Newman Real Estate Institute Explores the Real Estate, Art and Commerce of Soho

NEW YORK--(EON: Enhanced Online News)--The Steven L. Newman Real Estate Institute of Baruch College will host “SoHo – The Intersection of Art and Real Estate” on Thursday, December 1, from 8:30 a.m. – 12:00 p.m. Inspired by the recent book Illegal Living: 80 Wooster Street and the Evolution of SoHo by Roslyn Bernstein and Shael Shapiro, the conference will feature discussions on the real estate history and future of SoHo by government officials, real estate developers and resident artists. This event marks the first in a series of conferences by the Newman Real Estate Institute that will explore key planning and development issues confronting the neighborhoods of New York.

“SoHo – The Intersection of Art and Real Estate”

Through the 1970s and 1980s, SoHo thrived as an artfocused mixed use neighborhood but rising real estate prices brought in commerce and eventually pushed out the art community. Today SoHo has become a quintessential New York City neighborhood filled with high fashion, cosmetics and home furnishing stores. Many of these stores exist in spite of zoning laws designed to maintain a manufacturing character in the neighborhood and loft owners are no longer certified artists, as required by the zoning.

“This year marks the 40^th anniversary of the zoning change that created the live/work lofts for artists in Soho but the neighborhood has shifted dramatically since then,” says Jack S. Nyman, Director of the Steven L. Newman Real Estate Institute. “This conference will explore the dynamics of those changes. Can art survive as a vital component of this thriving mixed-use neighborhood? Should residential occupancy still be restricted to artists and should retail stores be allowed to proliferate?”

The conference will feature several experts including Suzanne Anker, Chair of the Fine Arts Department of the School of Visual Arts; Attorney Margaret Baisley; Roslyn Bernstein, Professor of the Department of Journalism at Baruch College; Donald Elliot, Former Chair of the New York City Planning Commission; Charles Leslie, Former Chair of the SoHo Artists Association and Filmmaker, Gallery Owner and Developer; Michael E. Levine, Director of land Use and Planning for the NYC Community Board #1; Jonas Mekas, Filmmaker and President of Anthology Film Archives; Michael Namer, Principal of Alfa Development Management LLC; Architect Shael Shapiro; and Carl Weisbrod, First Chair of the Loft Board of New York City.

WHAT:	SoHo – The Intersection of Art and Real Estate
WHEN:	Thursday, December 1
	8:30 a.m. – 12:00 p.m.
WHERE:	Baruch College, Newman Conference Center
	151 E. 25th Street, Room 750