BY BONNIE MCGRATH Special to the Sun-Times
Graphic artist Robin Steele and her husband, sculptor Michael Ruback, live in a single-family home on the Northwest Side. Ruback uses a spare upstairs bedroom for his projects. Recently the couple decided to look around for a new work/live space to purchase.
So far they've come up empty-handed. Many places they've looked at have been too raw.
"It's discouraging," Steele said. Although Steele's convinced many affordable neighborhoods in Chicago have spacious places for artists to buy, she's been challenged to find them.
The problem is live/work space for artists has to be big enough to accommodate materials for working at home. And for most artists, whatever their medium, the space has to have good light. And of course, for those who want to buy, it has to be affordable.
The best spaces for living and working are available in neighborhoods before they reach the "tipping point," Steele said. That tipping point is well after the time the neighborhood has no cozy coffee shops and is ripe for condemnation, to the other extreme of total gentrification. Gentrified neighborhoods are more expensive, and well-heeled residents cease to appreciate living among more creative types.
This transition can be seen very clearly in certain city neighborhoods, said Barbara Koenen, director of Chicago Artists Resource -- a Web source that is a part of the city's Department of Cultural Affairs.
"At one time, it was the Loop and Old Town," Koenen said. "Those were the super-funky neighborhoods where all the artists lived. Then it was Lincoln Park and Hyde Park, but that ended maybe 35 to 45 years ago. Recently, Wicker Park, Bucktown and Humboldt Park have made -- or are making -- the transition. A neighborhood like Pilsen, which is only partially 'Bohemian' may be in for a transitional period. This phenomenon has been happening for 100 years. It's sort of like 'gentrification,' but that doesn't fully encompass what it is."
Artists want large, cheap, flexible space they can customize without anyone telling them not to. "Space they can play with," she said.
Most of all, painters, photographers, sculptors, filmmakers and even writers (although they can work in a space the size of a closet) want to be able to put down roots. Many creatives with unpredictable revenue streams yearn for the security of home ownership to fend off personal hardship from rising rents and costs of living.
"What happens in these neighborhoods is that many of the artists do stay throughout their lives -- such as many have done in Hyde Park, Lincoln Park, the Loop and Old Town," Koenen said. "It's the younger artists who can't buy because they can't afford to now.
"So [the city ] in turn encourages the development of affordable artist housing [that can be purchased to live and work in] in areas where young artists can subsequently plant seeds -- and the process can start all over again," Koenen said.
Neighborhoods that might be ripe for this process, according to Koenen, include Bridgeport, Bronzeville, Kenwood, Woodlawn, Albany Park, Logan Square, East Garfield Park and Rogers Park.
Real estate developer Andy Schcolnik thinks he's found a building with great potential on the South Side. His latest baby in the 20th ward --the Strand Hotel--will need a massive overhaul. Built in 1919, the Strand is at 6315 S. Cottage Grove, adjacent to the end of the Green Line tracks in Woodlawn. It's just a five-minute drive from the University of Chicago and Washington Park, the proposed site for an Olympics stadium should Chicago win the 2016 Summer Games.
City subsidies include selling the five-story building to Schcolnik for only $1, and a $500,000 grant for required upgrades such as a sprinkler system in an area that's difficult to develop.
Schcolnik plans to create 36 live/work spaces that will attract photographers, sculptors, filmmakers and painters. He is also providing commercial spaces on the ground floor for perhaps a restaurant, an art store, a cleaners or a gallery.
"The building is really very beautiful," he said. "Everyone thinks I'm nuts -- but I think it's a wonderful alternative for middle-income artists. The building is like a pretty bride who is waiting for someone to come and love her."
Up the street from the Strand is the historic Grand Ballroom, another Schcolnik rehab. Perhaps the two together will anchor a revival of a block that was once a glamorous destination.
Schcolnik has his work cut out for him as the building needs a full gut job, and he's already hit "a bunch of hiccups" with the proposed rehab. The re-opening of the Grand Ballroom (also known as the Cinderella Ballroom) hasn't put Schcolnik in the black, but at least the nicely restored space is being used.
Schcolnik is on the board of Preservation Chicago, as well as a member of the Southside Builders Association. He says the potential for artists' spaces in the historic hotel provides "great synergy" for him.
"Andy is an architect -- and an enlightened artist himself," Koenen said. "He will do a great job. He uses funky materials, unusual materials, like stone and marble touches introduced into wood. He makes openings in weird spots -- it's all very artistic."
Prices for the units will start at $195,000 -- and they will range in size from 990 to 1,200 square feet, Schcolnik said.
Schcolnik's renovation will preserve historic details, thoroughly clean the building, and add balconies on three sides, excluding the historic facade. He says he will install granite in the kitchens, but doesn't know yet what he will do with the floors.
He'll work out that detail with the new owners.
ShoreBank is providing a $7 million loan to complete the project, offering only 10 percent to start.
He'll get the rest of the loan after he opens a sales office, a model and pre-sells half the units.
"We also don't know if this project in Woodlawn will end up being racially mixed," Schcolnik said. "I don't know if it will attract North Side artists. I don't think we will have trouble attracting African-American artists. But whether we will have an ethnic mix in this part of Woodlawn, to the south of the University of Chicago, remains to be seen."
Schcolnik also says the commercial tenants will have to be "gutsy" in terms of opening in the area. "Commercial development is always the last to come -- they come after everything else is obvious."
Depending on the buyers' incomes, the city will subsidize artists' home purchases in the development anywhere from $10,000 to $30,000. The artists will have to be within certain income levels and also be able to prove to the city that they are true artists making a living with their art and that they have produced a recent body of work that can be peer-reviewed.
"The rehab of the Strand Hotel offers us a unique opportunity to preserve a part of Chicago's history while also providing affordable housing for artists," said Molly Sullivan, director of communications for the Chicago Department of Housing.
It's often hard for artists to find housing, even if they're not starving artists. Artists who want to purchase a place where they can live and work often have trouble finding an affordable space in an appropriate neighborhood.
Artists are known as dreamers. But when it comes to buying property to live and work in, dreaming doesn't cut it. Artists need to be armed with hard and fast financial and real estate facts before they make investments in property.
Chicago Artists Resource (
Chicago Artists Resource |) has a link called "Square Feet" that can help. It is there that artists can learn about everything from property taxes to rehabbing property; from finding a place to buy in a specific neighborhood to how to understand zoning. Interested artists who might be overwhelmed by becoming property owners can get advice on the Web site on things like what is involved in applying for a mortgage or what to expect during a home inspection.
The site said, "Square Feet Chicago: the Artist's Guide to Buying and Leasing Space began as a response to the issues and circumstances faced by artists when looking for space. In addition to needing lots of affordable space, artists often want to live in communities where they will find the services, professional contacts and ambience most suited for their creative and professional needs."
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