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FPDC
Celebrates Midway Studios
July
17, 2003
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| Fort
Point Artists Announce Plans for Midway Studios
Development
will house 89 artist live/work studios, theater and
galleries
(
BOSTON ) – Calling it “the most significant step to
date in preserving New England 's largest arts community,”
the Fort Point Development Collaborative announced plans
today for Midway Studios, a unique development of artist
live/work space, theater and rehearsal space, gallery
and cultural facilities in the Fort Point neighborhood
of Boston.
In making the
announcement, the leaders of the FPDC were joined by
Boston Mayor Thomas M. Menino, Beacon Capital Partners
Chairman and CEO Alan Leventhal, Fleet Community Investment
Group's Director of Commercial Real Estate Michael Hatfield,
and Mayor's Office of Cultural Affairs Commissioner
Esther Kaplan, and many local artists and residents
of Fort Point. |
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Midway
Studios will feature 89 live/work studios for artists,
40% of which will be affordable units. The project will
also include gallery and rehearsal space, a 200-seat
black-box theater, and office/retail space for non-profit
arts organizations and arts-related businesses. Construction
will likely begin in September, pending final approval
by the Boston Redevelopment Authority.
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| Mayor
Menino remarked, “ Boston is a city of the arts and
a city of neighborhoods. This partnership ensures that
Fort Point will remain both an affordable home for artists
and a thriving neighborhood.” |
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The
FPDC presented to Mayor Menino and other guests hard
hats, each an original design individually hand crafted
by a local artist, in recognition of their contribution
to this unique arts-centered development. Mayor Menino's
hard hat featured a model of Midway Studios made of
balsa wood and designed and crafted by Fort Point artist
Steve Hollinger.
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| Anita Lauricella, one
of the founders of the Fort Point Development Collaborative,
stated, “Midway Studios is testament that the creativity
of artists is not confined to the studio. Threatened with
the displacement of New England 's largest arts community,
the artists have taken the unprecedented step of becoming
full-fledged developers in order to preserve the character
of this neighborhood.” |
| Midway
Studios will form an integral part of the mixed-use
Channel Center development, a model of urban design
combining residential, office and retail space. The
Fort Point Development Collaborative has negotiated
an agreement with Beacon Capital Partners to lease,
and soon own, the three buildings that will house Midway
Studios. |
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| “Everyone
involved in this project has made a unique commitment
to sustaining the creative spirit and artistic life
of Boston 's vibrant community of artists," said
Alan Leventhal of Beacon Capital Partners. "Art
is the inspiration of this neighborhood's revival. By
joining development and the arts in this new way, we
are able to restore and preserve these important historic
buildings.”
Fleet Community
Investment Group's Commercial Real Estate division is
the lead lender in the $18.7 million Midway Studios
construction project, underwriting $9.35 million in
tax-exempt bonds. |
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Michael
Hatfield, director of Fleet Community Investment Group's
Commercial Real Estate division, stated, “All of us
share a strong commitment to strengthening our community,
and the strategic development of these Fort Point buildings
reflects that commitment to investing in neighborhoods
that make Boston such a diverse and culturally rich
city.” |
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| “Midway
Studios will serve as a focal point of the arts community
in Boston, a center of Boston's creative economy,” remarked
Esther Kaplan of the Mayor's Office of Cultural Affairs.
“It provides some of the cultural facilities that have
been cited as most needed in Boston – theatre/dance
performance and rehearsal space, non-profit office space
and affordable live/work studios for artists of all
disciplines.”
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| In
addition to the hard hats, original art installations
adorned the four loading docks spanning the Midway Studios
buildings. The installations featured the work of well
known local artists Jeff Smith, Jennifer Moses, Lisa
Greenfield, Mike Moss and Artists for Humanity. And
in a special treat, attendees of the press conference
were feted on Krispy Kreme doughnuts.
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| Fort Point Development
Collaborative is a joint venture of the Fort Point Cultural
Coalition, Inc. and Keen Development Corporation. |
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