OVERVIEW

WAV represents the vanguard of innovative, sustainable cultural facilities. The Working Artists Ventura (WAV) project will be a $57 million, state-of-the-art community designed for artists and creative businesses. Located in the cultural district of downtown Ventura, California, WAV will offer affordable living and working space for over a hundred artists of every kind; painters, sculptors, dancers, poets, musicians, filmmakers and more.

The artists will bring to life a theater/gallery with performances, art openings and public gatherings. Arts-friendly small businesses including coffee houses, galleries, cafes, wine bars and jazz clubs will draw foot traffic and contribute to the vitality of the neighborhood. With the community involved in every phase of development, the WAV project is being created for diverse, mixed-income families and individuals. Supportive Housing will provide homes and crucial services to those at the lowest end of the income scale. Market-rate condominiums with ocean views bring higher-income households to the community and help to subsidize the affordable housing. The entire community will be designed and built to the highest standards of green building technology (LEED™ certified), including recycled building materials, car sharing, water and energy conservation, and renewable power from the sun.

AFFORDABLE & SUPPORTIVE HOUSING

The WAV project will provide sixty-nine new units of affordable housing, all serving low income families and individuals from across the region. Because artists need high ceilings, plentiful light and open space, they and their families find it particularly difficult to live and work in traditional affordable housing. That’s why WAV will provide fifty-four affordable units especially designed and funded for the needs of artists with families.

Fifteen of the units will be designed to provide permanent supportive housing, intended to house recently homeless families and individuals from across Ventura County. Rents will adjust on a sliding scale, creating opportunities for households of any income. Project Understanding, a Ventura-based nonprofit, will coordinate crucial services necessary to help these households break the cycle of severe poverty and homelessness. Supportive Housing is a national movement proving to be extremely effective. The US Department of Health and Human Services reports that almost 84% of homeless households were still housed after one year in supportive housing, and emergency room visits were dramatically reduced saving health care costs. A unique collaboration is being developed with Casa Pacifica of Camarillo to provide space and support for eighteen-year-olds matriculating from the foster-care and Casa Pacifica systems.

MARKET RATE, FOR-SALE CONDOS

COMMUNITY COMMONS
WAV will integrate with the downtown community like few affordable housing projects. Not only will cultural activities draw thousands of visitors, but a large theater/gallery offers opportunities for community performances, art openings and neighborhood gatherings.

ARTS-FRIENDLY BUSINESSES
WAV promotes small business development. Galleries, coffee houses, and art supply stores and jazz clubs will provide jobs for our residents, promote small businesses, and contribute to the vitality of our community.

GREEN BUILDING
Buildings consume sixty-seven percent of America’s electricity, while spewing out half the nation’s greenhouse emissions. Almost half of the waste choking our landfills comes from construction. We can do better. WAV will be the first LEED™ Certified affordable housing project in Ventura County, and only the second in the State of California. The WAV project will harness enough solar energy to actually provide electricity to the regional grid. LEED™ designed buildings are healthier for the inhabitants and the environment, while conserving our precious natural resources.

The WAV project is a community-driven development effort made possible by the participation of civic and community leaders, nonprofit leaders, volunteers, business leaders, neighbors, and, of course, artists.