- Real Estate Solutions
Bloomberg CityLab: One Strategy for the Arts to Beat Gentrification: Buy the Building
A wave of arts nonprofits are turning to new financial and organizational models to survive the pressure of high real estate prices.
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CAST In The News
Recent Articles
- Read more about Bloomberg CityLab: One Strategy for the Arts to Beat Gentrification: Buy the Building
- Read more about SF Standard: Why Oakland’s Struggling Office Market Was Good News for This Black-Owned Business
- Real Estate Solutions
SF Standard: Why Oakland’s Struggling Office Market Was Good News for This Black-Owned Business
With $2.5 million in financing help from CAST and lending support from Community Vision, Oakstop was able to purchase its flagship building at 1721 Broadway for $8 million.
- Read more about Next City: For Years, Philanthropy Has Been Trying to Buy Buildings For The Arts. Now We Know It Works
- Real Estate Solutions
Next City: For Years, Philanthropy Has Been Trying to Buy Buildings For The Arts. Now We Know It Works
San Francisco’s CounterPulse shows how arts organizations can take advantage of a lease-to-own model developed by CAST.
Press Archive
2025
- 5/21/2025 San Francisco Examiner – Savvy group sees homes for arts groups in low building prices
- 4/30/2025 ARTnews: Morning Links – San Fran’s Pier 29 to become exhibition space
- 4/29/2025 Axios San Francisco: Where bay meets brush: Pier 29 reimagined as hub for SF’s artists
- 4/24/2025 Hoodline: San Francisco Port Commision approves lease for city’s largest artist hub at Pier 29
- 4/22/2025 San Francisco Chronicle: Massive art and culture hub coming to S.F. pier that’s been empty for more than a decade
- 4/20/2025 CoStar News: How the US real estate reset gives nonprofits and small businesses a second chance
- 2/12/2025 CoStar News: Historic San Francisco theater building to become arts and culture hub
- 2/12/2025 The Real Deal: Group I sells historic SF building instead of converting it
- 2/11/2025 SF YIMBY: Plans shift for Warfield building conversion in San Francisco
- 2/11/2025 San Francisco Business Times: New owner will convert Mid-Market building to an arts and culture hub
- 2/10/2025 KQED: KALW to move into ‘arts hub’ above SF Warfield Theatre
- 2/10/2025 San Francisco Chronicle: This historic S.F. office building was going to become housing, now it’s slated to be an arts hub
- 1/18/2025 The Globe and Mail: The arts are facing a real estate crisis. Here are four ways artists are trying to fix it
2024
- 12/23/2024 San Francisco Chronicle: This S.F. downtown property was supposed to be a co-living tower. Now it’s a nonprofit’s home
- 9/27/2024 KQED: SF to Buy New Home for GLBT Museum, Preserving Century of LGBTQ History
- Summer 2024 Stanford Social Innovation Review: Real Estate for the Artists
- 6/21/2024 Mercury News: Black Cultural Zone hub in East Oakland pushes ahead with bank grant
- 5/29/2024 Bloomberg CityLab: One Strategy for the Arts to Beat Gentrification: Buy the Building
- 2/15/2024 Oaklandside: Eastmont affordable housing and food hall project one step closer to reality
2023
- 5/22/2023 The San Francisco Standard: Why Oakland’s Struggling Office Market Was Good News for This Black-Owned Business
- 5/16/2023 Next City: For Years, Philanthropy Has Been Trying To Buy Buildings For The Arts Now We Know It Works
- 5/11/2023 Broke-Ass Stuart: Big win for Black owned real estate and Black artists in Oakland
- 5/9/2023 San Francisco Business Times: Coworking provider Oakstop buys flagship office building in Uptown Oakland
- 4/14/2023 San Francisco Business Times: Founding executive of Community Arts Stabilization Trust steps down
- 3/23/2023 Broke-Ass Stuart: San Francisco’s newest art center & nonprofit success story
- 3/8/2023 San Francisco Chronicle: New funding model gives arts groups firmer footing in downtown S.F.
- 2/16/2023 The San Francisco Standard: Downtown SF May Be Dead. But This Arts Organization Just Bought a Building in the Tenderloin
- 2/3/2023 San Francisco Business Times: CounterPulse finalizes $7M acquisition of its San Francisco venue
- 1/19/2023 Broke-Ass Stuart: SF’s newest theater opened with the amazing Neo-Futurists!
