I am exercising the tremendous power of saying no to this post.

A hold harmless and indemnification clause in the lease would be one of the clauses your attorney will probably recommend.Another strategy used by dance, exercise, and similar schools is to purchase a Sports Accident policy. 

They are typically given a 1-2% ownership for doing this and this can be the only role they play.

I would present them with something similar to the above, emphasizing that they would have a completely passive role and would get the majority of the equity.

This is a good exercise in real estate fundamentals as well as you get to know how much things cost so you don't get ripped off.

As long as each unit is renting for 1k that should keep you around the 1% role.

For example one of my partner has more down time at work and he does all the administrative roles but I am good at identifying good opportunities and deals so I focus on that. 

You should ensure each partner will have some sort of "role" in the deal if you want to maintain a JV structure.As far as partnership structure, there's no one right way to get it done.

The person who handles a decision of this magnitude wears a black robe and has been carefully vetted for her/his role.

I have a few questions about the process of forming an LLC, the "roles" that each partner takes in the company, and what goes into a written partnership agreement.