Poll Results: Who Wants to Buy a Live/Work Space?

• October 28th 2013

by Shilpi Paul

Last week, UrbanTurf put a question to our readers: was anyone out there interested in living in some sort of live/work space?

Building off a poll posted by Lock 7 Development, we wanted to know if there is a market in DC for rowhouses with an attached storefront, true artists’ studios with loft space, or some other kind of live/work set-up.

Below are the results of our poll:

Of those who answered, which may be a self-selecting group, 81 percent responded that yes, they would be interested in purchasing a live/work space. That affirmative group includes more than 100 people.

A few of our commenters also chimed in with some thoughts. “Having a 15-second commute down a flight of steps would be considered the holy grail,” said Rick. “Only roadblock to such a setup is turning a hobby into a business.”

Justin S. also brought up a few potential considerations:

“Workshop space needs to be priced accordingly. There are probably 200 artists in the whole country that could legitimately afford DC real estate prices to use as an income-producing workspace. And there’s been a rash of ridiculous ‘artist spaces’ opening up on the outskirts of town in places where no one who buys art would ever go.”

While live/work spaces may remain scarce, there is at least one currently on the market: a Ledroit Park rowhouse that is being sold with a working market on the ground floor. An early buyer went under contract on the property earlier this month, but the contract has since fallen through and the listing is back on the market.

This article originally published at https://dc.urbanturf.com/articles/blog/poll_results_who_wants_to_buy_a_live_work_space/7744.