Fantasy Building - Fictions and Facts

Fiction: Wareham continually talks “bringing up rents to market level after years of patronage by former owner Saul Zaentz.”

Fact: Current Tenants Pay above market rates now and have for 2 years.

In early 2005, the standard room with a window in the Fantasy Building was renting for $2.00/square foot, which was at or even slightly above market level at the time. In May, 2005, in preparation for the sale of the building, rents for those same rooms were raised across the board, to $3.00/sf for some rooms, $3.25 for others—increases of 50 and 63 percent. The proposed rent increases by Wareham bump those already-inflated rents to between $4.00 and $6.00 per square foot (see attached spreadsheet). Comparable West Berkeley rental rates run today no higher than $2.00 per square foot. Wareham’s increases that run $4 to $6 per square foot are double and triple market level. Such rents price us, and artists like us, out of the building.

Fiction: Wareham continually miss-represents their raises as 10% raises.

Fact: Tenants will be raised 30% – 100%

The 10% raise is for six months only, and only if the tenant signs a long-term lease. It is a come-on and a public relations ploy. Their typical raises are 25% after six months, and 40% by October 2008. Not only that, but even the 10% rises for the first 6 months are not consistent. Some tenants have to bear up to 18% raises during the initial period (see attached spreadsheet).

Fiction: Wareham’s Tim Gallen says, “We have to upgrade the theater if we want to attract people doing work for Hollywood people.”

Fact: Hollywood already uses our screening rooms.

Hollywood has been using the building’s screening rooms for years, for Academy Awards nomination screenings and other industry events. Wareham’s claim is just another of the developer’s justification for a big rent increase.

Fiction: Wareham talks about being “proud” of the filmmakers that are here and insists that their plans to make a “world-class media center” include the world-class media-makers that are already here.

Fact: Wareham plans media center devoid of any input from World Class media makers.

On January 24, the day after they bought the building, Wareham began construction and renovation on the front of the building. They are priding themselves on an intensive plan to renovate and upgrade the screening rooms (which we are not allow to use except when paying a fee which we have no idea how high that will be). Not once did they consult with the current filmmaking tenants on what major building improvements might we want, might we need, might improve our filmmaking environment. (Certainly a large fountain plaza in front of the building, which takes away our parking spaces, is not high on the list of any filmmaking tenant.) If they really valued what we do and how we work, the new owners would consult with us, strategize with us, and work with us.