- San Francisco
- Mid-Market
Warfield Commons
Warfield Commons is a cultural hub in the heart of San Francisco where arts, media, and community voices thrive. With…
Meet TheMoment
(Clockwise from top) Art: Tan Sirinumas.
Art: Maya Fuji.
Photos: (R) Artist Mattie Loyce, photo by Mayra Sanchez (L) Ivy Monteiro, photo by Robbie Sweeny
Announcing the Space to Dream Initiative, designed to ensure long-term affordability for artists and arts organizations in the Bay Area.
Join us in shaping the future of our cities.
Photos by Mogli Maureal
(Top) Artists Cece Carpio & Pancho Pescador
(Bottom) Haight Street Art Center
What We Do
We are building a new real estate paradigm in the Bay Area — a better system that recognizes the essential role of arts and culture in communities and creates a long-term engine for ensuring artists and cultural workers can stay anchored where they create.
CAST brings a creative and community-centered perspective to the real estate world. Space acquisition can provide stability to arts and culture organizations that face unpredictable rent increases or the threat of eviction. We provide project management, financing strategies and modeling, and partnership to partners interested in acquiring space for long-term community control.
Managing a building or space for arts and culture requires a unique combination of expertise in asset management, governance, and operations. We provide consulting and property and asset management services, helping organizations steward and activate space in a way that ensures long-term sustainability.
We enter communities with care, building relationships with people who are rooted in the arts and culture ecosystem. We engage in a global community of practice, building and exchanging knowledge and partnering to develop creative solutions that are responsive to local community needs. We collaborate with community partners, funders, and policymakers in the vital work of building a new real estate paradigm — a better system that recognizes the essential role of arts and culture in communities.
Our Work
In deep partnership with local communities, we model new ways to secure and steward affordable, inclusive spaces for creative and cultural expression.
- Read more about Warfield Commons
- Read more about CounterPulse
- San Francisco
- The Tenderloin
CounterPulse
CounterPulse, a staple in San Francisco’s art scene for over 30 years, has long been a catalyst for experimental and…
- Read more about Black Cultural Zone – Liberation Park
- Oakland
- East Oakland
Black Cultural Zone – Liberation Park
The Black Cultural Zone, conceived in 2014, addresses the disparate impact of decades of disinvestment in East Oakland and more…
Carolyn Johnson
CEO
Black Cultural Zone
CAST is an essential partner because they center arts and culture, and the resources and expertise that they bring will make sure that we don’t lose that focus. We could not do this project without CAST.
Tom DeCaigny
Executive Director, Create CA
Former Director of Cultural Affairs, City of San Francisco, 2012-2020
CAST is a great partner with the public sector…what CAST offers is a vehicle for holding a private asset in trust, something that the government has a really hard time doing and certainly can’t do in a nimble fashion. CAST’s real beauty is its potential to scale, thinking to the future.
Trevor Parham
Founder & CEO
Oakstop
CAST has been critical in helping Oakstop purchase our original building in downtown Oakland. Their partnership has included access to patient capital, support with financial modeling, guidance through the development process, and even connections to other partners and clients. Their model offers a needed approach that should be replicated throughout California and to other cities across the country.
Photo: Musician Nikbo
Art: Cherisse Alcantara
Ready to get involved with CAST?
Explore our partnership, co-creation, and volunteer opportunities.
News & Events
- Securing Space
Denver’s Downtown at a Crossroads
A look at the transformation of downtown Denver, where post-pandemic vacancies are creating a rare opening for creative reuse.
- Securing Space
Breaking Ground: A New Chapter in the Rockies
This next chapter of Breaking Ground follows CAST’s expansion into Colorado, where we’re deepening our focus on affordable space for arts and culture.
- Community of Practice
Parting Words from Patricia Zamora to the CAST Community
Community Engagement Manager Patricia Zamora says farewell, reflecting on her journey at CAST, what she’s learned, and the gratitude she carries for the CAST community.
Port Commission Approves Lease with CAST to Create City’s Largest Combined Artist Studio and Exhibition Space at Pier 29
This newly envisioned cultural hub will house dynamic exhibitions, artist residencies, public performances, and skill-sharing events.
