COCOACENTRIC has been headquartered at ActivSpace since 2021, and as renters, we've had a really positive experience. The space has been a solid, supportive home for our business and allows us to focus on growing and creating. Jaime and Luis are great to work with--responsive, helpful, and genuinely supportive of the tenants here. We appreciate the care they put into managing the space and the community. read more

I've been a tenant at ActivSpace for a while now, and honestly, I love it here. It always feels professional but comfortable at the same time. It's quiet when I need to focus and lively enough that it feels like a creative community. Jaimie and Luis keeps things running smoothly, and I've had zero issues with communication or maintenance. The spaces are exactly what I needed -- functional, affordable, and just the right vibe for getting work done. Overall, great energy, great building, great people. Couldn't ask for a better setup read more

TOP NOTCH! FRIENDLY AND KNOWLEDGEABLE MANAGEMENT! Yo, seriously, the second I hit up Luis, I felt like the MVP. Do you appreciate non-stop, super smooth follow-ups and genuinely helpful tips? That's just the standard here, and it hasn't dipped, even a month in. I scoped out the other spots nearby, but ActivSpace? Nah, this is the Hyatt. The rest are straight-up Motel 6 vibes. Yeah, it might cost a tiny bit more, but it is SO worth the splurge! The building and the bathrooms (on every floor, no less!) are always mint. But get this: I've got my own cold sink right in my space! Plus, there's on-site security, an elevator, 24/7 access, parking and management is always right there--or just a quick text away. The community here is straight-up awesome, too. Everyone's super cool! Couldn't be happier I locked this down. Feeling super lucky to be part of the ActivSpace Mission crew! read more

Improving... would have been 1 star a year or 2 ago but have seen drastic improvements since Jamie came on as PM. Building is cleaner (even see Jamie sweeping occasionally) and communication is better. There are still concerns about security and the reliability of the garage door. Overall a decent place for small Office/studio space. Corporate gets 1 star for their customer service however. read more

AGE Consulting has been a tenant at 3150 18th Street ActivSpace, San Francisco, for a few years now. Great place, great staff, especially, property management team-Jamie. Greg G., AGE Consulting, Inc. read more

I have been renting from Activ Space for a few years now and Jaimie the building manager is truly the best! She's attentive and always pleasant to talk to. read more

I've been working out of Activspace for about a year and a half now. Although I am newer to the building the professionalism and environment is welcoming. Surrounded by fellow artist and business owners have been inspiring towards my own ventures. On top of the community that's been great the building is managed well. Jaimie, and her staff are very attentive. You can see the care they provide whether that's fixing something as quickly as possible, or also being a middleman in connecting the building with each other. Quarterly events, clean spaces, community connections, ect... I couldn't be happier to be apart of the Activspace. If you are looking to break away and work on your own craft, then active space is the place to be!!!! read more

I've had a space here at activspace in the mission of San Francisco for nearly 2 years and it was a great decision to come here to open my art school 'Hannah's Art Place.' The prices are affordable, The costumer service is great, the staff is not only fast and efficient but genuine. Jaimie and Luis are always ready to help. There is such a warm inviting and creative energy throughout the building and my students are always thrilled to be here. read more

ActivSpace - Commercial Real Estate Near Me - San Francisco, California

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ActivSpace has been my office/studio for over three years. It's conveniently located, reasonably priced, and has a great community of small businesses and creatives. The management team is friendly and thoughtful -- Jamie is a rockstar. read more

ActiveSpace is a great place to have your business. A great location, great environment and wonderful neighbors.