- 1/14/2023 San Francisco Chronicle: S.F. Neo-Futurists move into 447 Minna amid changing downtown theater landscape
2022
- 10/30/2022 San Francisco Chronicle: One tower or two? San Francisco’s newest high-rise wants to have it both ways
- 6/21/2022 WBUR: To fight displacement, artists are buying up Boston real estate
- 3/10/2022 Broke-Ass Stuart: CounterPulse within reach of building purchase in TL
- 3/3/2022 Real Estate Weekly: 5M Mixed-Use Cultural Arts District in San Francisco Celebrates its Grand Opening with the Debut of Downtown’s Newest Park
- 3/2/2022 Commercial Property Executive: Brookfield Properties Completes $1B Mixed-Use in San Francisco
- 3/1/2022 Fast Company: How one arts organization saved itself when Twitter moved in next door
2021
- 12/16/2021 Oakland North: Five years after Ghost Ship: How local organizations are fighting artist displacement
- 10/20/2021 Oaklandside: Plans for East Oakland’s Liberation Park include affordable housing, commercial and creative space
- 9/24/2021 San Francisco Business Times: San Francisco’s 5M development is poised for a grand opening
- 5/24/2021 San Francisco Chronicle: Saying they’re key to Oakland’s comeback, artists at virtual town hall explore ways to influence city budget
- 2/26/2021 Mission Local: Florida Street parking lot will become 168 units of housing
2020
- 12/8/2020 Next City: Permanently Affordable Real Estate for Arts and Culture Matters
2019
- 12/30/2019 San Francisco Chronicle: Historic printing plant to become arts and performance hub at 5M project
- 9/26/2019 Hyperallergic: It’s A Gold Rush Town: How Artists Survive in San Francisco
- 6/20/2019 San Francisco Chronicle: $1 billion 5M project starts construction, transforming South of Market
- 6/5/2019 Bay City Beacon: Betti Ono Art Gallery Sets New Precedent in Oakland with Long-Term Lease
- 3/25/2019 San Francisco Chronicle: Court of appeal clears way for 5M development project to go forward in San Francisco
2018
- 11/21/2018 KQED: London Steals San Francisco Cultural Anti-Displacement Idea
- 11/16/2018 World Cities Culture Forum: World Cities Culture Report 2018 (pg. 212)
- 10/2018 Grantmakers In the Arts (GIA) Reader, Vol 29, No 2 (Fall 2018): Challenging Space Affordability: Community Arts Stabilization Trust
- 6/13/2018 Redefine Magazine: A United Cultural Front, Part 1: Models of Space Preservation & Creation from Oakland & Seattle
- 5/2/2018 World Cities Culture Forum: World Cities Culture Forum Announces Leadership Awards Across 9 Global Cities
- 3/16/2018 San Francisco Chronicle: This CAST of Characters Helps Keep SF Arts Groups in Business
- 3/6/2018 SF Recreation and Park Department: SF Rec and Parks Transforms Historic Car Barn into Youth Performing Arts Center
- 3/1/2018 Dancers’ Group – In Dance: Keeping and Creating Arts Space with CAST
- 2/17/2018 Oregon Public Broadcasting – State of Wonder: How Can Portland Save Space for Artists?
- 1/17/2018 East Bay Express: Oakland’s Black Artists Make Space for Themselves
- 1/2/2018 East Bay Times: Oakland Nonprofits Get $350k to Keep Space
2017
- 12/26/2017 East Bay Express: Wanted: Space for the Arts
- 11/30/2017 Community Arts Stabilization Trust: Fourteen Arts and Cultural Organizations Receive Financial Assistance to Stay in Oakland
- 8/8/2017 World Cities Culture Forum: Making Space for Culture (pg. 29)
- 7/5/2017 San Francisco Chronicle: Geneva Car Barn en route to new life as arts center
- 6/15/2017 Hoodline: Rec & Parks Approves $3 Million To Transform Geneva Car Barn
- 5/4/2017 Community Arts Stabilization Trust: Six Arts and Cultural Organizations Receive Assistance to Stay in Oakland
2016
- 12/06/2016 City of Oakland – Office of the Mayor: Mayor Libby Schaaf Announces Major $1.7M Philanthropic Investment to Help Create Safe & Affordable Space for Oakland’s Arts Community
2015
- 11/25/2015 Mercury News: Q&A: Moy Eng, on keeping San Francisco rents affordable for artists
- 8/5/2015 KQED Arts: CounterPulse Previews its Future Home in the Tenderloin
- 6/18/2015 Nonprofit Quarterly: Property Trust Stabilizes Arts Organizations in a Difficult Real Estate Environment
- 6/17/2015 KQED Arts: San Francisco Arts Groups on Path to Becoming Property Owners
- 4/2/2015 Northern California Community Loan Fund: NCCLF Announces First Round of Grants for Nonprofit Displacement Mitigation Program
- 1/14/15 Community Development Investment Review: Arts for the City: Community Arts and Affordability Innovations in San Francisco
- 1/8/15 New York Times: As Wealth Changes the Tenderloin, a Move to Preserve Artistic ‘Gems’
2014
- 10/20/14 Northern California Community Loan Fund: The San Francisco Nonprofit Displacement Mitigation Program for Arts, Cultural and Social Service Sectors
- 10/20/14 San Francisco Arts Commission: Northern California Community Loan Fund receives $4.515 million to administer grants and technical support to arts and social service nonprofits to help mitigate displacement
- 9/6/14 San Francisco Arts Commission: SF Arts Commission Awarded Federal Grant to Support Community Arts Stabilization Trust
- 9/4/14 The Council on Foundations: The Council on Foundations Announces 2014 Recipients of Distinguished Service Award and Robert W. Scrivner Award for Creative Grantmaking
- 9/4/14 Nonprofit Quarterly: Community Foundations Shine in CoF Awards to Philanthropists
- 6/24/14 Theatre Communications Group: Market Forces: San Francisco’s mid-Market Corridor is in rapid transformation. Will the changes jibe with the post-gentrification vision of its performing-arts stakeholders?
