Hey now!
Gonna start by just riding our bikes and stomping about looking for a perfect space for making messy, dirty, huge art projects....
(Ideally, like a ground level shophouse with great high ceilings and exposed beams and cement floor, etc...like sal's-size interior for example but without the cafe.)
would want to be putting in our own fixtures etc, and maybe down the road make it live-able..
any suggestion of recommendable real estate agents that deal with that kind of space are very welcome!
thanks!

Try the jingdingshan 1919 loft area. I also havre seen two new artsy areas on both roads going up to the jiaoling police registration office/noodle factory.

Hi there, we are trying to start a makerspace here known as "The Cave" and have a large site in mind but need some more financial commitment from people to get it going.

You can see the space on our website at cave.pratyeka.org/

We estimate overall startup costs to be 70,000CNY and have raised 35,000CNY in pledged funds already.

We aim to make up the difference and commit to the space circa Chinese New Year 2016.

Relative to your description:

(a) It's not going to be liveable

(b) It's not going to be focused at all on commercial sales of art or anything else for that matter

(c) It's an industrial space with industrial power (3-phase power OK, chemical smells OK, noise OK, no neighbours to whinge)

Real estate agents are pretty useless for this sort of thing, we've found it's necessary to physically trapse about and search.

If you really only want a small commercial space then you may find some in the existing art districts as AlexKMG suggested... however they will not have the space, community, equipment and industrial zoning benefits that the Cave could offer.

i know about the cave. thanks and best of luck to you guys on that.
just looking for something of me own for now.

but yeah the traipsing about has offered up a few things. and will look in those areas you all mentioned as

well.