After six months on the market, the arts space at Conley’s Wharf at 200 Allens Ave. is at 80 percent capacity, leasing space to more than a dozen tenants who are already collaborating on projects and helping one another build a client base for growth.
The most notable project is one involving Studio 1011 co-owner Finn Yonkers, Gail Cahalan Gallery co-director Dave Loewenstein and Providence Latin American Film Festival director Jose Torrealba.
The three decided the building’s gallery space, which was donated by Patrick Conley, owner and developer of Conley’s Wharf, would be a perfect venue to showcase two local photographers’ documentation of Cuba. They thought the event could help promote the film festival, which is taking place Sept. 22 to 29.
Yonkers leases part of his 3,000-square-foot-space on the third floor of the building to the Providence Latin American Film Festival. He also co-directs the gallery with Loewenstein.
“It was natural to create a gallery opening with the film festival,” Yonkers said. “The idea truly came from talking a lot. … I don’t think the door [between the film festival’s office and Studio 1011’s office] has ever been closed.”
In addition to supporting the film festival, Yonkers said, his staff benefits from having the festival’s film editor in the same space, because it prompts them to help each other with technical aspects of video editing.
Studio 1011 is a marketing firm that specializes in trade-show exhibit design and often incorporates video in its designs.
“It’s much more than just being neighbors, because we do often share ideas,” Yonkers said.
Others in the building appreciate the mix of tenants as well.
Jennifer Luxmoore, owner of a specialty cake and dessert company called Sin Desserts, said she likes that there are graphic designers at Studio 1011 and an illustrator, Matt Doolin, on the third floor. They already have helped her with a sketch for one of her cakes.
Perhaps even more helpful are the wedding photographers, Marcie Revens and Terace Greene of Greene Revens Photography, on the second floor, she said, because it creates an opportunity for referrals.
“When people are coming to see a wedding photographer, it is great for them to walk by my sign,” Luxmoore said.
Many tenants feel they were almost “handpicked” by Lisa Carnevale and Erik Bright, co-founders and operators of the Providence-based nonprofit Partnership for Creative Industrial Space, which purchased a 10-year lease for Conley’s Wharf.
“We’ve taken a lot of time choosing tenants that would work well together,” Bright said.
For example, Bright hopes an architecture firm will move into space near the woodwork design shop Site Specific LLC and stone sculptor Dan Denton of Honed Studio, because he believes they could all “feed off each other,” since they are part of the same industry.
The collaborative and creative energy of the space is clearly an important amenity for tenants, as is the affordable price range of $5 to $9 per square foot. The average price for similar space in Providence is around $15 per square foot.
The foot traffic drawn by conference space used by nonprofits such as the Arts & Business Council of Rhode Island, Save The Bay and Rhode Island Citizens for the Arts creates additional exposure for tenants, as does the building’s proximity to Providence Piers, where the Providence/Newport ferry docks.
As for the viability of developments such as Conley’s Wharf, Carnevale said, she definitely thinks the market could support more affordable space for small creative startups and artists in Providence.
That is evident not only in the short span of time it has taken to almost reach capacity, but also in the fact that many of Conley’s Wharf tenants chose the site because they were either displaced from other office space in the city or wanted to move out of their homes and into an office to support future growth of their business, she said.
Ari Heckman, new project developer and retail tenant recruiter for Providence-based Cornish Associates, agreed that models such as The Plant in Olneyville, which is a similar to Conley’s Wharf, are definitely viable for development in the city.
“We receive phone calls every day for small business office space,” he said. “We’re working on a concept downtown to create collaborative creative office space.”
Heckman said the spaces would be well suited for professionals such as architects and graphic designers looking for 250 to 500 square feet, and rents would be priced below $1,000 per month.
“It is the future of Providence’s economy,” he said. “To really compete in the new millennium requires an entrepreneurial spirit, not from big corporations, but from graduates of the universities staying on and building a business here.” •
