In St. Pete, artists and the new owner of The Factory agree that communication could be better

When the Dimmitt family sold The Factory to St. Petersburg real estate investor Tom Gaffney last June, the sale seemed like it would be a good thing for the artists occupying studios there. After all, Gaffney had bought the 600 block of Central Avenue in 2008 and leased spaces at below-market rates to artists and shops. Liz Dimmitt’s immersive funhouse, Fairgrounds, was to expand and become FloridaRama (stylized “FloridaRAMA”), which would become a tenant of The Factory, and Dimmitt would continue as The Factory’s art director.

But last month, when it was announced that the St. Pete Athletic, Paddle & Social Club was going to take up residence at The Factory, the mood among artists (and Facebook commenters) took a much darker turn.

Would pickleball push the artists out? The answer is yes—and no.

“From a club perspective, we’re very happy we can co-exist with them,” said club founder Reuben Pressman.

“We want to keep an artist community here,” added Gaffney.

But there’s been one consistent problem: Communications between Gaffney’s team and the tenants have reputedly been lousy, according to many of the artists.

“I can't tell you that wasn’t the case,” Gaffney conceded.

In 2018, the Dimmitt and Behar families (who parted ways on the project earlier this year) bought the 6.5-acre site of a former window-film manufacturer—90,000 square feet of warehouse space in eight buildings between the Pinellas Trail and Fairfield Avenue South. In 2020, The Factory opened, followed the next year by Fairgrounds, featuring work by 60-plus local artists in Building 6. Studio space was also leased to artists in buildings nearby. A recent expansion of FloridaRAMA allowed flow from its new lobby gallery into the studios and into a big open space which was used for events like July’s Punk Rock Flea Market.

That was then.
Here’s what’s going to happen in the near future.

Building 3, the site of that flea market, will be used for pickleball courts (along with Building 2 and an additional building yet to be constructed). The adjacent Building 4 is to become a restaurant and bar, so the artists renting studio spaces there will have to move.

The artist tenants were told in May about the pickleball club coming in, and were assured that there would be opportunities to rent elsewhere in the complex. According to Gaffney, some artists chose to leave immediately upon the sale, but the majority (approximately 12 of 16) decided to stay and relocate to units in so-called “Gallery Row” at the far end of the property in Buildings 7 and 8.

Gaffney says that artists were given at least a month to choose their units, and that he finally had to give them a deadline for signing up in order to get renovations started on their future studios.

“We were trying to deal with 12 artists all having different interests,” he said. "Everyone was changing their mind all the time. It was a little bit confusing on both parts.”

From the artists’ point of view, the confusion was all the creation of ownership.

Painter Patricia Tierney Moses says she tried to work with Factory management, helping to put together a sketch of what she and other artists envisioned for studios. Then management told them that the spaces they wanted were no longer available. They’d have to go into a much smaller, darker area instead.
“Just the logistics, and how difficult it was being made, the lack of communication—they would say one thing and it would change. I don’t tolerate incompetence very well. So I decided to move on.”

But she’s not moving far. Moses is one of three artists who had studios in Building 4 who are headed down the street to Drew Marc. Owner Andrew Trujillo is opening a high-end gallery in South Tampa and transitioning his Factory address into a space for studio rentals. Moses, Judith Lavendar and Jeff Ryan will be subletting at Trujillo’s Drew Marc Studios starting in September.

Custom Candle Artworks St. Pete has occupied a space at The Factory since it opened, says Alden Kimbrough (aka Red “because of my hair”). In Building 4, passersby can watch Red craft his distinctive candle art, but he doesn’t think he’ll have the opportunity for those kinds of interactions (and sales) in the far end of the complex. He, like others, is frustrated with management. “They’ve shown zero consideration for an anchor tenant.”

Other artists are excited about the move into Buildings 7 and 8.

LeRoy Gehres, an anchor tenant and a fan of Andy Warhol’s Factory, is thrilled about being part of St. Pete’s version. (His eye-popping installation “Florida Famous” is currently in FloridaRAMA’s gallery.) He will share a space (the former Bula Barua Gallery) with Martha Joy Rose’s equally eye-popping Museum of Motherhood.

