A few weeks ago, Steve Stipanovich shared an Artspace progress update: “a project consisting of 60 live/work artists lofts, 36 units in the Buffalo Electric Vehicle Company building, and 24 units in 6 four-plexes located behind the building.”
Artspace’s mission, one successfully fulfilled in other cities including Minneapolis, Portland and Houston, is to create and preserve affordable space for artists and arts organizations. A secondary benefit of that mission is that Artspace often serves as a catalyst for cultural and economic development in the surrounding community.
In addition to the nearly 10,000 sq.ft. of retail space located on the ground floor along Main Street to be leased to arts organizations and arts-friendly businesses, David Torke at fixbuffalo has word of another opportunity for a creative entrepreneur:
Andrew wanted me to share with local entrepreneurs that the building here at 1217 Main Street owned by Artspace is wide open for development. He’d like to explore any business that might be compatible with this emerging arts neighborhood.
Always thought that the spot right here at the corner of Coe Place and Main Street would make an ideal coffee shop.
I think the type of coffee shop David has in mind is Tryst in Adams Morgan (Washington, DC)—a huge room fronted with windows and packed with couches and armchairs–a brilliant mix of café, hangout and, at night, a bar.
My not-so-inner-geek is also drawn to another idea David spotted on CooltownStudios: Affinity Lab—an Adams Morgan incubator/facilitator of creative businesses.
Affinity Lab is a collective work space designed to inspire, encourage and promote the individual and collaborative production of digital media. The Lab has been developed to facilitate the needs of a variety of media production companies, freelancers and entrepreneurs of growing enterprises in Washington DC.
…The Lab is a cross-industry, cross-discipline cabal of producers, entrepreneurs, artists, activists and techies who seek to blur the boundaries of profit/non-profit, digital/analog, commodity/currency, business/pleasure, art/activism.
What do you think it should/could be? More importantly, who wants to make it happen? “Contact Andrew Commers (Artspace Buffalo Project Manager) for additional information. He’s in Buffalo every other week for construction meetings. Plan on meeting up if you have some ideas for the space.”