beyond national borders and become its own seastead mini-nation of Google.

calvinbhai 7y ago

Bottle neck: commute between ship and land. How do you factor for that?

dmead 7y ago
they'd be docked or anchored in the bay. daily ferries to the south bay and SF. duh.

stcredzero 7y ago

Here is a buisnes idea Ive been thinking about lately for SF, Hong Kong, NY and other expensive places. Buy a smaller cruise ships and rent a pier to dock it. This has been tried before. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Blueseed https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Blueseed EDIT: Oh, you mean as residences! There are people who live in the marinas. There is some gatekeeping for that. A high speed high tech ferry running between SF and the South Bay would be dandy.

the-dude 7y ago

This is already being done in Groningen(NL) to accommodate influxes of students to our university. edit: but I should mention, we have waterways reaching into the city. Being old Europe.

jsonne 7y ago

Last time I was in the bay area I stayed on a boat with some colleagues in a marina. There are a surprising number of people that already do this.

Shivetya 7y ago

You would run into the same issues which are used to sabotage any new development. I gave a list below, it really isn't meant to be in jest but it sadly does happen. The only way to get the issue fixed is with a state amendment and even then it would be years in court. It really comes down to two real reasons, they do not want those people in their city and second it makes so much money for all involved the longer nothing changes. 1) you would have to set aside a good number of units for low income residents 2) all work would have to be done by union member organizations 3) you would need to have multiple environmental impact studies to include traffic to and from the location 4) you would also have to appease groups concerned with the affect such a ship would have on naturally occurring views; this has been used against new construction as well as shadows cast 5) Plus a litany of politically associated special interest groups would have to be appeased, this is the primary method of wealth building among the political class.

gamblor956 7y ago
Literally none of what you said is true. 1 is required only for developers seeking zoning changes. Low-income housing allowances aren't required if a development falls within existing site zoning, which is something that LA developers have used to great effect. 2) This is completely false, anti-union FUD. 3) This wasn't true before CA law was changed to simplify the approval process. You only need 1 comprehensive environmental impact study, and if you're close enough to another planned development (generally within 1 block), you can incorporate parts of their EIS into your own. 4) Views are not protected in CA...Appeasement not required. 5) Both cynical, false, and also misunderstands where the political class gets its wealth from (lobbying, not real estate).

TACIXAT 7y ago

This is the best worst idea I've ever heard. A lot of the offices (Google) are along the water, so the commute could be pretty ideal.

toast0 7y ago

In addition to all the other problems, you may need to be a US-flagged and US-built vessel depending on how exactly your dock based cruise interacts with the 1920 Jones Act's restrictions on cabotage. Requiring a US built ship may significantly increase your costs.

josiahtu 7y ago

aka Seasteading https://www.seasteading.org/ https://www.seasteading.org/

Balgair 7y ago

You mean The Raft, but moored in the South Bay? https://sites.google.com/a/trinity.edu/snow-crash-fall-2016/technology/the-raft https://sites.google.com/a/trinity.edu/snow-crash-fall-2016/...

mewfree 7y ago

It's actually quite common in Paris: http://www.annmah.net/2014/04/08/life-paris-houseboat/ http://www.annmah.net/2014/04/08/life-paris-houseboat/

et-al 7y ago

This actually did happen in SF with the Maritol "Icebreaker" ship by Creon Levit and Brewster Kahle: https://arstechnica.com/tech-policy/2013/10/startups-aboard-icebreaker-ship-could-face-eviction-soon-san-francisco-says/ https://arstechnica.com/tech-policy/2013/10/startups-aboard-... I don't know what's happened to it after 2014, though.

no_wizard 7y ago

Like the "icebreaker" ? https://sanfrancisco.cbslocal.com/2014/05/11/tech-company-start-up-maritol-icebreaker-ice-breaker-floating-incubator-ship-full-of-start-ups-sets-sail-on-san-francisco-bay-after-delays/ https://sanfrancisco.cbslocal.com/2014/05/11/tech-company-st...

megaremote 7y ago

> Buy a smaller cruise ships and rent a pier to dock it. Oh yes, no one has thought of that before. It has even been implemented.

deepakhj 7y ago

https://www.independent.co.uk/life-style/gadgets-and-tech/news/google-solves-barge-mystery-a-floating-data-centre-a-wild-party-boat-sadly-not-8926399.html https://www.independent.co.uk/life-style/gadgets-and-tech/ne...