Growing Pains

The battle over renovating an old firehouse pits art against real estate.

by Brian Hickey

cityspace

CONCRETE PLANS: Kathleen Vissar and Owen Kamihira want to turn a neglected city property into a thriving artists' workshop. A developer has a different idea. Photo By: Michael T. Regan (CLICK IMAGE FOR LARGER VERSION)

With a few days left in his re-election campaign, 5th District City Councilman Darrell Clarke wandered through a cluttered, plaster-splattered art workshop just across Girard Avenue from Northern Liberties. He was surrounded by artisans and neighborhood activists, some of whom sported campaign pins for the well-timed occasion. They were practically begging to get him on their side, so every little bit of goodwill would help.

As his eyes scanned the Wells Vissar Inc. marblized-concrete operation at 1205 N. Fourth St., it was easy for Clarke to feel claustrophobic. Through narrow doorways leading from work room to work room, there were chunks of concrete sitting atop cluttered work stations where workers use an old-world technique called "scagliola" to turn them into pieces of home-design art. The councilman reached a quick conclusion.

"Man," he said to nobody in particular, "you need some more space." Which is precisely what everybody wanted to hear, since they've been saying it themselves for years.

Now, with Clarke easily returned to office, not to mention the voters' overwhelming approval of three zoning-code-reform referendum questions, it remains to be seen what stand the councilman will take in an ongoing squabble pitting small-business growth against real-estate development. At issue is a 114-year-old firehouse a few doors north that studio owner Kathleen Vissar and another neighborhood craftsman/designer want to purchase and retrofit. Saying their services are in growing demand but that their workspaces aren't keeping up, they want to expand their businesses there. They'd also start Kensington Studios, a joint operation that would, among other things, host workshops and create new jobs in a neighborhood that long ago hemorrhaged them.

The problem? When the Philadelphia Industrial Development Corp. (PIDC) decided to sell the firehouse — it's now being used for Recreation Department storage — as part of a citywide property-liquidation-for-profit plan two years ago, they were outbid by a developer who wanted to build 12 new condos there. Now, Vissar and friend/designer Owen Kamihira need Clarke to agree with them that while developer Eric Fox was the high bidder — $1.2 million to $400,000 — the artists' plans represent the property's best use, both for their bottom lines and their neighbors' quality of life.

"I'm passing up a couple jobs a month," explained Kamihira, who created Stephen Starr's prized Buddha. Today, he wonders how he'll be able to put together a proposal to sculpt a 40-foot Jolly Green Giant, which he'd recently been approached about for a potential commission. At this point, he doesn't know whether he'll be able to take it, something that he says wouldn't be an issue at the firehouse.

The artists have been trying to make the case that the city will reap more money from the studio versus tax-abated condos. According to the artists' calculations, in addition to the price for the property itself, they'll drop some $1.67 million into the city coffers over the course of a decade between sales, wage, business privilege and real-estate taxes.

But it's about more than numbers. In addition to getting a zoning change — the property is light industrial, which matches the artists' needs — Fox would likely need community support during the process should his project proceed. That might not be easy, something that Clarke noted during his pre-election visit.

"The residents are anti-condo and pro-Kathleen," explained Lois DiDomenico, chairwoman of the Kensington South Neighborhood Advisory Council's zoning committee. "We want the jobs. We want unique businesses like this to stay in the neighborhood."

That should help her cause, but Vissar says things have not been confrontational since she noticed an "Available" sign on the ornate, yet neglected, firehouse two years ago. (Still, neighbors say they'll rally for the artists should this ever make its way to the Zoning Board of Adjustments, which it would, should the condo bid win out.)

Fox, however, says he's heard little since his bid was initially accepted by PIDC (through its Philadelphia Authority for Industrial Development [PAID] financial arm). Initially, he says he held an informational meet-and-greet to tell neighbors his plans and entertained suggestions that the first floor be commercial development, with the second and third becoming condos. He says Clarke then told him "to stay the course, but then it kind of just went away."

"That is an absolutely beautiful building and if rehabbed, regardless of what the use is, it could be a trophy for the neighborhood," says Fox, who planned on a project with 12 condos and room for 16 parking spaces on the footprint. "It's a shame it's sitting there, covered in graffiti, with nobody doing anything with it. I imagine it's hard to justify not taking a bid that's triple the [artists'] amount."

Still, he hasn't heard anything for months and wonders what he'd do if the bid were officially accepted. "The delay would cause me to take a closer look," Fox says. "The real-estate market has softened, and construction costs have gone up. But, I still have a definite interest in the building."

For her part, Vissar is matter-of-fact when she says, "If we have to move from here, I doubt we'll be able to stay in this neighborhood." Which is precisely what Clarke didn't want to hear.

So after the walk-through, the councilman offered some hope: Department of Public Property Commissioner Joan Schlotterbeck didn't immediately lock in on the high bid, which means their proposal will at least be considered.

"I had a sense of your problem the second I walked in the door," said Clarke.

Like all district councilpeople, he has a major say about development in their areas, though that's expected to change with the zoning referendums, which will alter the Zoning Board's makeup by adding a planner, and establish a group to review zoning codes for an eventual overhaul. While PIDC and PAID aren't legally bound to accept the highest bid, Clarke, who didn't return numerous calls for comment after the election, said the artists' challenge lay in convincing the city that their plan "makes sense on an economic level" since the PIDC's mission is "getting the maximum price."

"It's the intangibles," someone in the 10-person crowd responded, before taking the councilman down the block for a photo op in front of the firehouse. There, Vissar was asked what she'll do if the building, despite all their efforts, goes to another bidder.

"I guess I'll have to find another Plan A," she said. "I don't have a Plan B."

(hickey@citypaper.net)