photo: David Olsen
The tension was palpable on Tuesday, November 10 before the start of the morning's Arizona Department of Transportation auction for 31 E. Toole Ave., a community arts use warehouse Steven Eye has run for the last 22 years.
Hanging in the air was the question - Will Fenton Investment Company allow the Warehouse Arts Management Organization (WAMO) to obtain Solar Culture?
Bidders at the table were Anna Williams from Fenton Investment Company and WAMO's Board President Marvin Shaver sitting with Steven Eye.
Within 45 seconds of the bidding opening at $95,000 and going up in increments of $1000, Williams won the purchase at $101,000. WAMO's final bid was $100,000.
Circulating before the start of the 11:00 a.m. auction was a press release from Steve Fenton which stated: "I have partnered with Ron Schwabe of Peach Properties, with assistance from WAMO, to develop the Toole Avenue warehouses. As with all of my projects, my intention is to be sensitive and respectful of the historic nature of these great old buildings with emphasis on the arts and arts related uses. It is my hope to be able to ultimately sell 31 E. Toole Ave. to WAMO with the intent that Solar Culture will be able to stay in this location at a rate they can afford. To accomplish this goal, we will need the support of the City of Tucson and the Tucson Industrial Development Authority."
It was clear that Fenton's press release influenced WAMO's decision to drop out of the bidding. When asked after the auction if Fenton's statement had to do with what transpired at the auction, Shaver said, "This does actually."
"This is something we had worked out with Steve Fenton from last night (Monday, Nov 9) to this morning about what his intentions would be and to try and work with him because we were concerned and pretty well convinced that he would go as high as he could - which would be higher than we would want to go because the higher you go, obviously, the more expensive it is for the tenant. That's why we quit so early. This is something he had agreed to. It's not as strong in the language that we wanted and we are still pressuring him," Shaver said.
Shaver also said that Fenton would sell the building to WAMO if Fenton could acquire the building to the west of Solar Culture, which includes Salvador Duran's studio, Astro Fab Collective and the office for Mahlia Collection. Shaver said that Fenton would want WAMO to help him work with the city's Industrial Development Authority to obtain financing for that property, 15-17-19 E. Toole Ave.
Those addresses are collectively on the market for $265,000.
According to Patricia Schwabe of Peach Properties, Fenton approached Ron Schwabe to propose a partnership and in response to Fenton, "We said, 'we don't want to get in the middle of this one because this is the shrine of WAMO pretty much. We don't have any intentions to dealing with that.'"
Mrs. Schwabe went on to explain that Fenton said, "Well, maybe we can partner and make a great deal for Steve (Eye) to stay there."
Mrs. Schwabe also said that Peach Properties met with WAMO and "hopefully there is still a way to put everyone together at the table and work with WAMO in the whole equation for those buildings. We just want to create a funky strip of buildings with funky uses where everyone can just hang out and have a good time with galleries and shops and Solar Culture. I don't think Fenton has any intention of doing anything to Steven Eye for him not to be there. I think he's going to work with him, I really think he will, I really do believe it."
The question that remains unanswered from Mr. Fenton, who has not returned five phone calls over the last week - between Tuesday, November 3 and Tuesday November 10 - is what his interest is in owning the warehouse. His representative at the auction, Anna Williams responded "no comment" when asked if she could answer a few questions.
According to Mrs. Schwabe, she thinks Fenton would say his interests in the warehouses are, "'I've been around forever and I've seen those buildings forever and I knew those buildings would be for sale one day and I always knew I wanted to buy them.' I don't think there's more thinking than that," Mrs. Schwabe said. "That's what he does, he buys old buildings. We (Peach Properties) have bid against him for other old buildings. He did approach Ron, and we told him that there needs to be a bigger plan."
For the immediate future, Steven Eye will remain at Solar Culture during the 60 day escrow period. Shaver said that Fenton has initially offered a ten-year lease to Eye, but Eye told Mrs. Schwabe after the auction that ten years wasn't long enough and that he needs something in writing. WAMO board members said they are committed to helping with the negotiations between Eye and Fenton.
Deemed a historic building by ADOT and the Arizona State Historic Preservation Office, part of the purchase contract for 31 E. Toole Ave. stipulates that any plans for maintenance, repair, changes or modifications must be reviewed by the staff of the Arizona State Historic Preservation Office prior to implementations. If the property is to be sold, the Arizona State Historic Preservation Office must be informed of the sale and given the opportunity to comment on the development of the sale stipulations.
** Update ** At 6:30 p.m. on Tuesday, November 10, Steven Eye called Zocalo to discuss his thoughts about the situation, his personal conversations with Steven Fenton and their discussions about the future of Solar Culture.
After the auction, "Fenton called me right away," Eye said. "I got home and got the call and he (Fenton) said 'Look, I don't want you to leave, I don't know what you want, write it down and let's work it out.' "
"There are negotiations in progress to keep the community space," Eye said. "Steven Fenton and Peach Properties want us to stay – that's their intent. How it plays out, I don't know, but they want this (East Toole Avenue) to be an arts block."
"They want us to stay here, they want our draw and - from that place - we need to negotiate. There's a chance that we can stay and I have to take that chance," Eye said.
"The only thing that it comes down to is how much I can pay to be here and how much sculpture on the building I can do."
Eye also said that "It appears that negotiations between Fenton and WAMO has broken down. The reality of the situation is that everything WAMO discussed with Fenton isn't happening."
"I have a relationship with Fenton and he's always been very respectful of me and hasn't been the monster people have painted him. I feel like all along he's tried to coordinate with me."
"I've tried to save the building for the community by not bidding it up" during the auction, Eye said, in order to keep it affordable on a monthly basis.
Eye also said that Fenton wants to fix up the building and bring it up to code, which gives Eye hope that Solar Culture can get a legal occupancy of almost 200 people - enabling him to have live shows once again.
