The Star Store, a cornerstone building of downtown New Bedford, is scheduled to reopen within six months as affordable workspace for artists and local creative institutions, following the abrupt exit of UMass Dartmouth’s arts college three years ago.
The building’s new owner, the Arts and Business Council of Greater Boston, laid out its renovation plans at a private event in June, approximately a year after the nonprofit stepped in to find a use for the empty building.
Matt McArthur, the Arts and Business Council’s director of real estate, said he has received 110 applications from prospective tenants seeking to rent space.
“The demand is there. The need is there,” McArthur said. “There’s a path to sustainability here. “We just need to get the building ready.”
The plans begin, he said, with an initial “make it work” renovation phase with a projected $2.3 million budget. The nonprofit plans to make imminent repairs with that money, enabling artists to return to the building before the end of the year or by early 2027 at the latest, McArthur said.
The nonprofit has already replaced the property’s roof. It is also making arrangements for new boilers, a temporary ventilation system, and electrical upgrades to the elevators required to bring them back into operation.
A more ambitious renovation is still in the planning stages and could eventually include a roof-deck event space and a new entrance directly at the corner of Purchase and Union streets.
But even the nonprofit’s grandest plans for the Star Store will cost much less than the estimated $50 million to $70 million renovation costs that UMass Dartmouth officials floated as the university exited the building.
The Arts and Business Council of Greater Boston specializes in managing real estate in Massachusetts dedicated to artists. At the Star Store, its leaders see a unique opportunity.
“Normally, these buildings are old mills. They’re often in the industrial part of town. You have to know where they are and seek them out, and the Star Store is not that,” McArthur said. “It’s smack in the middle of downtown.”
A partial floor plan for the building, unveiled in June, allots space in the basement to community studios for ceramics, printmaking, and video and photography production. The ground floor would include a mix of offices, galleries and event spaces. The upper three floors are for a mix of individual artists and institutional tenants.
The Co-Creative Center, a group art studio and events space that recently left its longtime home on Union Street, plans to be one of the Star Store’s first office tenants.
McArthur said the fundraising over the next few months will determine how affordable the building’s rent can be.
“Philanthropically funding the rehab of the building is the number one way to keep this place affordable,” McArthur said. “If we don’t have a big huge loan at the end of all of this that we then have to deal with financially, the spaces can be more affordable. We can take more risks.”
McArthur said the nonprofit has already raised $1.1 million towards the initial $2.3 million renovation. It is soliciting donations for the remainder of this summer and fall, before opening another capital campaign for the bigger-picture plans.
Editor’s note: Ocean State Media previously rented an office in the Star Store building as part of a partnership with UMass Dartmouth.
