Landlords Turn to Artists to Fill Empty Commercial Spaces - NYTimes.com

As the recession drags on and storefronts across New York remain empty, commercial landlords are turning to an unlikely new class of tenants: artists, who in flusher times tend to get pushed out rather than lured in. And the price of entry is not deep pockets, but vivid imaginations and splashy exhibits � anything to lend their darkened buildings a sense of life.

On terms that are cut-rate and usually temporary � a few weeks or months � the artist gets a gallery or studio, and the landlord gets a vibrant attraction that may deter crime and draw the next wave of paying tenants.

�Any sort of activity is better than no activity,� said Jed Walentas, a Brooklyn developer whose company Two Trees Management routinely lends space in Dumbo and Downtown Brooklyn for art projects. �As long as it�s short enough and it�s flexible, then there�s no real cost. So the question is who can you find that�s going to make an investment in a space with that level of uncertainty, and often it�s the artist.�


So now as you walk down the street in many parts of NYC, you see art canvases into of empty windows and For Rent signs.