Jaimie K is the building Manager at the Mission location and she is a God send. Super nice, professional and just a beautiful person inside out. The Activ space community is very lucky to have her. read more

I love having an office at ActivSpace in the Mission District. I've got a nice comfy spot with a great view of Sutro Tower and its surroundings. My neighbors are all cool, friendly, creative people, and Jaime the building manager is totally helpful and responsive whenever I have questions. Lots of bus stops, cafes, taco joints, restaurants, and grocery stores, et cetera nearby. Great internet. I'm so glad I found this place and am here. read more

I first joined in Oct 2024. Beautiful space, feels secure. BUT they RAISED my rent TWENTY-TWO PERCENT (22%) after I had been here only 6 months. And management was COMPLETELY UNWILLING to work with me to negotiate a more gradual approach. Such a STEEP INCREASE. Very DISAPPOINTED - it changed the whole vibe. Would not recommend. Looking for a new space. read more

Never. Don't rent from these crooks. Went in to see a space they say they tell people is An option for a salon space and the front door isn't even ada approved so there's no legal way you can have a salon there. Also their permits are constantly invalidated because the building was built improperly. They made me put down a check for $450 just to turn in an application that they say they don't require an application fee for and then deposited my check before I said yes that I wanted it and after asking for my money back told me it would take up to a month to get my money back. Don't waste your time. read more

honestly they are Slum lords. they don't maintain the BASIC maintenance for their property and floods a lot during rainy season. they do not fix mold, leaks from roof ! The building constantly has elevator issues so if you're disabled; Good luck!! This building needs to be destroyed and remodeled for health & hazzard issues!! 311 and department of health have multiple violations against activspace . read more

ActivSpace - Commercial Real Estate Near Me - San Francisco, California

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Great place for Art, Hobby or your Business...my business here for 5 years and going strong...enjoying the Community here...Thank You to the Staff of ActivSpace Mission. read more

Move-in process went smoothly. Leah & David are responsive and take care of issues that come up. I'm pretty happy w/ the space I have so far and recommend it to anyone looking for an office space. read more

I have been a tenant at Activspace for several years and it has been a wonderful place for me to do my work. The staff has been nothing but receptive and enjoyable to chat with. It is quiet, clean, and includes generous outdoor spaces. The diversity of tenants--artists, craftsman, technology and social service providers, to name a few, only enhance the surroundings. It is a place for small businesses to launch and thrive. Consider it! Andrew read more

my past experience with Active Space was not great however, the new managment have changed that. Roberto has been wonderful!!! every time i reachout to him he is ready to help,warm and friendly. thank you Roberto for helping to make my transition to being on my own a lot smoother. Dom is also very helpful and kind. the building is clean and feels very secure. i would recommend Active Space in San Francisco and that you reachout to Roberto or Dom to help get you started. read more

terrible conditions . smells bad when you are on the 5th floor. ladies downstairs are no help

Activspace uses a primitive business model that does not work in todays world. The company was created in the early 90s with a business model to rent out to struggling artists. As a result, they dealt with property management nightmares for a good two decades. I know because I was an artist in SF in the 90s and 75% of those around me were shooting heroin... Things have changed and artists can no longer afford to live in big cities, unless they really have their sh$t together. So now professionals look into renting these spaces and they get stuck dealing with rules that have been written, essentially, on a different planet. The managers running these places are just following orders even though the orders are in line with slum-lording. the mangers need to get some balls, see through the lines and do what is right --leave people alone and be fair about giving back deposits. All the rehearsal studios --Lennon, Francisco, Secret, Yosemite, etc can do it, so can you. No need to act like you are managing a 'cruise-ship luxury SOMA apt building'. If you went to school for this sort of thing, you wasted your money because good landlords and good tenants never see each other. They get things right from the start and they respect each other when parting ways. The whole fiasco is a shame because the price is right and the location is perfect. However, I'd rather rent from a single owner from a place near the city and not be treated like an irresponsible teen. The days of artists shooting up, craping on your walls, and dying in your spaces are over. Activspace needs to grow up. --an Artist who has rented in SF since the early 90s... read more

ActivSpace in the Mission was a great place to start a company. If you consider the cost of utilities, trash and all other fees you would otherwise pay renting a commercial property, ActivSpace turns out to be a good deal for 24/7 access. The management has always been kind, friendly and professional to me, including Dominic and those before him. Highly recommend for those getting started with a new project or hobby! read more