- 5/14/14 Western City: Inspiring the Creative Economy: How Cities Increase Economic Activity Through Innovation and The Arts
- 4/24/14 The Bold Italic: Fixing the Housing Crisis with Artist Owned Buildings
- 1/24/14 Kenneth Rainin Foundation: The Arts in Boomtown: San Francisco’s Space Crisis
- 12/9/14 Kenneth Rainin Foundation Announces New Arts Initiative
2013
- 11/22/13 7×7: CounterPulse Gets a New Home
- 11/19/13 Kenneth Rainin Foundation: San Francisco Mayor Announces Community Arts Stabilization Trust
- 11/15/13 San Francisco Business Times: Nonprofit acquires Mid-Market, Tenderloin building
- 11/14/13 Bay Area Reporter: Lee, Kim announce real estate deal to help arts groups
- 11/14/13 KCBS: Nonprofit will help arts organizations stay in Mid-Market, Tenderloin neighborhoods
- 11/14/13 San Francisco Guardian: New pilot program helps arts nonprofits find new homes
- 11/14/13 San Francisco Examiner: Foundation acquires buildings to keep arts in Mid-Market
- 11/13/13 Mayor Edwin Lee’s Press Announcement (Video)
- 11/13/13 San Francisco Sentinel: Mayor announces new nonprofit venture to provide permanent homes for arts organizations in Central Market and the Tenderloin
- 11/13/13 ABC 7 News: Pilot project hopes to help artists stay in San Francisco
- 11/12/13 SF Gate: Nonprofit helping arts groups stay in Mid-Market
Past Panels & Symposiums
- 4/16/24 California for the Arts CA Arts & Culture Summit 2024: Arts & Housing Work/Space (Sacramento, CA)
- 6/28/23 Arts for a Better Bay Area State of the Arts Summit 2023: Rebuilding Our Communities (San Francisco, CA)
- 4/5/23 Left Bank Co: Making Space for Culture Symposium (Sydney, Australia)
- 3/31/22 Commonwealth Club of California – The Michelle Meow Show: The Art of the Fair Deal: Securing Space for the Arts in San Francisco (televised)
- 10/27/21 NextCity: How To Preserve Arts & Culture Spaces During and After a Pandemic (webinar)
- 10/14/21 Arts for LA: State of the Arts Summit | Affordable Space & the Creative Sector (digital conference)
- 10/20/19 COCAP: Nourishing Community Wealth (Oakland/San Francisco, CA)
- 10/1-10/6/19 After Tomorrow 2019+: Oakland in Saint-Denis (Saint-Denis, France)
- 6/13/19 Northern California Grantmakers: Increasing Access to Space for Artists and Nonprofit Art Organizations (San Francisco, CA)
- 3/4/19 City of Vancouver: Creative City Strategy Symposium | Securing Local Arts and Culture Spaces (Vancouver, BC, Canada)
- 11/14-11/16/18 World Cities Culture Forum: 2018 World Cities Culture Summit | Making Space for Culture (San Francisco, CA)
- 10/25/18 Social Capital Markets: SOCAP 2018 Conference | Creative Workspaces and Quality Jobs (San Francisco, CA)
- 10/23/18 Grantmakers in the Arts: 2018 GIA Conference | Placekeeping and Practice (Oakland, CA)
- 6/4-6/8/18 World Cities Culture Forum & Artscape: Innovations in Creative Space and Placemaking (Toronto, Canada)
- 11/6/14 Northern California Grantmakers: Addressing Displacement of Nonprofit Organizations (San Francisco, CA)
- 10/14/14 Grantmakers in the Arts: The Community Arts Stablilization Trust, An Inventive Model to Secure Affordable Homes for Arts Organizations (Houston, TX)
- 10/3/14 24th International Sculpture Conference: Creative Placemaking and Community Gentrification (New Orleans, LA)
- 9/2/14 SPUR: Fighting Nonprofit Displacement (San Francisco, CA)
- 7/29/14 San Francisco Magazine: Corporate Philanthropy in Today’s Tech World (San Francisco, CA)