The groups want to buy the $10.5 million five-storey building. The owners are offering to help make it happen
In a city where arts space is steadily being lost to redevelopment and with a high square-footage cost anywhere near downtown, a group of Victoria arts organizations has banded together to buck the trend.
A group made up of X-Changes Gallery, the Victoria Arts Council, Vancouver Island School of Art, CineVic and Errant Art Space is in discussions with the owners of 722 Johnson St. to buy the newly renovated building and establish an arts hub they hope will provide affordable space.
The five-storey building has been listed for sale for $10.5 million.
Spokeswoman Heidi Bergstrom of X-Changes Gallery said they have been looking for this kind of situation for a few years, after concluding that by pooling their lease payments, they could cover a mortgage payment.
Together, the groups pay about $300,000 in rent annually.
They say B.C. arts-funding levels simply can’t keep up with rising rents — between 2013 and 2023, commercial rents in the province surged by 270%, while operating funding from the B.C. Arts Council increased by only 25%.
The difficulty has been getting enough money together for a down payment and to qualify for financing, while continuing to pay rent.
But they may have found the right building owners in Ian Laing and Tim Quocksister to make that happen.
“Ian and Tim are exceptional,” Bergstrom said, noting it was the building owners who approached them, after the arts groups toured the building when it was listed for lease.
Bergstrom said most landlords and property owners tend to walk away when they hear about non-profits interested in space. But Laing and Quocksister have been “working with us quite patiently and providing lots of expertise and inside knowledge.”
She said the group has been apprised of the full cost of running the building and what is required to make it happen. “We found we could actually afford this.”
Laing and Quocksister recently completed a $2-million renovation at the former government building they acquired in 2016 for $5.085 million.
Laing said they decided to reach out to the arts groups because they liked what they were working toward — establishing an arts district on the 700-block of Johnson.
“They’re great people and we would like to see them succeed,” he said. “For us, it’s just another property and we try not to get attached to properties.”
Laing said he’d rather see the group take over ownership in the long run, and is willing to work with them to make it happen, exploring options ranging from helping the group raise money for a down payment to renting to own or holding a mortgage for them and having them pay it off over time.
“The goal is [to establish] a cultural land trust and have them in ownership, because if they are just a tenant, what will happen is exactly what happens everywhere else — as the market ebbs and flows, the rent keeps getting increased, all their taxes, everything gets increased with their common costs,” he said, noting that eventually leads to arts groups and non-profits being forced out of their spaces.
It’s the kind of message arts groups have been hoping for.
“Buying a building makes sense,” Bergstrom said. “This is hurting [arts groups] in more ways than financially. We feel threatened, we feel very sad that all of our volunteer work is going to pay a landlord.”
Bergstrom said that over the next several months, the group will start fundraising and applying for grants, aiming to raise approximately $2 million, which represents 20-25 per cent of what could be the ultimate purchase price.
If the group succeeds, the plan is to set up a large gallery with presentation and exhibition space on the ground floor, and production, studios and workshops on the second floor.
The top two floors and the roof are leased to a daycare, which has the space until 2032.
Bergstrom said they are looking at creative ways to raise money beyond just donations.
“I think people are a little worn out of making donations,” she said. “We’re trying to put together a funding stack that includes capital and also some innovative things like community bonds. This is a great way for people, the community, to actually invest.”
They will also reach out to foundations and other groups to partner with or contribute to.
As for establishing the 700-block of Johnson Street as an arts district, the Other Guise theatre space is next door, and there are rumours of two arts groups eyeing space across the street.
“We want to create value here that brings back to the community and helps this part of town as well,” Bergstrom said.
Matthew Payne, artistic director of the Other Guise Theatre Company, which is renovating a building at 716 Johnson St. in hopes of opening its doors this summer, said they’re excited at the prospect of a visual arts hub next door.
“With all the challenges that downtown is facing right now, performances and events that attract people to the 700-block of Johnson are greatly needed,” he said. “The arts are absolutely a part of the solution for a strong, livable downtown.”
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