I'd like to keep these long term tenants because I know how are they are to come by, it is worth noting the house is an absolute wreck with food and material items everywhere.The backyard is accessible by an alley way, and plan is to build fence dividing the 8400 sqft lot into two lots and putting an Airstream on empty lot to double the cash flow.

They are drawn to San Diego for the high pay rate and they usually receive some type of housing stipend, food and even car allowance.

Meanwhile, food service businesses are notorious for having a high failure rate.

Aside from me wanting to house hack (I guess "room-hack), these people will be roommates so I would think excellent tenants would be a must.Anything other pertinent or just food for thought information would be greatly appreciated, thanks!

Sometimes even when they aren’t cooking, the smell of their spicy food just lingers.

It's wild that there are kitchens out there with two little counter tops and nothing else for people to make food on.

Not having a kitchen means they can't cook, and I GUARANTEE they will let you know of what a pain and inconvenience it is, and how much money they spend on food, how stressful it is on their kids, etc...   

It is common in this market for landlord to give generous Tenant Improvement budgets to attract high quality / long lease tenants.The timeline will depend on your build requirements but also how well priced or poorly priced (i.e. expensive) the space is and how motivated a tenant will be.Have you considered a non-national food and beverage tenant? 

I also brought a bid DD box of coffee to the meeting and some finger food and was greeting people who came in and offering coffee :)  

Is there any common area for food prep or do you have a bunch of people with hot plates in their room.