Page 67 - Demo

PHOENIX FALL HOME SPECIAL(Phoenix/Kirk Photo)d en t H ow ard G olden. %u201c T he issu e is buildings th a t have both m an u fa c tu rin g and re sid en tial te n a n ts.%u201dIf all loft ten an ts h ad been legalized,L evin said , they would h a v e receiv ed %u201c a w hole p a c k a g e of en v iro n m en tal rig h ts%u201d th a t could h av e caused p ro b lem s fo r the m an u fa c tu rin g ten an ts %u2014 th e rig h t to ask m a n u fa c tu re rs not to h a v e a night shift, for ex am ple.%u201c It w as a classic ca se of tw o in terest groups w ho have claim s to be p ro tected ,%u201d Levin said.Levin sa id th ere is still a considerable p reju d ice am ong p erfo rm in g a r ts groups a g a in st B rooklyn. He noted th a t Golden published a le tte r in th e N ew York tim e s in J a n u a ry contesting im p licatio n s by City officials th a t cu ltu ral gro u p s h a d to sta y in M a n h attan o r face extinction, and offering to help a r ts organizations find sp ace in Brooklyn.%u201c Since th e n ,%u201d said L evin, %u201c w e%u2019ve been co n tacted by less th a n a dozen groups, all of w hom a sk ed for free s p a c e .%u201dLevin sa id his office p la n s to ta k e out an a d in V ariety, the e n te rta in m e n t industry w eekly, to ad v ertise som e of B rooklyn%u2019s av ailab le sp ace th a t w ould be suitable for a rts groups.E ven for those who a r e n %u2019t occupying lofts illegally, th e a rtis t%u2019s life in B rooklyn can be tenuous.C aroline Cole and Jim M inden live in a legal loft on Plym outh S t., w here they m oved tw o y ears ago a fte r th re e y e a rs in a n illegal loft.Though th ey have a th re e -y e a r lease on a legal loft in a building w ith se v e ra l other legal units, the catch is th a t th e ir building is a condom inium and does not fall under the m ultiple dw ellings law %u2014 so th e ir re n t is not stabilized. They don%u2019t know w h eth er they will be ab le to afford to sta y in th e ir loft w hen th e ir lease is up n ex t year.ARTISTS N E E D LO FTSM inden thinks the fight ov er B rooklyn%u2019sdevelop a marginalneighborhood, theygive it dirt cheap toarts organizations.And that means we%u2019regoing to sweat bloodand die young so inten years there%u2019ll be agold mine here andthey haven%u2019t spent acent on it.%u2014 Deborah PopeIn Boston the city has taken anopen stance, saying We want artistshere. They%u2019ve given low cost loansto artists. What we miss here inNew York is the endorsement o f theCity.%u2014 Jim Minden(Phoenix/Kirk Photo)718 existing resid en tial loft u n its obscures %u201c th e re a l problem , w hich is th a t even if th e y legalize all th o se buildings, w e%u2019re ta lk %u00ading about a very tin y p erc e n ta g e of the people who need space, high ceilings an d light. A rtists c a n %u2019t live in a sta n d a rd a p a rtm e n t in a resid en tial neighborhood.%u201dT he C ity%u2019s failure to recognize th is fact, M inden claim s, p u ts New York%u2019s artistic com m unity a t risk a n d c re a te s th e possibility th a t o th e r cities w ith m ore lib e ra l housing policies will a ttr a c t the young and innovative artists.%u201c In B oston, for e x a m p le ,%u201d sa id M inden, %u201c th e city h a s taken an open sta n c e , saying %u2018We w ant a rtists h e re .%u2019 They%u2019ve given lowcost loans to a rtists. W hat we m iss here in N ew York is the en d o rsem en t of the City.%u201dT here is, in fact, a City p ro g ra m designed to help individual a rtis ts find sp a c e : the Artists H ousing P ro g ra m , run by th e d e p a rtm e n t of H ousing P re se rv a tio n an d Developm en t. B ut in th ree y e a rs of o p eratio n the p ro g ra m h a s sold only two B rooklyn buildings to artists, according to H PDspokesperson Lynn G uggenheim er. And D avis derides th e p ro g ra m %u2019s seriousness, noting th a t an in tern al m em o circulated a t H P D la st M arch suggesting 34 possible buildings in Brooklyn for a rtis t housing %u2014 of w hich 30 w ere in m an u factu rin g and co m m ercial zones and h ad been specifically excluded from consideration u n d er the B oard of E stim a te %u2019s g ran d fa th e rin g resolution.ZONING MUST B E CHANGEDSince m ost of th e b est loft sp aces are in m an u factu rin g and co m m ercial zones, only a change in the C ity%u2019s zoning law s could open up a larg e n u m b er of legal spaces su itab le for artists. And though such chan g es have been suggested not only by a rtis ts %u2019 and te n a n ts%u2019 groups b u t also by the D e p artm en t of C ultural A ffairs%u2019 %u201c Spaces for th e A rts%u201d rep o rt la st spring, th e B oard of E s tim a te %u2019s near-unanim ous su p p o rt of the 45-percent rule (only C om ptroller H arrison G oldin w as opposed) indicates th e City is unlikely soon to consider any relax atio n of zoning law s favoring resid en tial tenants.F o r individual a rtis ts , the outlook does not seem especially prom ising. S ays D avis of th e BLTA, %u201c The City puts bells and w histles on any p ro je c t until it%u2019s out of the econom ic reach of a rtists. The best we can do is to get the City off the b acks of people who a re already living in lofts in B rooklyn.