DO NOT RENT FROM HERE! REALLY...JUST DON'T. (Unless you want to count your entire deposit towards "move in costs") Moving in everything was all gravy. The managers were perfectly wonderful, helpful people. The space seems promising and creative. The rent is affordable. You'll read the yelp reviews and probably think, "Well I'm not like those people. I will move out correctly and make sure everything is perfect." I have only written a HANDFUL of negative reviews in my life and I felt compelled to let the world know that THIS PLACE IS A TOTAL SCAM. In my case I was charged for "painting & prep" for my 9x12 space and received $88.00 back from $715.00. Infuriated, I spoke with Jennifer who said, "Well, that doesn't seem right, maybe they charged you for that hole in the wall we caused from repairing the leak." She then spoke with the mystical "corporate" who NO ONE can ever get ahold of and got me an additional $144.00 back. So where does that leave me? Oh yes $483.00 to re-paint (mind you I hired somebody to paint the room) and clean it. According to them, that little 9x12 room costs $50.00 to clean and $433.00 to paint. Read below for Copied and Pasted E-mails: This is what I received back after trying to get an itemized invoice (which is within my legal right) to see: "...and ActivSpace up-charges all work done by outside contractors by 20% to cover our overhead of managing the invoices, payments, etc." "It's unfortunate the way things turned out, but if you want any kind of contractor cost breakdown, or anything else, you will have to take us and the contractor to small claims court. Sincerely, Chris Wood Manager Customer Services ActivSpace LLC (415) 355-1515 for Mission ActivSpace" Chris and the mystical "corporate" know that I do not have the time or energy to fight them in small claims over $400 bucks. If I can save just ONE person from these monsters that pray on small businesses, then this review will have been worth it. Be smart future tenant - if there are THIS MANY reviews saying this place is a scam, then it is definitely a SCAM. read more

I ran a small nonprofit organization out of an office in ActivSpace for a couple of years. I love the neighborhood, and loved all of the people who also worked out of the space (especially Cafe 99 sqft!). Unfortunately, I can't say the same for the management of ActivSpace. This was among the worst experiences I've ever had with a property management company. My colleague and I spent three full days cleaning, painting, and re-painting the space. After three days of constant work, we were rewarded with not only $0 of our security deposit back, but an **additional** bill for maintenance work their "cleaning staff" performed. We had even checked with their management about our cleaning job, and -- to echo other comments here -- we were told our paint color wasn't exact. Of course, the exact color of paint was not available anywhere in SF, and the paint looked identical to when we moved in, and looked identical throughout the room. Additionally, the ActivSpace management, on their second inspection of our unit, told us we needed to remove the flooring in our unit, which was in place when we moved in. This was never communicated to us prior to their second inspection of our unit, and just doesn't pass the smell test. I'm sure that, had we removed the flooring, we would have just been billed for failing to "polish the concrete" or "paint the concrete" below the floor. It's nuts. These people are scammers. It's as simple as that. If you're okay with completely losing your security deposit and dealing with frequent, random accosting by their management staff, by all means, rent from ActivSpace. But know that you'll be supporting a company that does not care about the well-being of their tenants. I've attached an image showing the state of the space before our move in, and then after our cleaning prior to moving out two years later. Judge for yourself. Apparently ActivSpace feels no remorse in continuing to rip off tiny community-funded nonprofits, artists, and other people who don't have the time, energy or resources to take them to small claims court. I really hope someone nails these people with a class action lawsuit. If you're organizing such a thing, please get in contact with me. read more

ActivSpace - Prepare to lose your entire security deposit, and then some. - Commercial Real Estate Near Me - San Francisco, California

Activespace #260.... we rented this space for 5 months, only to have floods on our floor. We were blamed for this, told that it was condensation from our mini-frige and told that we could well be held responsible for charges.... the floor next door was ruined and neighbors were complaining of mold. It wasn't out fault... it was the sink of the business next door. We received no apology, no offer to help clean..... when we moved after 5 months, completely downtrodden by the experience they charged us half our deposit for moving one month early. Yeah, it ws in the contract we signed... but given the horrific experience we had you would THINK they would do something to mitigate the bad feelings. They also charged us $258 to repaint the entire room.... we had touched up all spots and repainted the floor. Mind you, the floor was scratched when we moved stuff in the flood. Activspace told us to have the business next door do the cleaning, as THEIR sink had caused the damage. It was a completely bad experience, all the way around. They disconnected our sink after the third flood, so that no more water would come up into our space... but they reconnected it when they were showing the space to prospective tenants. I feel sorry for whoever goes in there, coz I think it's bound to happen again. MONEY FIRST seems to be the policy of Activspace... no human kindness..... read more

