Seattle Live/Work Lofts for Artists?

Urbnlivn regularly receives a high amount of traffic on an old 2008 post about live/work lofts for sale in Seattle. Recent comments suggest that some of that traffic is artists looking for affordable live/work lofts where they can practice their craft. And boy is that old post not helping :).

Urbnlivn is mostly focused on new construction condos and apartments and we don’t track live/work spaces for artists too closely; however, I took a few minutes to track down some resources. Here’s a short list of what I found:

  • Arts Resource Network – Hands down the most informative of all the sites I looked at. It gives advice for finding affordable artist housing (both rent and buy), and also has a lengthy list of artist live/work spaces in Seattle which may or may not have vacancies.
  • Artist Trust – Pretty lengthy classifieds list of artist live/work space available (+ lots of other artist resources). A random click-through on entries seems to indicate the information is fairly current, and there’s even one Georgetown artist space for sale.
  • Artspace.org – The two artist loft buildings are currently leased up and only taking names on their waitlist, but a new project, Mt Baker Station Lofts, is in the planning stages (PDF) so might be an option in about 2 years.

Then there’s the obvious mainstream routes: Seattle.gov | Looking for Housing, Craigslist.org, SeattleRentals.com, etc. Plus, I thought the advice from the Arts Resource Network was some of the best:

The most promising ways to locate artist live/work space in your home community is to look in art supply stores and cafes, space available postings in weekly newspapers, arts councils, and artist-run organizations.

Anyone have any other suggestions or particularly cunning resources for artists to find live/work space?

About katrina
  • Darrickjcook

    Interested in a studio work live loft Iam in low income now Thankyou D Cook

  • Wendy Ceccherelli

    As the
    former Executive Director of the Seattle Arts Commission, I understand the need
    for creative and alternative living and working space for practicing artists.

    My real
    estate company ArtHaven secures Seattle properties for artists, small arts
    groups, and cultural workers to rent, lease or purchase for cultural use.

    If you
    are looking for space to buy at an affordable price, or have space to sell or
    lease that might work for artists, small arts groups, or other cultural
    workers, please contact Wendy Ceccherelli at wendywonder@ArtHaven.us or
    206-355-1706.