I'm getting ready to build a new garage this summer/fall. It will be a 2 slot and a one slot set in an "L" with the corner of the L being a workshop. Apartment over the work shop about 24x24 feet. I intent the slots to be about 24 feet deep so the "L" shaped footprint will be about 52x42 feet. ~1680 sq ft down, apartment about 576 sq ft. One feature I'm planning will be a lift, kind of like a giant open sided dumb-waiter, about 3 feet by 6 feet to make it easy to get stuff up to storage. Obviously that will be built after the inspections. Any interesting features you would recommend for a new garage?
You can spend hours here: http://www.garagejournal.com/forum/ More than you ever wanted to know about tools, lighting, compressors, flooring, etc. Take a look at post by "ultgar" on here and the link above. He always has good info.
I'd put a nice drain in the middle so you can wash it out, and cover the drain when you are working on stuff. A built in stereo setup is nice, and a half (or 3/4) bath would be a great thing also. The correct amount of space is the most important thing, and it sounds like you have that well covered. Some beefed up truss areas would be good to be able to put a block and tackle setup from the ceiling without any exposed beams. Just locate it on the truss framing plan and tell them you want a point load of 5,000 pounds or so, and see what additional truss framing there would be. It likely would entail a triple ply truss that might cost you an additional $300 or so. BT
I always though it would be cool to put rows of lawn sprinkler heads in your (heated) drive way that wash off the salt as you drive toward your garage.
One of my dads stipulations when he was having their new house designed was a large garge with plenty of room upstairs. He added oversized garage doors. Wider and taller than residential grade. They had to be built by a commercial garage door shop. I don't have any great pictures, but if you're interested in the exact size I can get that info for you. I'm pretty sure it could accommodate 6 F-cars. Also, he has a satellite feed in the garage as well as stereo connections running from the house for the radio. A lot more little tidbits I can't remember. He was very diligent in making sure his garage met every one of his needs. I need to take new pictures now that they've made the move-in fairly complete.