Initially, this place looks like a freelancer's dream: cheap office space close to home surrounded by like-minded folk with plenty of chances to mingle. The reality is much different, I discovered after months of not-too-happy renting at ActivSpace. The hallways are always filthy, the walls are paperthin, and vibe here is decidedly unfriendly. It's so insanely loud, making it impossible to concentrate when other people are in their offices. I could hear the guy in the office next to me clip his fingernails. Seriously. Phone conversations were crystal clear. Because there is no insulation between floors, every single movement from above is amplified: every move of a chair, every footfall, every dropped pen resonates like a drum on the ceiling. Even with music blasting in headphones you hear it. ActivSpace claims to "let renters work out their own dynamic" regarding noise but won't give you the name or numbers of the offices above you. Ridiculous. There is much talk at ActivSpace of being part of a "community" when you sign up. This is misguided. People are very rarely around, and when they are their doors are closed and earplugs are in. The occassional "meet-and-greet blow outs!" boasted about 6 dudes in hoodies sitting in the courtyard eating CostCo hotdogs hoping some girls show up. Really sad. ActivSpace allows you to "decorate" your own office, which means almost all offices have unprimered, unpainted walls and unfinished plywood floors. The cost of making these places inhabitable is at a minimum over $400. . .not to mention the two days of fulltime labor. ActivSpace does not compensate for any of these costs claiming people are "free to do what they want with their offices." It's a sneaky business plan -- making renters pay for and do all the work to paint the walls and finish the floors. Then, if you ever move out, AcivSpace gets a fully finished office to rent -- all on your dime. The blinds broke within the first month I was there. After 7 months they still weren't fixed. The place has no central heating. In winter, I could see my breath in my office. It was hard to work, even with a space heater. Because of this, and the general filthiness of the hallways, inviting clients into my office was an embarrassment. I started avoiding it, preferring to meet at a coffee shop down the street. One manager creeped many of my female friends out with his constant advances. They didn't ever want to hang out there. I had completely done the floors and walls in my office. When I left after a number of months, ActivSpace took $100 of my deposit (note: this is AFTER I invested about $400 in painting and floors!) under suspicious and spurious reasons that, in my opinion, were completely unfounded. I've heard from other people similar stories, some even more eggregious. It's about $350 for the smallest office here -- not bad. But considering if you drive, you'll have to pay a minimum of an additional $160 for a spot. And then you'll have to spend many hundreds of dollars fixing up your office. And then you'll have your deposit yanked. Lame. Since October, people have been dropping out at an rapid rate once they realized what the place is all about. Of the ten or so people I met there, every single one has now left and had very little good to say about their time there. They've since found much better options in the city. I'd suggest looking around. read more

I rented from here for two years. The whole place - and my room - always had a funky smell I could never get used to. So I didn't want to hang out there, and ended up wasting money. The place seriously nickel and dimes you. Be prepared just to give up on your security deposit. If you made modifications to your place - paint, flooring - just leave it there, they will keep the security deposit no matter what. Also, I had a bike stolen from the garage (no security), so don't keep your bike there! read more

The most horrible experience in renting an art studio in San Francisco!! BEWARE! Incompetent management - they incorrectly quoted my unit, and without any advanced notice demanded double payment for the unit or moving out. Lack of communication and no way to escalate the issue to upper management. Huge lack of staff training - they place a triple charge on my credit card for the parking space deposit. NEVER RENT from this place - I never experienced such unfair and unprofessional treatment from the staff. read more