%u201dN ancy Buffum, a co-founder of the A ssociation of W illiam sburg-G reenpoint A rtists, describes h e rself as %u201c fa ta listic .%u201d %u201c This business of a rtists g etting pushed out has been going on since the beginning of tim e. I don%u2019t re a lly know w hat the a n sw er is, except th a t a rtists h av e to align ourselves w ith o th er B rooklynites a g a in st the real e sta te developers.%u201dAnd E lise Long a g re e s th a t the City ought to ch an g e its policies, but pu ts an equal sh a re of the responsibility on the a rtists. %u201c A rtists have to be a bit c reativ e in com ing up w ith th eir living and w orking sp a c e s,%u201d she said. %u201c T here%u2019s a n im age of airy-fairy a rtists who can%u2019t keep th eir a c t together.You re a lly have to w ork h a rd for your sp a c e .%u201dN ew York A rtists A re n %u2019t The O nly G roup SufferingNew York is not th e only city facing the problem of affordable living and w ork sp aces for a rtists and p e rfo rm e rs. Nonprofit organizations in o th er a re a s, aided by m unicipal governm ents, hav e pioneered som e ap proaches to th e problem th a t m ay be instructive.- M inneapolis-St. P a u l is hom e to one of the la rg e st and m ost successful space-fora rtists organizations, A rtsp ace P ro jects,Inc. E xecutive D irector C heryl K artes says the organization is com pleting the renovation of a la rg e loft building in an old St.P au l w arehouse d istrict, a t a cost of $1.7 m illion. The building is an a rtis ts %u2019 co-op, with 30 units occupied by visual artists, choreographers, and th e a te r perfo rm ers. Tlie project, known as th e I/iw e r Town Ix>fts, w as developed through a p artn ersh ip betw een the City governm ent and a p rivate developer, with A rtspace P ro je c ts helping to bring all the pieces together.The m ain funding sources w ere: a $540,000 City-backed bond issue; a $32,000 g ran t from St. P au l%u2019s neighborhood developm e n t p ro g ra m ; an additional $77,000 in public subsidy; $30,000 in equity from the lim ited p a rtn e rsh ip betw een th e City and th e p riv a te developer; and ab o u t $500,000 from v ario u s other sources.K a rte s said A rtsp ace also ru n s a com %u00adputerized space listing w hich is published ev ery tw o weeks a n d m ade a v a ilab le to a r %u00adtists a t $15 for two m o n th s' w orth of listings. T he organization h a s helped m o re than 900 a rtis ts find living a n d w orking sp ace and h a s developed m o re than 150 units of a rtis ts %u2019 housing in the Twin Cities a re a .%u2014 A sim ila r p ro ject has been developed in B oston%u2019s South E n d , according to Jero N esson of the F o rt P oint A rtists%u2019 Com m unity. The a rtis ts %u2019 organization succeeded in renovating a 35-unit loft building containing 72,000 sq u a re feet into a low-cost, legal a r %u00adtis ts %u2019 co-op. Com pleted in 1983, the project w as financed by $250,000 in equity from the resid en t a rtists, a $160,000 low -cost loan from the City of B oston, and $1 m illion in conventional m o rtg ag e financing from a New E ngland bank. A 1500-square-foot loftcosts $600 a m onth in carry in g ch arg es, w ith a $7500 dow npaym ent.N oting th a t stric t re sa le provisions will p rev en t the cost of the units from escalating out of the reach of m ost a rtists, Nesson said, %u201c F o rt Point set a preced en t for other p ro jects %u2014 it allow ed o ther a rtis ts to say, %u2018We can do this too.%u201d %u2019N esson is now w orking, u nder a grant from th e M assachusetts Council on the A rts, on an even la rg e r p ro ject: a 100-unit, 250,000 square-foot building to be renovated a t a cost of $11 m illion. It will include a m ix of a rtis ts %u2019 housing and m a rk e t-ra te condom inium s.%u2014 An even m ore innovative approach is being trie d in San F rancisco, w here the City is likely to p ass a zoning am en d m en t creatin g a special a rtis ts %u2019 live-w ork zone in an a re a now designated for m an u factu rin g and co m m ercial use.Jo sh u a Sim on, d irecto r of Innovative H ousing, a non-profit organization, said of th e proposed ordinance, %u201c The unique asp ect of w hat San F ran cisco is doing isThe Space Chaseacknow ledging th a t one of th e problem s w ith a rtis ts %u2019 live-w ork sp ace is th a t a rtists m ove in, spruce up an a re a , an d then a re driven out by office users who can afford higher ren ts. This proposal, in effect, m a k e s th a t process illeg al.%u201dIn co n trast to th e situation in Brooklyn, w here City and B orough officials say they w ant to restrict resid en tial use of m an u facturing buildings so they can prom ote the grow th of light industry, Sim on sa y s San F ran cisco %u201chas a c c ep ted th e fa c t th a t m anu factu rin g is gone, and th a t th e re %u2019s d irect com petition betw een office use and live-w ork sp ace.%u201d%u2014 N ationw ide, a group of five non-profit a rtis ts %u2019 housing g roups, including M inneapolis-St. P a u l%u2019s A rtspace P ro jects, have received a g ra n t from the Apple com - Duter corooration to set up a national com %u00adp u ter listing of av ailab le live-w ork space for a rtists. A rtspace's K artes sa y s the netw ork will be on-line and available to users within six m onths. %u2014 A.K.October 9, 1985, PHOENIX, Section II, Page 7