Alternative Reading: Bill Erlich as Beacon's Saviour?

In the middle of the Summer, in the span of two weeks, I had as many conversations with two people and the topic ran to the development of Beacon as a viable art mecca in the wake of the opening of Dia:Beacon. Each person, active in the arts, one of them more closely involved with the machinations here in town, and the other a knowledgeable viewer from a more distanced position spoke about Erlich as Beacon power broker, and his role in potentially taking up all the oxygen in Beacon's redevelopment potential by swallowing up much of the viable, properties.

Of the planned projects that have been widely known and which have fallen through, and at least one I recently learned about which - could have been rather interesting and which had also fallen through
So here's an alternative take on the strain of thought that Ehrlich's property hoarding choked off the potential for a robust rebound in Beacon's fortunes;  What if Bill Ehrlich's actions, and those of his company, Beacon Terminal Associates, actually helped prevent an even faster frenzy of development that may have had unintended, unfavorable consequences?  What if the Beacon's economic revival/redevelopment, though slower and drawn out, turns out to be more organic, and sustainable for the long run?
Just a thought.

"Name That Collection Of Artist Studios Formerly Known As Bulldog Studios" Contest!

As of late, I have found myself occasionally referring Beacon Studios as Bulldog, which I'm sure is some sort of violation of trademark. I notice that I'm not the only one either. I've heard many folks (even a few residents) roll back to the more engrained moniker in conversation, and there are still many people coming to maykr via searches for Bulldog Studios.

Like it or not, the Bulldog name was concise, and singularly identifying. 'Beacon Studios' has neither of those attributes, nor does it truly capture the imagination. Not only does it consist of 5 syllables, there is no neat manner of abbreviating it to the 2-syll format which has continued to be all the rage in upwardly hip enclaves around the nation; ala SOHO, or, as I heard someone describe our area, NOBRO - I guess anything north of The Bronx.

Ok, perhaps you could craft BEaSTUD, or 'CONUDIO. Or if it can't be shortened, perhaps a nice anagram is in order. Bios Outdances sounds very avant to me.

The artist/tenants at the old high school building have much on their plate in working to secure their place in the building, and and certainly the name of the joint is probably the least of their worries.

So to that end, we here a maykr would like to announce the "Name That Collection of Artist Studios Formerly Known As Bulldog Studios" Contest!

If you have an idea you'd like to enter, please deposit it in the comments section of this post, or email us at info@maykr.com .

I'm not sure what you can win yet....but that'll be worked out in good time. Really.

Building appraisal information for Bulldog Studios/Old high school building.

On Friday, I received an email from the Bulldog Studios Tenants Association that included notes from the Beacon City School District meeting of last week detailing the appraisal of the old high school building, and the process by which that amount had been reached:

Dear Friends and Fellow
Tenants,
Hank Dutch, Peter Iannarelli, Susan
Magnus, and
Alison Moritsugu took notes at the recent Board of Education
workshop regarding
the appraisal of the old high school. Dr. Jean Parr
has the appraisal
document available for review in her office if you are
interested in checking
the accuracy of our notes or learning more about the
appraisal. To the
best of our recollection, these are the
figures...
APPRAISER: Valuation Consultants,
Inc., Newburgh,
NY
CONSIDERATIONS:
-Scale: The building is large (122,000 sq. ft.) in
relationship to 2.5 acre lot size.
-Location: The
building is in a residential neighborhood.
-Mechanical issues: Old heating system.
-Condition: Portions of building are semi-below grade and
less
desirable.
-Layout: Formerly a school, a large
portion of the
building cannot be leased due to layout. Possible to lease
approximately 64,000
sq. ft. or about 53-55% of the
building.
-Vacancy: 30% of the building is currently
leased.
-Expenses: Higher expense ratio when
compared to other
buildings of similar size. Estimated $500,000 in
annual expenses (this
includes $80,000 in estimated property taxes).
DETERMINING MARKET
VALUE:
1. SALES
COMPARISON APPROACH: Compare to other
comparable buildings sold in the
area to determine market value. The
buildings used for comparison were on
the market from 18-24 months. 3 were
vacant, 1 was 30%
leased:
-Broadway Elementary School, Newburgh.
Located
on a major intersection with superior parking.
-Bank of NY Headquarters. Large open interior spaces
similar to 211 Fishkill and 30% leased.
-Other
schools in Chester and Rhinebeck. Both
schools on larger parcels.
Based on this approach, 211 Fishkill is valued at 3
million.
2. INCOME APPROACH: Use current
rental income or
future potential rental income to determine market
value.
A) CURRENT RENTAL INCOME Current rents
are within
range of market rates. At present, 30% of the building is
leased. Based on
this approach and using current rent roll, 211 Fishkill is
valued at 1.5
million
B) POTENTIAL RENTAL
INCOME (STABILIZED RENT ROLL)
Allow 3-4 years to fully rent building,
keeping rents level during this time to
make leasing attractive and draw new
tenants. Assumes lower floors, which are
semi-below grade and less
desirable, would rent for $11.5 annually and upper
floors $14.25 annually.
Increase rents once building is fully occupied.