I just got stung with the same security deposit scam as so many posters here. Before I get into the gruesome details of my particular experience, let me just announce that I am contemplating legal action -- not so much for the sake of my own security deposit, but in order to put a stop to ActivSpace's abuse of their former tenants at move-out time. Get in touch with me via Yelp if you've had your security deposit unfairly withheld, and hopefully we can force them to change their ways, and maybe even get our security deposits back. I was at ActivSpace for about a year and a half, using it as an art studio, and my experience had been mostly positive -- ActivSpace provided a low-end, no-frills space at a price I could afford. Like many other posters, my troubles began at move-out time. Once I announced I was moving out, ActivSpace managers Chris Wood and James Sipe came to my space to do an inspection, and told me I'd need to patch and paint over a few nail holes, and clean or repaint the floor. Easy one-hour job, right? They'd even specified the paint to use. Unfortunately, it was the wrong color. When I came back the next day, I could see that the paint didn't match. When I complained to James Sipe about being told the wrong color paint to use, he told me I'd now have to repaint the entire studio. None too happy, I spent around $80 and the next two days painting the entire space. Once it all had dried, I asked Chris Wood to come look at it, and confirm that it was a good job, which he did. Three weeks later, I still hadn't received any accounting or refund check. I emailed Chris Wood to see what was going on; I was shocked to discover that a day or two after I'd shown Chris Wood the completed painting job, a seperate "inspector" had come to the space and deemed my painting job as "insufficient", and ordered a repaint of the space. (Though I don't know how much this supposed repaint will cost me, Chris Wood had told me earlier that they typically cost around $300.) There was no phone call at the time of the inspection to give me a chance to view the supposed deficiencies in my paint job, or to make it right. I am deeply suspicious that there were any deficiencies -- I was painting white over white, and I did a good job of it. When I confronted Chris Wood about this, he reacted in an extremely defensive and aggressive manner. Eventually he agreed to "see what he could do", but after reading about the numerous similar stories here, I can see that he is just a pawn in ActivSpace's ongoing pattern of security deposit scams, and that I shouldn't expect much. So if you're considering moving in to ActivSpace, be warned about what might await you at move-out time. If you're already at ActivSpace, cover your ass when you move out -- take lots of photos, get everything in writing, and do a color match on a paint chip before you buy any paint. If you're like me, however, and have already been through the wringer, please get in touch so we can fight this and prevent ActivSpace from taking advantage of other artists and small businesses in the future! read more

I had pretty much the exact same experience as Tom L. I repainted and cleaned and did all of the things they asked me to do to get my deposit back, but they took it all without explanation. Complete rip-off and an overall bad experience, which is why I moved out in the first place -my spot was ridiculously hot in summer and they kind of just shrugged it off. And why do they charge this much when there's no meeting or communal spaces in the whole building? Crap business, don't rent from them. read more

I'm a former tenant of ActivSpace, and we moved out recently along with a flood of others. That's probably economy-related. But for us, anyway, it had a lot to do with some missed opportunities on the part of the well-intentioned owners. In selling this place, there's a lot of talk of community, organized events, amenities, etc, all of which sounded great to us. However in nearly a year there, very little was delivered, aside from an impromptu barbecue or two, and it felt vacant pretty much all the time. The design and finishes default to whatever is the cheapest imaginable. Note the plastic sink faucets, sparse furnishings, and the hallway floors that echo like a drum. It's too bad, because we really wanted this place to be something more, and would have sucked up that our studio was too small (approx. 10 x 17), too dark, and kind of pricey, if we felt a greater connection to the building. If I were them, I'd do a couple of things to help stem the outflow: 1) make a real effort at organizing community -- have regular happy hours, outdoor movie nights, roller skating, whatever, but be consistent and follow through. 2) make a silk purse out of a sow's ear -- put some capital into the common spaces. Make the lobby, courtyard, and upper lounges attractive places to be and hang out, and that make for a larger value than just the room you rent. This place has a lot going for it -- reasonable terms, new construction, an interesting part of town, but it's missing it's chance to truly succeed, as a building and a business. read more

Love my new space in here. Great location, the place is very clean and it has a great management that is always there when you need help. Really recommend to rent a space in ActivSpace!! read more

