How to establish rent price?
I've had a lot more trouble than I thought I would originally in establishing a rent price for a property. (http://www.fortworthflatironbuilding.com/)

The building is a historic property in Fort Worth, and i'm interested in renting out the 1st floor for parties, meetings, or whatever people might be interested in. The 1st floor also opens out into a park, so perhaps some kind of wedding venue as well.

Would anyone have any advice on how to properly establish a rent price? I've received a ton of emails for renting it for birthdays, weddings, and other meetings. Is it best to have a single day rental vs. hourly?
 
**Property Info**
Here's a [gallery](http://www.fortworthflatironbuilding.com/#!events/c23aj) of the space ([more pictures](http://www.parkcentralhotel.com/#!flatiron-building/c22yn). There are two bathrooms available in the back for men and women. The space is approximately **1600 sq. ft.** not including the bathrooms. The total is 2200, but this includes the elevator lobby area, which we'd probably like to seal off since there are private residences upstairs.

I want to have a reasonable price to rent this out frequently, but I honestly have no clue where to start in terms of base pricing. I've also had people asking if they can bring their own liquor/catering (which we can provide as well), and i'm not sure how to approach that. (I want to say no to liquor for licensing and permit reasons).

I know reddit might not be the best place to ask this, but I figured it would point me in the right direction!
[{"id": "coz1gr6", "text": "You need to talk to a broker, or go and talk to caterers and event planers in your area. I imagine a broker can help you sort it out for a flat fee, but probably won't want to rep the space since its all short term rentals.  \n\nDo you already have a broker representing your family in leasing the rest of the building? Maybe they can help for free?  \n\nAnd for what it's worth, you basically just doxxd yourself by establishing a fairly easy way for someone to figure out your identity. You might want to edit your comment, or maybe you don't care about your online privacy. ", "replies": [{"id": "coz1zhq", "text": "I think we'd be open to renting it long term as well, I just don't know where to start price wise. I did receive interest for a consulting firm wanting to rent the space, but it would just be a matter of deciding what's more profitable (monthly fixed income vs. trying to book people).  Unfortunately we don't have a broker.  Edited, thanks!", "replies": [{"id": "coz24ws", "text": "If you're going to be renting it yourself, you also have to intrinsically value your time. If you're going to be booking people, you're talking about a LOT of work.  \n\nAs far as figuring out a rental rate, you should probably talk to a local broker that knows your sub-market. Or call the owners of nearby buildings and ask what they're asking for floor level retail. ", "replies": [{"id": "coz2q67", "text": "I would definitely be taking a profit, but I have a lot of time currently so this isn't  a huge issue. \n\nI'll try that and see I guess, I was kind of hoping to avoid a broker/middle man!", "replies": [], "depth": 4}], "depth": 3}], "depth": 2}], "depth": 1}, {"id": "coz6vn2", "text": "What a lot of spaces like this do in Minneapolis is lease it to a local event company.  They can use the space and do daily rentals as they see fit.  Typical leases are just like local retail, 5-10 years.", "replies": [{"id": "cozndax", "text": "Hmm i'll have to look into that, I think the owner want's to keep it pretty private as in he's the only one with the keys.", "replies": [], "depth": 2}], "depth": 1}, {"id": "cozka97", "text": "Do you have access to any website like costar? They provide average rental rates in key submarkets of each state, and can even be narrowed down to specialty or historic sites. \n\nIn the end, it does sound like your property is unique, and when it comes to price, and rental rate is whatever a tenant is willing to pay. \n\nI would recommend talking to a broker. ", "replies": [{"id": "coznems", "text": "Yea I was just trying to get a basic idea what a decent/competitive price per sq. ft. was. Seems the consensus is just \"get a broker\" unfortunately. I'll check out costar though, thanks!", "replies": [{"id": "cozutcb", "text": "Giving you a price per sq ft wouldn't be of much help as it varies massively on a ton of factors.\n\nFor instance I'm due to rent out a 2500 sq ft industrial unit in rural Nottinghamshire (UK) for around \u00a33/ft^2 pa. If it were closer to town it'd be double or triple that. If it were near London it'd be an order of magnitude larger. Then multiply it again if it were retail rather than industrial.\n\nYou don't *really* need a broker. An alternative is to look up similar commercial property listings in your area then make a spreadsheet of how much they're charging vs how many sq ft it is. Then make a column giving you the price per sq ft for all of them and decide where you want to lay on the scale (based on how relatively desirable your location is, what amenities it has, etc*).\n\n---\n\n*This is the bit you'd actually be paying a broker for as it's what they specialise in, determining the base price per sq ft is the easy bit.", "replies": [], "depth": 3}], "depth": 2}], "depth": 1}, {"id": "cp00nv5", "text": "I'm going to disagree with the rest.  You have a business planning problem.  You have a special use space you are trying to tie a business plan around.  You need to look at what other wedding/etc rental place are charging.  Just call some up.  Then figure out what your time is worth in managing this to make sure its worth operating that business there vs doing something else with the space.  \n\nIf you try to figure out what the space is worth as CRE then back into a nightly number or something I think you are going to wind up really far off a meaningful number for this use.  \n\nPer the liquor license/catering that stuff varies heavily on state.  You need to talk to your local liquor control board, health department, and city to make sure you are in compliance with appropriate laws and licenses.  \n\nYou aren't renting space, you are starting a business.  Talk to your lawyers too to make sure appropriate legal advice is given.", "replies": [{"id": "cp0vg6f", "text": "I agree with this post 100%. This is not a real estate question. I would just add also be cognizant of insurance implications of serving alcohol. ", "replies": [], "depth": 2}], "depth": 1}, {"id": "cp04nqn", "text": "Great looking building and space. That said, for events that space is pretty tiny. Not sure what foot traffic is like in the area or what sort of upgrades if any might be required to go retail but that looks like a coffee shop waiting to happen if you ask me especially if you can get a permit for outside seating (lots of sidewalk looks doable - check with architect on code requirements). I would put the space on the market as a retail space for rent (coffee shop, event space, ect). Perhaps an event planner will lease it out and rent the space out for events. If you are a CRE owner/manager playing in the event planning space sounds like a lot of work especially if you aren't familiar and don't have contacts in the business.  ", "replies": [], "depth": 1}]