Art Center For Emeryville

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Current Status

In accordance with the City Council's direction on November 19, 2024 to obtain the services of a fundraising consultant to strategize a capital fundraising campaign, staff circulated a Request for Qualifications in early 2025 and received responses from five firms.  The Art Center Advisory Group recommended the top scoring firm and staff is negotiating a contract with the firm.  Tentative date for City Council review of the fundraising consultant contract is September 2, 2025.  

Background

In March 2006, the Emeryville Redevelopment Agency purchased 4060 Hollis Street, a property located immediately south of City Hall, northeast of the Hollis Street and 40th Street intersection.  The property is 33,697 square feet and is almost completely occupied by a one-story brick building formerly occupied by the United Stamping Company.  The Agency purchased this site for the purpose of adaptive reuse of the existing building to provide space for the annual Emeryville Celebration of the Arts Exhibition as well as year-round performing arts uses.

The Art Center is one of the City Council’s priorities in its Fiscal Year 2025-2026 Strategic Plan, and has been a high priority of the City Council for several years.  The Art Center is also prominently supported by the polices of the 2016 Public Art Master Plan and the 2017 Economic Development Strategic Plan.

From 2006 through 2020, several plans were advanced to implement the Art Center project.  The most recent attempt culminated in a Lease Disposition and Development Agreement (LDDA) between the City and Orton Development Incorporated (ODI) which was executed in October 2020.  The LDDA contained provisions intended to ensure the long-term financial viability of the Art Center, including a provision allowing for the termination of the LDDA if any of the conditions precedent to the lease were impossible to meet.  During the course of implementing the LDDA, the City determined that the submittal of a Financing Plan with Development Costs less than $12,900,000, as required by the conditions precedent to lease, was not possible.  Accordingly, the City provided notice of termination of the LDDA on October 11, 2022.

2023 Project Re-start

On July 18, 2023 the City Council held a study session, where staff reviewed the project’s history in detail and presented several options for proceeding with a re-start of the Art Center project.

The City Council provided direction to staff as follows:

The following project objectives were confirmed:

•     Minimize City subsidy while ensuring fiscal sustainability of operations

•     Maximize civic and community arts-based uses of the facility

•     Expedite completion of the project

•     Utilize robust community engagement in developing programming for the facility

 

The following project key elements were confirmed:

•     Dedicated space for annual Emeryville Celebration of the Arts

•     Dedicated and managed gallery space for local artists

•     Flexible use space suitable for performing arts and other community events

The City Council supported implementation of the project through a “hybrid” implementation approach, where the City would contract for the design and construction of a building that met the minimum, immediate need of providing a suitable facility for the Emeryville Celebration of the Arts and to find a private operating partner later, however, the City Council also urged early and robust engagement of the community to ensure any building constructed through this method is responsive to the community’s needs and not just a building shell, and to advance the discussion on operating models and organizations. 

The City Council indicated openness to the potential for the project to utilize new construction rather than adaptive reuse of the existing unreinforced masonry building on the project site if this approach would improve financial feasibility of the project.

The City Council also directed staff to assemble a “task force” of individuals to advise staff and the Council on implementation of the project, particularly in the area of operational models.

2024 Actions

The City Manager appointed the Art Center Advisory Group ("ACAG") membership on December 18, 2023.  The ACAG is comprised of the following individuals:

•           Community Member: Jean Goldman

•           Emeryville Celebration of the Arts Representative: Sharon Wilchar

•           Performing Arts Focus: Nancy Karp

•           Funding Focus: Frances Phillips

•           Art Center Operations Focus: Holly Alonso, Archana Horsting, Jose R. Rivera

Through 2024 and into 2025, the ACAG has periodically convened to meet with staff and provide advice and recommendations on advancement of the project, as well as review of consultant deliverables.

February 20, 2024, the City Council authorized the execution of a contract with consultants Art is Luv and Jean Johnstone Consulting (AIL/JJC) for advancement of the project through the performance of the following tasks:

  • Review of background documentation (including prior studies, business plans, pro-forma financial statements, cost estimates, etc.)

  • Conduct robust outreach to update prior visioning exercises and arrive at a current vision for the project that is responsive to community needs

  • Engage and help form agenda topics for Advisory Group discussion, input and advice

  • Evaluate the feasibility of reuse of the existing building through architectural and structural subconsultants to determine the most efficient method of delivering a usable building

  • Analyze operational funding and partnership models

  • Develop a framework for organizational structure for operations

AIL/JJC conducted outreach to inform the current vision for the project through interviews, focus groups, and studio site visits with subject matter experts, artists, and local arts organizations.  AIL/JJC also led a discussion of the ACAG to identify key guiding principles for the project, to inform the refresh of the visioning process.  Key conclusions reached by the ACAG include:

  • The ACAG values fulfilling community needs and developing sustainability (both fiscal and environmental) over project expediency

  • The community desires a comprehensive facility which can provide a gallery space as well as a working theater space and educational/flex studio spaces and open areas for events, which will provide a sense of connectedness to City Hall and the cultural life of Emeryville.

  • While funding models, economic feasibility, and potential organizational structures still need to be assessed in order to gain a full understanding of how the Arts Center can best be realized and run, the arts community recognizes the need for building strong partnerships, and a clear vision in order to fundraise and coalesce broader support from institutions and donors.

AIL/JJC, through its subconsultant Leddy Maytum Stacy Architects (LMS), conducted an analysis of the feasibility of reusing the existing structure at 4060 Hollis as compared to new construction.  LMS' report describes a development program that includes flexible gallery space, performing arts space, classrooms and support spaces to allow for a comparative analysis of adaptive use and new construction. 

The analysis found that the costs of these two options are comparable, embodied carbon is also comparable when considering the operating period for the building, and new construction provides for more flexibility to meet the operational needs of art center uses. 

The analysis included high-level cost estimates and found that the construction costs range from $38m to $45m for adaptive reuse and from $41m to $46.5m for new construction.  As these figures substantially exceed the approximately $11m currently available for the project, a reduction in project scope, phasing of project elements, or identification of additional funding is required.

On October 10, 2024 and October 29, 2024 the ACAG met with representatives from AIL/JLC and LMS to discuss the analysis and implementation options.  The ACAG expressed strong support for advancing the project comprehensively by identifying additional funding sources, rather than phasing the project.  The ACAG also noted the importance of locating the Art Center near City Hall as part of the “civic center” of the City and recommended that staff engage the services of a capital fundraising consultant with experience in capital campaigns to develop options and a plan for funding.

On November 19, 2024, the above referenced report and ACAG's recommendations were provided for the City Council's consideration.  As noted above, the City Council directed staff to:

1) Procure the assistance of a fundraising consultant to raise the funds required to build the project as envisioned, and 

2) Proceed with the project as new construction rather than adaptive reuse of the existing structure at 4060 Hollis