915 Spring Garden is located just north of center city Philadelphia. The building is a five story brick building with about 100 individual studios. A listing on the 915 web site claims that the studio building is the oldest artist community in the city having been in operation for twenty-eight years. Rents in the building are based on the size of the studio with the average being $350 per month. The building does not offer shared storage but the common areas of the building do offer exhibition space.
The buildings artists also organize yearly open studio events which are very successful.
I have mixed feelings about this building. I have rented a studio space here for ten months and at the end of my lease I will be moving because of the problems.
Advantages of the building:
1. Location of the building is good in that it is located near center city. You will also notice that I have listed location also as a problem below.
2. Cost of the studios is lower than average.
3. There is a building manager for rental issues who is cooperative and helpful. I have listed his contact information below.
4. The other artists in the building are friendly and easy to get along with.
Problems with the building: (There are many problems! The rents may appear to be a good deal. You should consider these problems seriously)
1. Both the passinger elevator and the freight elevator are often not working. They are very old and in the case of the passinger elevator operate with manual doors that are left open. In my case that makes a five story walk-up.
2. The building has very minimum janitorial support. Bathrooms go uncleaned and in the ten months I have been in the building the hallway on my floor has never been swept. Because the janitor doesn't remove trash in a timely fashion, the building has a rodent problem. After talking to the janitor about the problem I was told the problem was the artists with food in their studios. He was unwilling to do anything about the trash problem.
3. Location is the largest single problem with the building. This is the major reason I will be finding another studio. I work in the evenings and walk from on-street parking to this building. Because of the large number of homeless people in the area I have had problems. At night I feel this is a very dangerous area.
4. The building is owned by Penn-Dion of Jenkintown PA. They appear to be overwhelmed with the number of units they manage. On a monthly basis we receive a statement of account. In the ten months I have rented the studio they have never managed to have an accurate accounting of my payments to them. They assigned my payments to other units. When called about this problem they were rude on the phone.
915 Info:
For information on studio space contact Steve Donegan, 215.880-6009, donegan@aol.com.
Monday, April 13, 2009
Thursday, April 9, 2009
Crane Building
Review from an artists perspective:
The Crane building has 4 floors of artist studios and suites. Monthly rental prices range from $280 to $2500 with each unit paying their own separate utility bill. Square footage ranges from 300 to 4000 per individual unit. Currently all of our studios and suites in the Crane Building are occupied. (From the Crane Arts Building Site) www.cranearts.org
I would rate this building as A+++ (The Cadillac of Art Buildings in Philadelphia)
I rented a studio for two years in this building. The building is very beautiful inside. With wide hallways and ample common areas. The tenants in the building range from individual artists to "art" companies such as framers and art moving companies. The building also houses the Ice Box galleries which are the largest and best galleries space in Philadelphia.
Good points about the building: This is a professional artist building
1. Excellent management. Owners are on-site and are very nice to deal with.
2. The building is beautiful. (Large windows, brick walls etc.)
3. Good mix of tenants. Its quiet and well organized.
4. Located at 2200 N. American Street
5. Good parking
6. Safe
Things not so good about this building:
1. Not much to list. This building, like all things in Philadelphia, is fully occupied. It's hard to get in to the building. They have a waiting list. Also the building is getting more expensive. Expect a rent increase yearly.
If you consider it's value, Crane Arts is the best buy in Philadelphia.
Additional information at http://www.trfund.com/resource/downloads/creativity/CraneArts_Final.pdf
Posed by jerry@jerrybennett.net April 2009
The Crane building has 4 floors of artist studios and suites. Monthly rental prices range from $280 to $2500 with each unit paying their own separate utility bill. Square footage ranges from 300 to 4000 per individual unit. Currently all of our studios and suites in the Crane Building are occupied. (From the Crane Arts Building Site) www.cranearts.org
I would rate this building as A+++ (The Cadillac of Art Buildings in Philadelphia)
I rented a studio for two years in this building. The building is very beautiful inside. With wide hallways and ample common areas. The tenants in the building range from individual artists to "art" companies such as framers and art moving companies. The building also houses the Ice Box galleries which are the largest and best galleries space in Philadelphia.
Good points about the building: This is a professional artist building
1. Excellent management. Owners are on-site and are very nice to deal with.
2. The building is beautiful. (Large windows, brick walls etc.)
3. Good mix of tenants. Its quiet and well organized.
4. Located at 2200 N. American Street
5. Good parking
6. Safe
Things not so good about this building:
1. Not much to list. This building, like all things in Philadelphia, is fully occupied. It's hard to get in to the building. They have a waiting list. Also the building is getting more expensive. Expect a rent increase yearly.
If you consider it's value, Crane Arts is the best buy in Philadelphia.
Additional information at http://www.trfund.com/resource/downloads/creativity/CraneArts_Final.pdf
Posed by jerry@jerrybennett.net April 2009
Purpose of the Blog
Purpose of the Blog
As an artist that has been working in Philadelphia for twenty years I have found that it is very difficult to get an objective view or renting studio space in this city. There are lots of buildings that have studio space available. But, the quality of management in those buildings can make your studio experience a nightmare. I have rented three separate spaces in Philadelphia. I moved because of a rent increase into a building that I thought would be an acceptable alternative. I have had a very bad experience and I wanted to share it with other artists so that they can learn from it.
Please share your experiences with this blog. Together we can make Philly a better place for artists. Jerry Bennett April 5, 2009
As an artist that has been working in Philadelphia for twenty years I have found that it is very difficult to get an objective view or renting studio space in this city. There are lots of buildings that have studio space available. But, the quality of management in those buildings can make your studio experience a nightmare. I have rented three separate spaces in Philadelphia. I moved because of a rent increase into a building that I thought would be an acceptable alternative. I have had a very bad experience and I wanted to share it with other artists so that they can learn from it.
Please share your experiences with this blog. Together we can make Philly a better place for artists. Jerry Bennett April 5, 2009
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