ART/ifact Studios is closing, citing financial struggles. It is the second business in three months to leave a Lakeland Community Redevelopment Agency-owned building. A third, The Well, mistakenly believed for weeks that it would have to leave its building after the CRA sent a confusingly worded letter expressing “intent to not renew the lease.”
End of ART/ifact: On Friday afternoon, Eli Chinchilla, the director of ART/ifact, posted a letter on social media, saying that after seven years, ART/ifact was closing. ART/ifact is a non-profit artists’ cooperative, with artists paying $100 to $250 a month for studio space and the group hosting art shows periodically.
“I’ll confess I’ve been dreading making this announcement and at a total loss for words with how to even begin making it,” Chinchilla wrote. “It is with the heaviest heart that I share the difficult news of ART/ifact’s closure.”
What is the CRA? The Lakeland CRA is a governmental agency that was created in 1977 “to help stimulate development and to address blighted conditions and disinvestment in the core of the city.” There are three redevelopment areas: Downtown, Midtown and Dixieland.
The agency intervenes by taking over land and abandoned properties, making capital improvements, creating plans for areas, leasing spaces to businesses and developing programs. Its activities are intended to stimulate private investment.
In 2016, the CRA bought or took over several blighted 1920s buildings along Massachusetts Avenue in an effort to convert the area from troubled to trendy. The CRA spent $5 million refurbishing or demolishing and rebuilding them before leasing to several groups including:
- Yard on Mass, a used car lot transformed into a bar and entertainment venue.
- Haus 820, an event space large enough to seat 500 people.
- ART/ifact artists’ studios and gallery.
- DOU Bakehouse.
- Crystal’s World of Dance, which offers after-school programs and tutoring in addition to dance.
Some success stories that have come out of partnerships with the CRA — although not all in CRA-owned buildings — include:
- The Joinery, a popular food hall on Lake Mirror.
- The Well on Parker Street, a meeting and event center, along with a shared business space.
- Union Hall in Dixieland, a live music venue and event space.
- The Federal Building on Tennessee Street downtown, which houses two restaurants — MOJO Federal Swine & Spirits and The Back Nine.
Between January and March, the CRA sent all tenants of its properties appraisals of their buildings in the hope that some could buy their properties, either this year or in coming years, which has been the plan all along.
The closure of ART/ifact
ART/ifact’s opening: ART/ifact opened in 2017, along with the neighboring Haus 820, an event space that has become popular for weddings. The two groups shared one divided building that the CRA invested substantial sums to reclaim.
Two issues: CRA Director Valerie Vaught said ART/ifact’s issues were non- or partial-payment of rent and lack of liability insurance.
Letters provided by the CRA show ART/ifact stopped paying its rent in January, when it received the appraisal of its space. On July 9, the CRA sent ART/ifact a letter saying it was “in material breach of multiple terms and conditions of the lease agreement” by “failing to pay regular monthly rental payments and other fees owed.” The total past-due balance owed by ART/ifact Studios was $10,667.40. ART/ifact had also failed to obtain general liability insurance. The CRA gave ART/ifact 10 days to pay the outstanding balance of rent in full and obtain insurance.
The same day, Chinchilla paid the CRA $5,000, but was unable to produce the remainder of the money or insurance.
On July 25, Vaught sent Chinchilla an eviction notice, stating ART/ifact and its subtenants had 60 days to remove all personal property and return the property to the condition that existed prior to their occupation, minus reasonable wear and tear.
Struggling artists: Chinchilla told LkldNow on Monday afternoon that some artists had fallen behind on rent or forgotten to pay, but she did not want them to feel guilty. It was an ongoing issue, one on which the city had always been willing to give them the grace to get caught up.
“The money that comes in is what goes out,” said Chinchilla, who has suffered from health problems recently and also went through a divorce. “We don’t make a profit, so I’ve tried to be as discreet as possible.”
Possible purchase: Haus 820 is considering buying the entire property, Vaught said.
