A Room Of One's Own

Afterimage, Nov, 2000 by Annette Koh

When San Francisco Camerawork signed a five-year commercial lease in 1995, rent was an affordable $30,000 for the entire year. The gallery showcased contemporary photography next to the San Francisco Museum of Modern Art, just south of downtown in the primarily light-industrial "South of Market" (SoMa) area. The Loma Prieta earthquake in 1989 had devastated the district, built mostly over unstable landfill and "at the time, there was a chance that some buildings might be abandoned if landlords couldn't raise money for the necessary retrofitting," said Marnie Gillett, San Francisco Camerawork's executive director. [1] The recession of the early '90s left San Francisco with a stagnant economy and a glut of vacant commercial square footage; two companies alone dumped 1.2 million square feet back on the market at the close of 1995. Arts organizations and businesses had taken advantage of relatively low rents in SoMa: Friends of Photography/Ansel Adams Center was located nearby, as well as RayKo, the rental lab wh ere San Francisco Camerawork ran their youth program.

Five years later, the commercial rents in San Francisco have skyrocketed, surpassing even midtown Manhattan. In an Internet gold rush characterized by venture capital deals and a scarcity of computer programmers, California companies have abandoned the sprawling suburban office park for hipper, more urban locales. Companies are willing to pay a premium for the cachet of a SoMa address--dotcoms from eGreetings to Petopia have planted headquarters in the neighborhood. After investing five years and completing a full renovation of the space, SF Camerawork was notified that the rent would quadruple to $120,000 per year.

The Mayors Office of Community Development reports that non-profit organizations pay from $3.12-$46.44 per square foot, per year. Within the first six months of this year, the median office rent in San Francisco rose nearly 20% to over $77 per square foot per year. With rent control illegal for commercial and office spaces, non-residential landlords are free to raise rents to market value or above. Half of San Francisco's non-profit leases expire at the end of this calendar year. Even the pro-growth San Francisco Planning and Urban Research Association warned, "By out-competing other firms [in the rental market], the information technology industry actually threatens the diversity of the local economy." Dot-coms are circumventing San Francisco's restrictions on development in residential and industrial neighborhoods by classifying themselves as "business services" instead of office space. Even as start-ups eager for a San Francisco location urge non-profits to react to rising rents by quietly moving to the E ast Bay, performance and gallery spaces are already closing in response to real estate pressures in already gentrifying Oakland.

Residential rents are keeping pace in San Francisco: a one bedroom apartment in the city now rents for an average of just under $2000 per month. With no certification process in place, like in New York City, to ensure residents are working artists who need studio space, live-work lofts have been appropriated by the "New Economy" as well. This summer the San Jose Mercury News ran a front page feature on lofts titled "Homes for the Hip," beginning, "No longer just havens for the artsy, trendy dwellings are catching on..." [2]

Every sector of the arts community has been affected, from individual artists to arts-related small businesses. Indeed, the runaway commercial and residential real estate market is effectively destroying the habitat necessary for a healthy arts community. In particular, extinction looms within the dance community, which requires larger spaces. In the last year 12 dance organizations have been evicted or priced out of their studios, even while the Convention and Visitor's Bureau Web site blithely insists that "Especially in the field of dance, San Francisco is second only to New York." [3]

Space-sharing arrangements have become a solution for several displaced arts non-profits. In December, SF Camerawork will move into the space currently occupied solely by New Langton Arts, an organization with a similar mission and history. Says Gillett, "The Board of Directors [of New Langton Arts] was very gracious in taking us in. Otherwise we would have had nowhere to go." The two organizations will alternate exhibitions in the shared gallery.

Sixth Street Photography Workshop, which provides programs for low income adults, many of whom live in nearby residential hotels, will move to the city-owned South of Market Cultural Center. The owner of the building in the mid-Market area, which resembles pre-Disney Times Square, decided not to renew the non-profit's lease. Tom Ferentz, director of Sixth Street, lamented, "This work requires building an artistic community which means building a presence in the community and building trust. One cannot simply pack up and leave while this is going on." [4] Many start-ups argue that proximity to the technology epicenter is essential for conducting their business and for making the person-to-person connections necessary for securing capital and human resources. Some are even pleading for government assistance with the high cost of living. [5] Yet the ramifications of the dispersal of artists and arts organizations are largely ignored.