And while some think that Gallery Row will prove to be too far a walk for the pickleball crowd, printmaker Dawn Daisley is optimistic about relocating to that area. “I’m really excited because it’s going to be over there by the galleries.”
If the process of matching artists with spaces was comparable to herding cats, one particular cat has been vocal about treatment by management.

Dug Rus has been at the Factory since 2021 and began renting studio space for his clothing and design business, Felinious, in March of last year. (He describes his styles as “retro skatepunk with punk rock cats.”)

He created a five-page spreadsheet of what he says are communications with property manager Jessica Wright showing delayed responses and broken promises. The final straw for him was the license-and-use agreement issued to artists on Aug. 2, an agreement that could be revoked by either party with just 30 days’ notice. Deadline: Sign by Aug. 6 or get out by Aug. 31. Since he had not yet been able to pick a space, he refused to sign.

“There’s no way,” he said. “I’d rather work out of a storage unit than give some guy money who’s going to kick me out in 30 days because he found somebody who wants that space.”

For the remaining artists who want to stay as tenants, many questions persist. Liz Dimmitt held a marketing meeting with the artists on August 7. She invited property manager Jessica Wright as well, but she did not attend.

Asked about the status of artist spaces in the Factory, Dimmitt said via email, “FloridaRAMA is not privy to the movements of other tenants or construction timelines,” and directed inquiries to the owners.

She added, “The artists and their studios are integral to the cultural fabric of The Factory, and as a tenant at The Factory, we hope they remain. Having working artists as our neighbors and the opportunity to collaborate with them is part of the magic of FloridaRAMA and our city.”

At press time, Jessica Wright had not replied to questions from CL.

Rus has posted this message on his Instagram—“SORRY FOLKS GREEDY OWNERSHIP SHOULD HAVE TOLD YOU THIS FELINIOUS LOCATION HAS BEEN CLOSED DUE TO GENTRIFICATION.”

He doesn’t begrudge the arrival of the pickleball club. He’s OK with the ancillary businesses, too: the restaurant, which will be run by Jarrett Sabatini of Intermezzo Coffee & Cocktails, and a craft beer concept from Green Bench Brewing Co.’s Nathan Stonecipher. “I love Green Bench, it’s my third place,” said Rus. “I don’t have any ill will with the pickleball guys, but my issue is how we’re being treated by ownership.”

Tricia Moses shared a similar sentiment. “I have nothing against pickleball or whatever plans they have for the restaurant, but I just hope they’re being treated better than we are," she added.

For their part, “the pickleball guys” are pretty happy. Sign-ups for memberships have “by far blown away our numbers,” said Pressman. “We may be moving to a wait list soon.”

Plans are to open in early 2025. Interior demolition was to start in September, but work will not begin until the artists have moved into their new studios in Buildings 7 and 8.

A longtime supporter of the arts in St. Pete, he says the presence of artists was a key reason The Factory site appealed to him and his team.

“If this group wasn't going to buy The Factory with saving the artists in mind, it would have just gone to market and likely would have been torn down for apartments and condos, and the artists would have just been kicked out by now,” Pressman said.

And, he says, most of the artists are excited about the new developments. “They’re seeing the side of bringing foot traffic and other amenities.” Some have even inquired about memberships.

From Gaffney’s perspective, those amenities are going to make all the difference for The Factory as a whole. He sees 7 and 8 becoming “a vibrant art colony” a year from now, with all the elements in The Factory creating a synergy that does not now exist.

“What makes The Factory interesting to me is the artist aspect of it,” he said, “That panache clearly I don’t want to lose…I’m committed to making this as successful as the 600 block of Central.”

Manny Kool’s Daddy Kool Records moved to the Factory in 2019, an early recruit from the 600 block. He sees pros and cons in the latest developments. But the bottom line for him is a view likely shared by artists and developers alike: “I just hope that people come, for everybody’s sake.”

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