“Haus is currently evaluating their funding/financing, which is favorable for the 820 N. Mass building,” Vaught said. “Keep in mind they also occupy The Collective office space at 830 N. Massachusetts; therefore it would require some additional consideration. It’s a bit too early to make any assumptions, as the CRA would need to provide legal notice of disposition first, accept proposals, then present the contract to both the CRA Advisory Board and CRA Board/City Commission for approval.”
At least one artist said she paid her rent every month to ART/ifact and that if the artists didn’t pay on time, they were told they would be evicted — but to her knowledge, no one ever was.
“I’m very sad,” Beverly Williams said. “I waited to get in and, because of COVID they had some openings,” she said. “It was a dream of mine to have my own studio and to have gotten it was such a blessing. I feel like I produced some of my best artwork here and will view my time here as a dream come true.”
Community rallies for The Well
The Well: The CRA also sent a letter of nonrenewal of lease to The Well on Parker Street, about a block away.
The wording of The Well’s letter made it sound as though they would have to leave their building, too, alarming its founders, Sallie and Mario Stone, and others, who spoke at Monday’s City Commission meeting.
“The LCRA is providing formal notice of its intent to not renew the lease for the property located at 114 E Parker Street,” the letter reads. “As stipulated in the Lease Agreement, either party reserves the right to provide written notice of intent not to renew the lease at least 120 days prior to the end of the initial term … Accordingly, the Lease Agreement will expire at the end of its initial term, at 11:59 p.m. on Monday, Dec. 16, 2024.”
But Mayor Bill Mutz explained they were not being forced out. The property was now available for purchase and the Stones have the right to match anyone’s offer to keep the building themselves. If no offer is made, they could continue to lease.
“You’d have the first right of refusal to match that price, so there’s all kinds of variables,” Mutz said.
Unlike ART/ifact, Stone said The Well is current on its lease payments and the business is financially sound.
Problematic letter wording: Stone founded The Well in 2016 as a meeting and business space that serves Lakeland’s minority community and others.
“This notice of termination has raised significant concerns for me as owner, but it also has caused a high-level concern for the entrepreneurs we support, organizations and the community at large that we connect and collaborate with,” Stone told commissioners.
Multiple community members stood up to speak on Stone’s behalf.
Ileah Green, whose family has lived in Lakeland for several generations, wants the city to do better in communicating with business owners.
“The language that was used was extremely harsh,” Green said. “The information that was in a letter, or the lack of information, and the tone was super problematic and has put everyone in the community in a tailspin. And I think it’s worth taking the time to acknowledge yourselves, ‘How can we do better? How can we communicate better?’”
Vaught said the notice for The Well was written by the city attorney’s office.
“The intent was to negotiate a successor lease agreement, to effectively replace the existing lease and find terms agreeable to both parties moving forward,” she said.
Vaught provided a document showing Stone offered to buy the property from the city for $465,000 at a 0% interest rate, with a 30% down payment of $139,500. She asked that the city hold the mortgage. The city declined that offer.
Closure of The Yard on Mass
Another closure: ART/ifact is the second business in the Massachusetts Avenue block that has closed. Yard on Mass announced in mid-May that it was closing its doors because it was struggling financially.
Vaught and Craig Morby, co-founder of Project Redfish which owns the business, made the announcement during the CRA’s monthly meeting in May.
CRA documents show that Project Redfish invested nearly $692,000, while the CRA spent $778,400, for a total of $1.38 million.
Morby and the CRA had been speaking for several months about terminating the lease and giving Project Redfish a payout from the CRA for its investment in the property. They settled on $250,000.
City Manager Shawn Sherrouse said Project Redfish invested far more funding than any of the other CRA business owners.
Editor’s note: This story has been corrected to show that The Well founder Sallie Stone offered to buy her organization’s building from the city.
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The ART/ifact studio is where a lot of high school seniors get their senior pictures done for the yearbook. Where will this be at in the future?
Weird because myself and countless other artists paid our rent…