Bushwick, Brooklyn — In one of Bushwick’s gritty industrial nooks, a former textile and tortellini factory has transitioned into a reliable haven for hard-working creative entrepreneurs. Brooklyn Brush Studios at 203 Harrison Place opened in December 2013 and is the third workspace venture for landlord Rafael Alvarez, 41, a Cuban immigrant and former civil engineer.
“I was looking for an office for myself and I thought I could do it better,” said Alvarez, who was shocked at the conditions of many Brooklyn-based workspaces, which often weren’t up to code, had tiny hallways and were missing some of life’s essentials.
“How could you not have toilet paper?” said Alvarez.
So he’s built the new Brooklyn Brush space with the proper permits, large hallways, ample lighting and has people on staff to deal with mail and keep the bathrooms stocked with all of the necessities.
Because the building is up to code and strictly a commercial space, tenants don’t need to worry about the Department of Buildings throwing everyone out for violations. A mass eviction occurred at a competing space a few blocks away several years ago at 1717 Troutman Street because artists were living in the commercially-zoned space.
The tenants in the space, who range from photographers and graphic designers to jewelers and sound mixers, have noticed Alvarez’s attention to detail and commitment to creating a productive work environment.
“He’s the opposite of a slumlord. He’s a guy trying to do it and is very concerned with community,” said Chris Botta, 29, a musician and audio engineer who rents a custom-built, sound-treated unit in the new building. Alvarez put in the work and money, he even went $25,000 over budget on the room, using it as a trial to see what can be done to soundproof a space.
To further cultivate a hard-working and creative community at Brooklyn Brush, Alvarez hired one of his renters to curate exhibitions of tenant artwork in a large open gallery space called Parentheses.
“We’re looking for artists who are really serious about becoming outstanding and talking about how art is a business and how art can really feed you,” said Luis Martin, 32, who is the director of programming and artist affairs at the building. He also rents a unit to create his own vibrant, large-scale collages and paintings.
Martin has used his role to help push tenants to share their work, whether in the Parentheses gallery or during Bushwick Open Studios, an annual event where artists are encouraged to show their spaces to the public.
“I wasn’t planning on showing any work for three years. I was just going to hole myself in until I was ready,” said Annesta Le, 33, a visual artist and daughter of Vietnamese refugees. “Martin was so sweet, he took me and said ‘this is what you need to do’ and we did it, I think like 1,500 people came through and it gave me more confidence.”
Beyond helping show and sell her artwork, Le also had help from Alvarez in making optimal use of her 250-square-foot unit.
“Rafael is really encouraging to grow. I would tell him I need storage for my glasswork and need a desk for my computer so he built shelves, a desk and a storage loft,” said Le, pointing to all of the custom-built handiwork in her cozy little room.
A multimedia production and consulting company called Iris MediaWorks has also been able to grow with Alvarez, literally.
“There’s the opportunity as we grow to add space as we need it and not bite off more than we can chew,” said Colin Holmes, 30, creative director at Iris MediaWorks. The group has expanded to four units at Brooklyn Brush, including space for servers, gear, post production and green screen filming.
Noah Workman, 32, a founder at Iris MediaWorks, touched on the productivity of the building.
“This isn’t a luxury office, it’s a built-out warehouse space. You can always rent fancy spaces, but this is a space for getting work done and we like that,” Workman said.
Co-founder Patrick Rousseau, 33, agreed.
“These spaces are filled with people that are trying to make something happen without a million dollars sitting in a bank account somewhere,” said Rousseau.
The building is currently about 50 percent occupied and units run from $350-per-month for 70-square-feet to $775-per-month for 200-square-feet in units without windows and $495-per-month for 90-square-feet to $830-per-month for 215-square-feet for units with windows. Prices include utilities, wireless internet, a package receiving concierge, conference room and other perks.
