The Revitalist

A new redevelopment in Hyde Park will offer market rate artist studios, something relatively rare on the market these days. Long-time Boston developer Harold Brown, The Hamilton Company, is rehabbing part of Westinghouse Plaza, formerly a shop for manufacturing industrial fans, into the Lofts at Westinghouse. The 62 units will have live/work studios ranging from 967-1,161 sf, selling at $200,000-$245,000, and 640 sf, live-only units for $165,000. These studios will add to the growing artist community in Hyde Park, largely represented by the Hyde Park Art Association. Heidi Burbidge, from the BRA's Artist Space Initiative says, "We're excited about it because this is the first time we'll really see what the demand is for market-rate artist space."

We'll be watching closely. We're considering artist space in a few of our projects, and it will be interesting to see how the market rate stuff fares. From what we've heard, price is the driving factor when it comes to artist studios. It's tough to rehab a building in Boston and keep costs low enough for the artists, but these prices should attract a lot of attention.