These people are horrible! They're evicting small businesses during Covid-19 crisis. Several spaces were damaged during a fire so badly that occupants could not operate their businesses. The landlords still were making them pay rent and then evicted them when they couldn't pay rent. You can read about it here: https://brokeassstuart.com/2020/04/13/mission-district-landlord-still-kicking-out-small-businesses-during-eviction-moratorium/ read more

I rented a 210 sq ft office from Activspace in SF for 4 years and it was an overall very positive experience. It's really tough to find fully-enclosed small office spaces that are secure, open 24/7, have big sunny windows, quiet neighboring tenants, bike parking in garage, and located in such a great (though a little sketch at night) neighborhood. It's one of the only places in the Bay like this. The managers, Chris, Jennifer, and James were all respectful, friendly, responsive, and helpful from the day I moved in until the day I moved out. I'd caution to read all of the rules before you rent as they can be strict (as some of the other reviewers have alluded to) but from my experience they're fair, just enforcing the rules I as a tenant agreed to. Knowing this, I ended up hiring a contractor they reccomended to paint my entire space, which cost me $745, which was pricey but worth it as I received my security deposit in full (more than twice the cost of the contractor). I would recommend Activspace to any responsible and organized person or small business looking for a fully enclosed small unit. read more

I LOVE my ActivSpace studio! I've been renting here for over a year and have really enjoyed being in such a vibrant place. I'm a sculptor and needed an enclosed lockable space to contain my dust and noise. I have a huge window with a gorgeous view and a hallway full of diversely creative people - painters, web designers, photographers, textile artists, posture specialists, glass artists etc. As a grownup, I don't need a lot of "parties" and a hangout scene, though I've enjoyed the events that I've attended. Having an individual space is great because it's private when I need to concentrate, and I just leave the door open if I want company. The spaces are new, so I painted my walls and put down some cheap carpet - $40 total. If you need a more finished space, just ask, and maybe wait for one to become available. You can also ask for a quieter or louder group of neighbors, depending on what you like, though that is somewhat open to chance. Overall the building is well kept, clean and pleasant. The owner visits often and really seems to care about the tenants. It's not a sterile office type of place, or a rundown band-practice pit, just a nice balance of creativity and professionalism. read more

I can only speak as a current tenant of ActivSpace, and no I'm not getting any compensation for writing a stellar review. Honestly, ever since I moved in in February, I've been raving to all my friends about finding such a great space for so little cost in this city of ridiculous rental rates. When I was looking for space, I found ActivSpace and 2 other places for under $500/month. Those other two places were desk space only, in a non-private, shared work environment. That may be good for some people, but I'd rather listen to my own music, have loud phone conversations and come to work in my sweat pants if I so chose to do, in the privacy of my own 125 sq ft office, for under $500/month. Obviously prices change with the market, but honestly, it's hard to find something comparable. It's true, they still haven't gotten that audio visual equipment, and it's still exceptionally hard to coordinate community oriented events, but with time I'm sure they'll figure it out. Also, the community organizing can not lie solely on the shoulders of the owners or management. I'm sure this also has a lot to do with the busy schedules of tenants. After all, we all are in this place to make a living out of a hobby or vice versa. All in all, I highly recommend it. It's cheap, centrally located, the building is super clean, good inexpensive parking for vehicles and free secure parking for bicycles. I couldn't ask for more. read more

The most horrible experience in renting an art studio in San Francisco!! BEWARE! Incompetent management - they incorrectly quoted my unit, and without any advanced notice demanded double payment for the unit or moving out. Lack of communication and no way to escalate the issue to upper management. Huge lack of staff training - they place a triple charge on my credit card for the parking space deposit. NEVER RENT from this place - I never experienced such unfair and unprofessional treatment from the staff. read more

