EASTHAMPTON — One Cottage Street is home to a mosaic of businesses and missions.
About two-thirds of the building is studio space for artists, from painters and ceramicists to wedding dressmakers. In the remaining third, building owner Riverside Industries hosts day programs for adults with intellectual and developmental disabilities.
These different organizations and businesses do not agree on recently-proposed rent hikes. On Tuesday, the City Council weighed in and passed a resolution supporting the continuation of affordable art space in its Cottage Street Cultural District.
Riverside Industries is increasing rent in the building to support its programming and cover building maintenance. Many artists in the building oppose the increases, fearing steeper costs will force them to move.
The rent does not cover all the building’s costs, said Markus Jones, Riverside’s senior director of development and strategic operation. “The income we received [annually] from rental units was around $700,000. It takes $1.1 million to run the building. It’s not sustainable,” he said.
Riverside hopes to better finance its programs by spending less money on its building. That starts with closing the $400,000 gap the organization shoulders to run the facility.
Public records and tax filings for the health and human services nonprofit show that the gap is only growing with inflation.
With about 100 artists in the space, some tenants pay as little as $5 per square foot for studio space and others pay as much as $15. Rent increases aim to correct those differences.
Becky Demling, a parent of a Riverside client, spoke in favor of the organization at Tuesday’s City Council meeting. “I understand the artists’ concern, but the mission of Riverside is to support the kids like my son, who need a safe, healthy building to go to every day,” she said. “Subsidizing rent in any way, shape or form is not part of the Riverside mission.”
The artist tenants respect and appreciate the nonprofit’s mission, they said. “The staff of Riverside perform heroic work,” said Ellen Koteen, a photographer who has been at Cottage Street for more than 18 years. “The challenge that is facing us as tenants relates to the management of Riverside, not to their programs.”
Ultimately, city councilors agreed with Koteen and other artists. While councilors recognized the positive contributions Riverside makes in the community, they said it does not outweigh the importance of local arts in Easthampton’s culture.
“The intent of this resolution is not against the disability community,” Easthampton City Council President Homar Gomez said.
Riverside Industries
For nearly 60 years, Riverside Industries has provided life skill development for adults with disabilities.
The organization hopes to support its day habilitation and community engagement initiatives.
“[Clients] have an individual plan,” Jones said. “Whether their life goal is to become an employee, live more independently, post-secondary education or whatever the case may be, we work with individuals within our programs to achieve those goals.”
The current financial restraints prevent Riverside from expanding these programs.
“What we want is to be able to have a nice space for our tenants to be proud of, as well as our program folks,” Jones said. “We want to be able to fix things in a timely manner, but it’s hard to do when resources are stretched.”
Riverside’s community-based day services program focuses on getting participants into the community for skill building, jobs and volunteering. Some are scheduled for activities such as art, gardening and Zumba. Others work at the University of Massachusetts Amherst dining halls.
With more resources in the future, Jones would like to see participants rotating through activities.
For example, the first floor of the Cottage Street building has a cafe where workers grab coffee before heading out to work in the community. Jones would like to build the space out into a teaching kitchen where different groups of program members can rotate through.
Riverside serves an additional 62 participants, many who use wheelchairs, through its life enrichment day program.
Different rooms within the building provide participants with physical and occupational therapy resources.
The life enrichment program is currently located down a narrow corridor, difficult for multiple staff members or someone who uses a wheelchair to navigate. Extra funding from increased rent will help relocate these spaces to more accessible and central areas in the building, Jones said.
“The price point that we’ve chosen, we really believe will provide enough rental [income] to sustain the building,” Jones said.
“This is one of the most vulnerable populations out there,” Jones added. “Their caregivers and families trust us to provide services for them. It just breaks my heart to walk around and see bricks falling out and paint peeling. It doesn’t have to be that way. And unfortunately, it means we’re going to have to [charge] a little bit more rent.”
