Somerville looks to connect artists with landlords

The Somerville Arts Council and the city planning and community development office are looking to play a new role in the city: Real estate broker.

Since December, according to Arts Council Executive Director Gregory Jenkins, the council has been inviting artists and other creative industry workers in the city to detail the kind of studio or live-work space they need, in order to potentially connect them with commercial spaces that fit the bill.

Some 50 people have already responded to the questionnaire at http://www.somervilleartscouncil.org/spaceinitiative, Jenkins said, and the city is now going through commercial real estate listings in search of available space. Any commercial landlords with space to offer should contact the Arts Council at 617-625-6600 x2985, or the planning and community development office at x2500.

The city is stepping in because development pressure is making it difficult for everyone who wants studio space in Somerville to find it, Jenkins said.

Theres still a lot of studio workspaces out there, but more and more, the price is going up and theyre getting converted to residential, Jenkins said. The question is, how can we provide a more proactive role and support the cultural community?

On the landlords side, many commercial property owners have vacant space they would like to lease, but their parcels are either extremely developed or in need of extensive redevelopment, driving rents up so high that only larger tenants can afford them, Jenkins said.

A lot of commercial landlords are looking for tenants that have a very strong business model, and depending on where theyre located, sadly, theyre probably looking for chains, Jenkins said. I think landlords can be slightly hesitant when its not a traditional lessee, so the question is how can we help?

The city may be able to connect artists so they can pool their resources, possibly form an LLC, and lease larger spaces, Jenkins said. Options to ease extensive redevelopment costs could include setting up a fundraising campaign, seeking outside foundation support, securing pro bono architectural services, or checking with the city planning and inspectional services divisions to see what help may be available.

The city may even be able to find a commercial developer open to working with members of the creative community seeking live-work spaces, Jenkins said.

Somerville is in a unique situation right now with its amazing socioeconomic, ethnic and creative diversity, and I think we as a city should cherish and acknowledge it and do what we can to make sure we dont lose some of it, Jenkins said. The creative cluster provides so much benefit to the city form a social, civic, economic and cultural standpoint.

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Somerville looks to connect artists with landlords