Our December question from ArtPlace was recently responded to. Check out our response below (and our new website welcometocollinwood.com)
Question:
What has been the thorniest issue
you've faced to date? How have you dealt
with it?
Brian: The thorniest issue
we have been facing is getting additional site control while also managing
increased interest from for-profit developers.
Northeast Shores acts as a developer of last resort, rehabilitating
abandoned housing and acquiring parcels of vacant land for new construction.
Our mission is to provide artists and other potential residents with affordable
rental units, the opportunity to own their own homes, and an avenue to
contribute to an increased level of neighborhood investment, pride and
stability. We’re the lead provider of housing in North Shore Collinwood and
we’ve successfully worked with a wide range of individuals from first-time
homebuyers to empty nesters. Over the
last 10 years, our activities have resulted in over $42 million in neighborhood
investment. Northeast Shores has substantially rehabbed over 125 existing homes
and built over 60 new homes in our 15 year existence. As a result of our
success, we’ve been introduced to another issue. Because artists are at the core of
our marketing efforts, they have historically made up a significant portion of
our home buyers. Over the past few years, however, general demand for our homes
has substantially increased. Qualified non-artists are increasingly expressing
interest in our homes. The supply of vacant houses on which we work is staying
relatively small, while demand is increasing.
Because of this, it is becoming more
difficult to make sure artists are having access to this opportunity. Similarly,
demands for commercial spaces in our neighborhood have increased significantly,
particularly in our Waterloo Arts and Entertainment District. Artists are now
seeking a shrinking supply of commercial space opposite other potential tenants
and owners, including a number of restaurant tenants seeking to open in 2013 such
as Alan Glazen’s Project Light Switch. The remaining commercial vacancies are
often the ones that require the greatest degree of rehab investment, with many
requiring major improvements to electrical, plumbing as well as heating and
cooling systems. To justify the costs of these expenditures, Northeast Shores
needs tenants and owners with robust, sustainable business plans. The
non-commercial nature of many artists’ work means that it can be more difficult
to provide them ownership opportunities.
Despite these challenges and our
current endeavors in the neighborhood, we are continuously planning for the
community's future. Northeast
Shores remains more committed than ever to providing artists with pathways to
space ownership. We’ve launched a $150,000 small loan pool to help artists
finance art space that’s not traditionally easy to finance through
residential and commercial mortgages. We’ve also launched a $125,000 grant
program that provides artists with funds to support their community art
projects, both as a way to address community priorities through the arts and
as a way to provide artists with a direct revenue stream for the work that
they want to do. Through ArtPlace’s investment, we’re able to justify holding
a number of properties that we are developing specifically for artists.
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