Although affordable-ish month to month office spaces, you will end up regretting ever stepping foot in this place after dealing with their move out process. Don't even think about cleaning/repainting or even professionally hiring anyone to do it because they still charge you in the end. Say bye bye to that hefty deposit you placed with first months rent. The communication for my move out process was non existent, and I had to be on top of them to make sure they got the keys and that my space was approved a few days before I needed to be out....or so I thought. Low and behold over a month later I receive my "returned" deposit of only half of what I gave them. Reason: painting. Even though my space was supposedly move out approved they forgot to inform me that they wouldn't be giving my full deposit back. Since they take so long to process and give you your check back, they don't even want to deal with giving you the original reimbursement they owe you. Just stay away, there are plenty of other places in the Mission area to rent workspace where you won't be swindled. read more

Total ripoff. I notice that the positive reviews come from people who haven't moved out yet. BEWARE!!! You never know how good the landlord is until the lease ends. I'm a photographer. I rented a space for 6 months, thinking I would be shooting a studio project. I didn't end up shooting the project, so I didn't use the space, except as a place to keep my lighting equipment. I think I set foot in the space about ten times in six months. Two days before my lease ended, an Activspace manager inspected my space, and gave me a helpful form saying that all I had to do was remove my things and sweep the floor, and I would get my whole damage deposit back. Made perfect sense, because the space looked EXACTLY as it had when I moved in. Guess what happened when I moved out? Activspace kept my entire damage deposit. The whole thing. Activspace charged me for things like painting the floor, even though the floor was unpainted when I moved in. For painting the walls which an Activspace manager had already told me didn't need painting. For cleaning the door hinges. I'm not making that up. So I asked for all the invoices related to my space, and guess what? It hadn't been painted after all. After about six rounds going back and forth with Activspace, I got a small portion of my damage deposit back. So my only option now is to sue them for the rest. I think they know I'm not going to do that. Nice business model, guys. Rip off artists. read more

yes indeed, this place's business model sucks, as noted in MANY of the realistic reviews here. my studio mate and i moved out in June, both having found better spaces for less monthly rent in better buildings within three blocks of 18th x Treat. all-artist buildings w/ responsive management... what a concept, apparently. we gave notice in late May that we were terminating our lease effective 01 July. we received immediate response to this, mostly focused on current onsite management and the mysterious "corporate offices in Seattle" having summarily changed the move out requirements from those to which we agreed (and signed) when we moved in. at move in, the rental agreement noted to return the space to the state it was when occupied; the studio we rented had what amounted to one splashy and uneven coat of powdery white wash over a previous tenant's grey paint and an unpainted concrete floor. new move out requirement changes included a particular type and color of Glidden paint not readily available, painting the concrete floor which was raw when we moved in to the space 3 and 1/2 years ago, and "strongly" suggesting the hiring of professional painters. and so, yeah, we take it as a given that we will see not a coin of the $600 security deposit paid when we moved in, way back in January 2010. and frankly, that's a wash for us given the additional cost, greater than the security deposit, that would have been part of moving out. the super drag, and a large part of our decision to leave ActivSpace, was the change in managers and management style. when we moved in, Tama was the manager and she made the application and move-in process as smooth as glass, reviewing the rental agreement IN FULL, almost line by line. as our tenancy proceeded. Tama was very active in cultivating community amongst artist tenants, getting ActivSpace on the ArtSpan open studios list for 2010, organized food vendors for one of the afternoons of open studios weekend, helping keep the building open and accessible to open studio visitors and such like. Tama was way invested in the bldg being focused on artists, sent emails regularly about arts events, open studios guides, et c. then suddenly, Tama was gone. mind you, i love the internet, love having a website on it, love buying stuff over it, i just love it... BUT with Tama's departure came an almost overnight and total shift in focus from artists and similar tenants (hairdressers, tattooists, et c.), to internet based businesses. and believe you me, ActivSpace's current management LOVES the internet! when management was asked about easier access to the building during the two days of both Fall 2012 and Spring 2013 open studios weekends, the response was that this could not and would not happen in support of the concerns of "the security of our business tenants." in hindsight to May, when we gave notice, i can only wish i had come up with an answer to the question that followed the ridiculously changed move out requirement we received via email, a question that asked politely if we'd share the reason we were leaving. i have one now but screw them, they wouldn't have cared then, don't really now and won't in future. RENTER BEWARE! read more