Review for Frogtown Family Artist Lofts Cooperative Apartments

Just had another friend of mine contact me about living here. At one time, this place wasn't so bad. But as a former tenant, I now refer everyone to the Tilsner & Carleton lofts, where you get far better apt amentities & physical security for comparable rents.

As in they actually have things like cable & internet, DW, central AC & W/D already in your units. OK, not the Tilsner, but Carleton has all of the above. Frogtown has none of the above.

Other artist loft buildings also have vastly superior security & safety.

Combine that with actual USABLE work space for creating art (especially at the Carleton lofts, where I now live), which Frogtown doesn't have, and again, why would you move to Frogtown?

For the money you pay there, it so isn't worth it, if you shop around. And almost anywhere else will give you far less day to day living hassle in general.

The courtyard is nice at Frogtown, no doubt about it. And the units look pretty too. But the courtyard really isn't very usable for adults, because it is overrun with unsupervised kids all the time, and it doesn't have a quality space for tenants to use w/BBQ grills, tables, etc. like most apt bldgs w/similar outdoor grounds provide. I mean, the Frogtown idea of a usuable BBQ and patio area for tenants is really just a cruel joke. On you. So seriously, don't be fooled by the lower level courtyard--have a close look at that "patio area" for tenants, because it really isn't usable, especially if your hope is to do outdoor entertaining of friends there.

Walls are paper thin. The second hand smoke & fumes from other tenants' art projects is truly obnoxious, and is certainly toxic, especially the smoke. Lots of smokers there.

All places have their pluses and minuses, of course. Frogtown certainly had it's glory days in terms of the Artspace movement, but those days are now long gone. Much better & safer alternatives to Frogtown have been developed over the last 10 years, so I just don't understand why anyone would move there anymore, especially if you are a visual artist or dancer or have children.

How the current tenants can claim this place is safe for kids, with second hand smoke a serious issue (remember, they advertise themselves as artist lofts for FAMILIES), the drive by shootings, assaults on the grounds, break-ins to the apts, etc. I'll never know. I'd certainly never move there if I had kids.

Carleton lofts have a decent dance studio, gallery, AND studio spaces WITH KILNS! SINKS! If you think there is work space for you at Frogtown as a visual artist, just look closely at the sink situation there. It looks like a hoax, compared to other artist bldgs.

The Frogtown gallery is pathetic compared to Carleton & Tilsner, as is the artist marketing (there is none to speak of). I couldn't believe how shabby the place looked when I went through there two years ago for an exhibit. The building isn't even part of the Art Crawl!

The Tilsner is fabulous for promoting yourself--Art Crawl central--if you are a visual artist looking to utilize that aspect of your live/work space. It does depend upon the art form you are into, whether you want to put up with the Art Crawl biz in your living space, etc. All that goes without saying if you're a visual artist.

But especially as living spaces, Frogtown just isn't a good value anymore. It's a hard daily grind there. NO amenities for the price. Crime there is bad, and from what I keep hearing from people in the TC art community, is a very real part of living there. That isn't the case at either the Carleton or the Tilsner.

As far as online presence of the building, I'm not sure they have one. I think they used to have a yahoo or google group, or maybe it was a blog. But if I recall correctly, you had to do a sign-in thing to get into it, which is pretty 20th century.

I don't know where all these peace, love & community people posting at this site are coming from, actually. It seems like an odd way to describe an artist loft building, especially when that is all these reviews are talking about!

Reviews should tell you about the actual physical space you will move into and live in, no? Funny how all the current tenants don't tell you about that, and choose to talk about the pretty wood floors and flowery courtyard, but not the crappy kitchens and laundry!

Can't remember the exact amt of rent we pd when we lived there, but I'm pretty sure it was just under $800 for a 2BR.