Based on this approach and a stabilized rent roll, 211
Fishkill
is valued at 2.3 or 2.4 million."

Beacon Cultural Foundation responds...

Earlier today on the Beaconite Discussion Board, Beacon Cultural Foundation President Sam Yanes responded to the claim that the Beacon City School District received no further payments from BCF after the initial down payment and offered an explanation to the financial arrangement made BCSD and BCF in the sale of the old high school building:

[...]Take the issue of how much compensation the School District received
from the Beacon Cultural Foundation, for example. It's been suggested that the
Beacon Cultural Foundation had not compensated the School District after making
a $250,000 down payment in 2003 towards the purchase of the old Beacon High
School. This is not true. Over the past four years, the Foundation has paid the
District over $750,000 in principal and interest.

In fact, the original financial agreement executed between Deborah Sheers,
the past president of the Beacon City School District Board of Education, and
the Beacon Cultural Foundation was specifically constructed to ensure that the
District received their interest and principal payments. And at the same time,
ensure that the District would receive the space they required for their own
programs at a reasonable rate. As part of the contract, the District leased
space from the Beacon Cultural Foundation at rates equal to interest payments
due the District from the Foundation. The contract called for the rent per
square foot that the District paid to increase in step with increases in
interest payments due. And when increases in interest payments exceeded the
maximum income from the space the District occupied, the District rented more
space in the building to cover the difference. Once the District's initial
three-year lease expired, they remained in their space as a tenant-at-will. From
an accounting point of view, rental income was booked as income to the
Foundation and interest payments were booked as expenses paid to the School
District. [...]

Sam's full message can be read on the discussion board..the posting is #9920

Beacon High School Public Forum Notes

Around 100 people gathered tonight for the public forum on the future of the old Beacon High School building. Attendees of the forum included current tenants of the building, residents of Beacon, members of the press and members of the Beacon Board of Education as well as concerned individuals from around the area.

The Forum was moderated by Dr. Jean Parr, superintendent of the Beacon School District. Dr. Parr started the forum by giving a report on the state of affairs since the school district regained possession of the building on December 7, 2006. The floor was then opened up for questions from the audience before a workshop session began where groups of six to eight people created lists of positive and negative aspects pertaining to the building and its current status and a list of suggestions for the future, all of which will be reviewed by the Board of Education. The resulting lists were posted around the cafeteria for attendees to view, after which, the forum was concluded.

A major item that emerged from the forum pertained to the actual amount of money the Beacon City School District received from the Beacon Cultural Foundation when the building was sold in 2003 for the price of $4.25M. In response to a question on the details of the sale, Dr. Parr stated that the BCSD received a down payment of $250,000 from BCF in 2003, but received no further payments on the principle or interest.

Dr Parr stated that since taking possession of the building on Dec. 7, the BCSD has been in the process of assessing the needs of the building, doing necessary repairs and maintenance, identifying tenants, verifying that tenants have the required insurance as stipulated in their leases and overall, assuming the role of landlord. Currently, there are 35 tenants in the building representing an occupancy of around one third of the building's square footage. The current leases ranging in length from one to three years will be honored by the BCSD for as long as it owns the building.

An appraisal of the building is currently being performed by a company from Newburgh to determine the value of the property as a whole as well as the fair market rental value on a basis of square footage to determine if current rents are set appropriately. The results of the appraisal will be presented at the BOE Finance committee meeting on Feb 12.

Dr. Parr broke down the income and expenses of the building for the period between 12/7/06 and 1/24/07 and projected the monthly estimates going forward.

For the period between 12-7-06 - 1/24/07:
Rental Income : $32,190 (monthly estimate: $20,000)

Expenses:
Heat: $21,603 (monthly estimate: $17,000)
Electric: $3,050 (monthly estimate: $2,200)
Maintenance: $754
Custodial: $1,161
Repairs: $11,100
Appraisal: $5000
Total Expenses for period: $46,493

During this first six week period, BCSD's expenses outstripped the rental income by over $14,000. Dr. Parr stated that upon entering the building, the BCSD found it in serious need of maintenance. Of the three boilers, one is "dead" and the other two were in need of repair. Dr. Parr described much of the work done thus far as "band aid maintenance" just to keep the building functional but that much more would need to be done. A portion of the roof needs repairs estimated at $50,000 to $70,000, and that existing leaks render nearly one third of the building unable to be occupied.

