Shamelessly copying that warehouse idea is very tempting.
I was just in one a few nights ago over in Oakland that a friend is living in now. We did some exploring and found an old boiler-room, remnant of an old structure that the warehouse was built over. You'd never find something that fun in some yuppy live/work loft. http://twitter.com/mhalligan/status/10614020589 has a photo of their main living space.
if I dig around I can probably find more, and I'm hoping to do a shoot at that oakland warehouse this weekend, especially the basement :)