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The anti-blight: A Kensington factory rescued from the dark side
In place of a future fire hazard, a new co-working space for creative types.
The anti-blight: A Kensington factory rescued from the dark side
The outrage over the blight that has become of many of Kensington's vacant factories has barely subsided since two firemen died (some say unnecessarily) fighting the Thomas Buck Hosiery factory fire on April 9. But those disused hulks aren't all bad news: Leo and Amy Voloshin saw the potential in one of these high-ceilinged old brick structures and recently transformed it into Paper Box Studios, with offices for their Print Fresh fabric design company, studio spaces and, coming soon, a 35-person co-working space in the vein of Indy Hall by targeting creative professionals. (Monthly desk rentals or daily drop-ins will be available, probably starting in August.)
The 32,000-square-foot building, which was empty except for a two-man printing company, addresses, Leo Voloshin says, "a need I think exists in Philadelphia still for great artist's space or office space for creative professionals." The 25 units are about 70 percent rented already; demand is high enough that Voloshin is considering attempting another factory conversion in the near future.
Still, funding such projects remains a challenge. Voloshin was initially rejected when he approached his bank, Beneficial, for financing; the bank had just re-evaluated their risk tolerance and decided not to accept such applications. He ended up obtaining financing from the nonprofits PIDC and Finanta, rather than a standard business lender.
Voloshin's idea isn't new — Crane Arts Building and others have been drawing artists for several years now — but he thinks it's part of an ongoing reimagining of these bulky structures. "There is a growing mass of interest in doing these kinds of projects," he says.
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