A view of 281 Industrial Avenue in Vancouver, soon to be converted into studios
Vancouver City Council has awarded the lease of a city-owned warehouse at 281 Industrial Avenue to the Arts Factory, comprising Great Northern Way Scene Shop and Arts Factory Society, to be used as affordable, multi-tenant artist studios and production space.
This comes as good news to the scene shop, which had been on Great Northern Way since 2003 but was not able to sign a long-term lease on its space there, as all of the leases on that space retain a 10-month demolition clause. It is the only arts fabrication facility accessible to professional non-profits within city limits.
“There is a huge need for affordable artist space in Vancouver, and this new project led by the Arts Factory is a great opportunity to build a unique creative hub in Vancouver,” said Mayor Gregor Robertson. “The mix of an established arts organization with new, emerging artists is an exciting opportunity, and we’re thrilled that the city can partner on this new facility by leasing what was an underused building.”
Vancouver was recently named the second-most unaffordable housing market in an international study.
The Arts Factory will primarily be geared to serving professional artists requiring industrial fabrication such as large-scale sculptures, set-building, painting, fabric, wood and ceramics. The 21,000-square-foot industrial warehouse, owned by the city, will be used to provide multiple artist studios, shared production space for large art projects and administrative “hot desks” for local and visiting artists. Once complete, it is expected the building will be home to up to 100 artists.
The Arts Factory says it will conduct an open selection process for artists interested in the studio space, encouraging a mix of emerging and established artists requiring industrial work space. Once built out, it is expected there will be up to 40 new studios available for local artists.
Vancouver city council approved a motion in February 2012 for staff to explore renting vacant City-owned space for artist studios and production space. Along with 281 Industrial, city-owned buildings at 2625 and 2629 Kaslo were offered as part of a request for expressions of interest for arts groups. Only the space at 281 Industrial Ave received interest with a viable business model.
The Arts Factory is expected to begin improvements to the space in the coming weeks, with operations to begin later this spring. The company anticipates phasing in the studio spaces throughout 2013.
It is estimated that approximately 8,000 square feet of new artist studio space will be added by the Arts Factory.