In response to some questions regarding mixing educational programs for children with existing artist studios, Dr Parr replied that if the building were to be used by the BCSD for school purposes in addition to other uses, the building would have to meet certain safety and fire standards to earn certification, (which would be very costly to achieve in this case) and at least 50% of the building must be used for the benefit of children. (While the Beacon Academy was in existence in the building, an area of six classrooms was certified according to State Board of Ed. safety regulations and cordoned off from the rest of the building.) The Montessori school that is currently a tenant of the building is not bound by such requirements.

When questioned about the possibility of receiving grants to underwrite programs in the building, Dr. Parr replied that any grant sought by the BOE is limited to the scope of its own educational programs. I imagine that this does not eliminate the possibility of another party applying for grants to support some activity within the building. Dr. Parr referenced the securing of funds by Dia:Beacon to allow for field trips Beacon Public School children to visit the museum at a time when, due to budget cuts, the school district has eliminated all of its self funded field trips.

Dr. Parr said that the BOE has not made any decisions on the future fate of the building, and any decision will be made according to its financial feasibility. When asked, she said the decision to sell will be made solely by the BOE and it will not be open to public discussion. The BOE has not been approached by parties interested in buying the property.

I was not able to make it around to view the various lists created by the workshop session, but if someone would like to share some of the ideas they found most interesting, please post a comment. Also, if you attended the meeting and would like to share your thoughts, feel free to do so.

Updated 1.25.07:
Some conversation between a few of the attendees from last night's meeting has been going on today at the Beacon Discussion Board.
Updated 2.14.07:
The announcement of the building's appraisal has been postponed, perhaps until the next BOE meeting, or the next meeting of the finance committee.
Updated 2.22.07:
BCF President Sam Yanes offers and explanation of financial arrangement made between BCF and BCSD on the Beacon Discussion Board (message #9920.)

Bulldog Studios in the news

Today's POJO has an article by Kathleen Murray highlighting Bulldog Studio tenants and the public forum going on tonight. I understand that the Beacon Free Press is also carrying an article on the subject this week.

Community Forum on future of Bulldog Studios, Jan 24, 7pm

A community forum will be held regarding the future use of the former high school
building, and whether or not that future will include the presence of Bulldog Studios.
The forum is scheduled to take place on Wednesday, January 24,
2007, at 7:00p.m. in the Dining Hall at Beacon High School (The new Beacon High School) at 101 Matteawan Rd.

beacon art scene is dead

...that's the google search by which a visitor in made his or her way to maykr recently. When posed as a search query, it's difficult to decide whether the phrase is inquiring lamentation or wishful expectation.
It is a question that has been asked of me periodically. If indeed Beacon's art scene is now dead, then it was only ever alive in the flurry of press accounts surrounding the opening of Dia:Beacon touting this city's creative promise and in the lofty pronouncements made by Bill Erlich setting a level of expectation for the Beacon Art Society and the Beacon Cultural Foundation.

This is the headquarters of the Beacon Cultural Project [see "Artworld," June '02], founded in April 2002 by William S. Ehrlich, a collector, trained architect and principal in the real estate development firm of Milton L. Ehrlich, Inc., established in 1935 by his father. Ehrlich was one of the earliest Manhattanites to buy in Beacon after he learned of Dia's plans. At the time of the Project's announcement, he raved to the New York Times [Apr. 26, '02], "Once I knew Dia was a done deal, I ran around Beacon and bought everything I could. I'm now Beacon's largest taxpayer. David will be the impresario for culture." That is David A. Ross, director of the Beacon Cultural Project and president of its nonprofit sibling, the Beacon Cultural Foundation. Formerly the director of the San Francisco Museum of Modern Art and, before that, of New York's Whitney Museum of American Art, Ross is now engaged in collaborations between private, public and institutional sectors in a move to foster growth in Beacon. The Cultural Project's aim is to spur Beacon's revitalization through innovative cultural initiatives.

(Art in America, June 2003. by Suzaan Boettger)

The impending cultural shift implied in press releases and assorted travel articles of 2003 creating the notion of artdom's next bastion as a bucolic billyburg in Beacon belie the reality that the true march of progress is slow, and uneven. In addition, the development of a thriving and sustainable creative community must come more from a place of self fulfillment and less from a desire to put on a show that will draw the tourists.

