Artist Space Trust, which keeps housing permanently affordable for Bay Area artists and first-time homebuyers, is accepting applications for a duplex in SF’s Mission District, which will be the first property in its Artist Housing Commons network.
Artist Space Trust began accepting applications for Celadon House, the first property in the Berkeley-based nonprofit's Artist Housing Commons, a growing collection of homes and creative spaces intended to remain affordable for artists across the Bay Area, as the SF Examiner reports. Applications are open through November 22, and the Mission District property will eventually house two artist households.
According to KQED, Artist Space Trust uses a community land trust model, retaining ownership of the land while selling homes to qualified buyers at well below market rate. It is reportedly the first organization in the nation to use this model specifically for artists. Many properties are donated by owners who are artists themselves who want to help artists remain in the Bay Area, as was the case with Celadon House.
Applicants for Celadon House must be first-time homebuyers in households of two to seven people earning no more than 80% of the area median income, which is currently $134,500 for a two-person household and $168,100 for a four-person household. Qualified applicants can pursue mortgages through Habitat for Humanity Greater San Francisco.
Artist Space Trust is offering the first unit for less than one-third of its appraised value, with prices structured to keep housing costs within reach of lower-income buyers.
The organization was established in 2023 with help from Vital Arts, whose executive director, Sharmi Basu, lost more than a dozen friends in the 2016 Ghost Ship fire in Oakland, per KQED. The tragedy highlighted the need for safer, more stable spaces for artists, many of whom have struggled to find affordable places to live and create.
“The Bay Area is in a state of extreme housing precarity,” Basu said in a statement.
Artist Space Trust executive director Meg Shiffler told KTVU the organization hopes to house 300 artist households over the next decade through Artist Housing Commons, which will include individual homes, rental units, and live-work spaces in San Francisco, Berkeley, and Oakland.
“The nonprofit Artist Space Trust will own the land forever and then rent or sell the home or the units on top of it to qualified low-income artists generation after generation after generation,” Shiffler said, speaking to KTVU.
The organization has reportedly secured $15 million in properties that have been donated or are expected to be donated in the coming years. Some are conventional single-family homes, while others offer opportunities to create additional housing, including a site with a house, a warehouse, and space for another unit.
Before launching Artist Housing Commons, Artist Space Trust helped Oakland artist Jaelynn Walls buy a home through a partnership with the Northern California Land Trust. As KQED reported, Walls secured $168,000 in down payment assistance through CalHOME, a state program for first-time homebuyers, allowing them to buy a three-bedroom home in East Oakland and put more of their income toward their creative work.
“Just having a place to land, and not feeling like I could have the rug pulled out from under me at any moment by the greater powers that be, such as a landlord or a housing company, is very assuring,” Walls told KQED. “This is pretty much the greatest thing that has ever happened to me in terms of my creative practice.”
A 2015 survey of San Francisco artists reportedly found that 70% had experienced displacement from their homes, workspaces, or both, while a 2021 Berkeley survey found that most artists surveyed were low-income, with 77% spending a burdensome share of their income on housing.
Artist Space Trust is also looking to expand options for artists earning less than 60% of the area median income, including through potential tiny homes and condominiums. According to KQED, for households earning 60% to 80% of the median income, the nonprofit aims to set prices so monthly housing costs consume no more than 30% of income.
The organization credits property owners for doing their part to help younger artists thrive in the Bay Area by choosing to donate their homes rather than selling them at current market prices.
The push to preserve housing for artists comes as other projects move forward in San Francisco. Per KQED, construction began over the summer on the Artists Hub on Market as well as a separate artist housing development by Mercy Housing California.
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