The Art House property sells to studio space company, but theater will stay

This story has been updated to include comments from STVDIO SPACE co-founder Libby Balsiger. A previous version of this story misstated the last name of the managing director of the Art House. His name is Ed Schiessl. Lookout Eugene-Springfield regrets the error.

The Art House, the independent two-screen movie theater in a historic building near the University of Oregon campus, has sold its property to a Los Angeles company looking to turn it into residences and studio spaces for student artists.

The Los Angeles-based company STVDIO SPACE announced in a press release that it had closed escrow on the property, in the 400 block of East 13th Avenue, on Aug. 5. The plan is to develop the site into “a vibrant live/create community,” which the press release said could be in place as early as the 2026-27 school year. 

The plan should not impact the tenancy of the Art House. The property comprises three roughly quarter-acre plots; the two easternmost lots are occupied by the Art House, at 492 E. 13th Ave. 

That Spanish mission-style building, known as the Wilcox building, was first built in 1925 to house the First Congregational Church. It became a mortuary in the 1950s and in 1980 became Bijou Art Cinemas. Bijou closed in early 2021 due to the difficulties the pandemic brought to smaller theaters, but it returned as the Art House the following year.

The STVDIO SPACE development does not plan to touch the historic building. The plan is to renovate the building on the property’s westernmost lot, 446 E. 13th Ave, currently occupied by Haven Beauty Lounge, and potentially build another building on the lot’s south side.

The final $3.015 million sale price was reached with $500,000 in bridge financing from the city of Eugene, according to Aaron Doreen, the manager of the city’s business lending program through its community development division.

“We were highly motivated when we met the team and heard about their vision, what they were doing with the space, and most importantly that their intent was to preserve the building,” Doreen said.

He said that the STVDIO SPACE plan, to preserve the Art House while letting the resident student artists use it during off hours, made sense to the city as a good use for the space. 

The property will be the project’s pilot site, as STVDIO SPACE looks to expand with national hubs in other college towns. Future sites are planned for San Marcos, Texas, and Madison, Wisconsin.

The company is led by co-founder Libby Balsiger, whose LinkedIn lists her as a longtime marketing strategist for Chipotle, focusing on college markets, as well as the founder of a restaurant industry communications consultancy firm and the owner of a yoga studio.

STVDIO SPACE is the second iteration of Balsiger’s projects aimed at college-age artists, inspired by the importance of college-age students to Chipotle’s success. It was preceded by CAMPVS, started by Balsiger’s business partner Evan Shapiro, which started as a campus DJ competition and turned into a digital platform where student musicians could upload videos and compete to headline concerts and partner with brands.

“By and large, we’ve realized that for this generation of students, one of the most important things is becoming content creators and diving deep into into the arts,” Balsiger said. “We looked at Eugene, saw its really vibrant art scene and saw that it really welcomes students, artists, musicians, creators, and realized this would be a really good location for what we’re building.”

The STVDIO SPACE website, already updated to include the Art House building, advertises a Discord-like chat app for residents to talk with each other, but does not yet have detailed information on the development. Balsiger said that the STVDIO SPACE slots will not be limited to students at the University of Oregon, but that other details like total goal occupancy, rent pricing and copyright arrangements for content created on-site are still in early discussions.

Ed Schiessl, managing director of the Art House and its downtown sister theater Broadway Metro, said in a text that he was not yet sure what the sale means for the theater’s operations.

Schiessl added that the building’s longtime owner, Jan Rush, didn’t want prior developers who tried to buy the building to bulldoze it and add another student housing high-rise, and instead wanted to ensure the building went to a buyer who could preserve it.

“So that’s objectively a win,” Schiessl texted.