I've been an advocate of working to increase the visibility of the artistic activity in this city, within and without, both for the sense of vibrancy I believe it provides the community, and for the enhanced experience it offers for those living and creating work as artists in Beacon. That said, there's a satisfaction in seeing that certain things take their natural course, defying attempts to engineer a "scene" that will result in an process of gentrification, genetically altered to achieve desired results in an abbreviated time frame while selectively omitting the unpleasant parts. This era of change in Beacon's creative life has thus far been short and uneven; many places have opened and closed since 2003; certain major initiatives have fizzled, and some promising creative endeavors have receded into convention. But such aspects of the very recent history do not erase the glimmers of expectation in new artistic enterprises that are still emerging, or the new energies of folks still moving into the city.

Over the past three years, there have been periods of both stimulating and flaccid activity, but what has existed here, consistantly, is a broad community of artists creating work which finds purchase both near and far. In spite of the promise of a euphoric art frenzy, what has existed is a steady growth of a population of capable, creative people - many from Williamsburg, but many other places as well, and the scene they've created is one that is much smaller than those in terms of public art spaces, but the true nature of the creative environment here is one that is diligent and intimate, with much interaction between artists occuring within their homes and studios.

In today's Poughkeepsie Journal

Today's POJO has two Beacon art related items.

In today's installment of her weekly column, Kathleen Weresynzki Murray focuses on the Jill Freedman photography exhibit at Wild Wood Gallery.

Elsewhere in the paper, Murray reports on the filing of Chapter 11 bankruptcy by The Beacon Cultural Foundation, and how the reorganization may affect Bulldog Studios and its tenants.

Holy Cow

There have been two topics that have been floating around over the past couple of weeks that have had folks asking how much each other knows about them. The first topic revolves around the charges of animal cruelty against Sandy Saunders, and whether the charges would or should have any effect on the sculpture project that the Collabortive group is putting together on Saunders' land in Garrison NY. The Second topic that has come to the fore regards the possible fate of the Beacon Cultural Foundation, and how that may affect Bulldog Studios, and the tenant artists with workspace therein.

As to topic #1, The sculpture project at Saunders' farm is on, and scheduled to open on Sept 2. The group has set up a website with information on the exhibit. As far as I have heard, the group has not had any comment on the incident involving Saunders.

In regard to topic #2, I have no definite information to share. I've only heard broad speculation as to the future of BCF, and some anxiety about the certainty existing leases will continue to be honored. I imagine, and hope, that the current state of affairs will be made clear for those with workspaces at Bulldog.
If anyone would like to share thoughts or info on these or any other pressing topics, feel free to coment.

The art of stupidity

Today's POJO is carrying an item about the Saturday night burning of the mailbox behind Beacon's Post Office. The fire, set sometime after midnight, destroyed the box and all the mail inside. If you think you might have had mail that was destroyed, there is a phone number to call listed in the newspaper.

Summer has arrived in Beacon, and the hordes of young folks loitering on the street are again growing. Though certainly most of the kids are not doing anything wrong the apparant dirth of activities for young people in Beacon provides an environment for such acts of destruction to occur - and they do occur.

There's been talk of Beacon's need for some sort of youth rec center, but the development of such an institution is highly unlikely. It seems to me there is plenty of room for individuals - and individuals in the art community - to take up some slack.

The art community gets yolked to a number wagons by many interests looking for benefit in the boon of the developing "creative class." So many towns and villages in the Hudson Valley and beyond are touting that they are in the middle of an "Arts Rennaissance." Such importance has been place on the arts as economic driver, and thought of as such so universally, that I think this movement will one day be considered together with the urban renewal efforts of forty years ago as the folly of municipal management. It may work in some places, but this donkey simply can't pull that cart everywhere.

But what the art community can do, and has done historically, is make a difference in the quality of life for a community one individual at a time. This issues facing Beacon's youth can be well impacted by the efforts and skill sets of artists and others involved in the creative community in this city.

Some efforts to get involved with Beacon's young people do exist. Dia has an education program that that involves Beacon area students at the Elementary, Middle and High school levels. I know that some local artists have done talks at the high school in the past, but I'm not aware of any current program that engages the wealth of artists active in Beacon with the youth or general public of Beacon. Bulldog Studios' lease agreements stipulate that tenants are required to devote time public service, but that seems to be a mythical beast.

I've meandered a bit now, I was simply struck by this asinine vandalism over the weekend and it got me going. I think more should and could be done.

If anyone knows of other art related community based programs, let me know. I would like to help promote these efforts, and if they don't currently exist, try to get something started.

Christopher Lucas at Bulldog Studios

In today's POJO, Kathleen Murray covers the Christopher Lucas exhibit in the library gallery at Bulldog studios.