The city regulation that was designed to limit residency in SoHo lofts to artists is no longer being ignored, according to a front-page article in today's edition of The New York Times by Christine Haughney.
Over the last year or so, the article said that banks have begun withholding mortgages and co-op boards began ordering residents to apply to the city for certification as an artist and "last year, for the first time anyone could remember, the city rejected as many applications as it approved, in a cryptic process that mystifies those who have gone through it."
"The sudden re-awakening of the artist-in-residency requirement is making it hard for SoHo to keep up its real estate vibe," the article maintained.
The rule applies to nearly all owner-occupied residential buildings in roughly five dozen blocks north of Canal Street and south of Houston Street. It permitted the use of these former industrial spaces as residences so long as each apartment contained an artist certified by the city, the article noted, adding that "the names of the two judges who decide are not available to the public. The article said that Danai Pointer, a spokeswoman for the Department of Cultural Affairs said that "the law defines artists broadly and includes a variety of disciplines."
The article said that the Department of Buildings, which is not supposed to grant certificates of occupancy unless each apartment has a certified artist, has "overlooked the fact that may residents were not artists by repeatedly granting these buildings temporary certificates."
Banks, the article continued, "which have been tougher on all kinds of borrowers as a result of the foreclosure crisis, are now skittish about giving loans in buildings that have an artist-in-residency requirement.
The Department of Cultural Affairs has certified about 3,400 artists since 1971, but the article said the number of applicants shrank as the lofts filled out and the requirements began to be ignored, adding that "from 2003 to 2008, the department certified 164 artists and rejected 11" but last year "the department accepted 14 artists and rejected 14."
The article said that Sean Sweeney, the director of the SoHo Alliance, a civic group, said that real estate brokers had approached him about trying to persuade the city to do away from the rule but he said he had declined to do so.
In the 1960s, many artists began moving into SoHo and living in their studios as the area was losing many of its industrial tenants. Before long, art galleries began opening up and the neighborhood became very chic and artists began to worry they might be priced out of the area. To protect these "pioneers" the city adopted the artist-in-residency regulation.
Over the last year or so, the article said that banks have begun withholding mortgages and co-op boards began ordering residents to apply to the city for certification as an artist and "last year, for the first time anyone could remember, the city rejected as many applications as it approved, in a cryptic process that mystifies those who have gone through it."
"The sudden re-awakening of the artist-in-residency requirement is making it hard for SoHo to keep up its real estate vibe," the article maintained.
The rule applies to nearly all owner-occupied residential buildings in roughly five dozen blocks north of Canal Street and south of Houston Street. It permitted the use of these former industrial spaces as residences so long as each apartment contained an artist certified by the city, the article noted, adding that "the names of the two judges who decide are not available to the public. The article said that Danai Pointer, a spokeswoman for the Department of Cultural Affairs said that "the law defines artists broadly and includes a variety of disciplines."
The article said that the Department of Buildings, which is not supposed to grant certificates of occupancy unless each apartment has a certified artist, has "overlooked the fact that may residents were not artists by repeatedly granting these buildings temporary certificates."
Banks, the article continued, "which have been tougher on all kinds of borrowers as a result of the foreclosure crisis, are now skittish about giving loans in buildings that have an artist-in-residency requirement.
The Department of Cultural Affairs has certified about 3,400 artists since 1971, but the article said the number of applicants shrank as the lofts filled out and the requirements began to be ignored, adding that "from 2003 to 2008, the department certified 164 artists and rejected 11" but last year "the department accepted 14 artists and rejected 14."
The article said that Sean Sweeney, the director of the SoHo Alliance, a civic group, said that real estate brokers had approached him about trying to persuade the city to do away from the rule but he said he had declined to do so.
In the 1960s, many artists began moving into SoHo and living in their studios as the area was losing many of its industrial tenants. Before long, art galleries began opening up and the neighborhood became very chic and artists began to worry they might be priced out of the area. To protect these "pioneers" the city adopted the artist-in-residency regulation.
Architecture Critic
Carter Horsley
Since 1997, Carter B. Horsley has been the editorial director of CityRealty. He began his journalistic career at The New York Times in 1961 where he spent 26 years as a reporter specializing in real estate & architectural news. In 1987, he became the architecture critic and real estate editor of The New York Post.
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