The corner of Shattuck Avenue and Addison Street has a tenant again, and you can walk in today. Zero Empty Spaces has divided the former Half Price Books at 2036 Shattuck Ave. into small working artist studios. The East Bay Open Studios listing for the site says it is open to the public daily from noon to 5 p.m. The grand opening and ribbon cutting is set for Saturday, Nov. 7, which means the official celebration comes several months after the artists moved in.
That timing matters because the whole project is temporary by design. The studios are meant to fill a vacant storefront, keep it active, and make it appealing to a long-term tenant. If that works, the artists eventually move on. For anyone who has walked past the plywood at this corner for most of the past year, the time to see the space in this form is roughly now through the winter.
From Bookstore to Studios in Nine Months
- November 2025. Half Price Books closes its downtown Berkeley store after 20 years, leaving what Berkeleyside described as an 8,000-square-foot hole at Shattuck and Addison.
- June 30, 2026. A City Council consent item authored by Councilmember Igor Tregub and co-sponsored by Mayor Adena Ishii directs council office funds to the Downtown Berkeley Association to help pay for the activation.
- August 2026. Artists tour the space at an open house on Aug. 8, and Berkeleyside reports the first group expected to sign leases and move in within days. The minimum six-month rent-free period from the building owner also starts in August.
- Oct. 8, 2026. The space hosts an open-house preview and artist information session, then a “Prescribing Connection” evening from 6 to 8:30 p.m.
- Saturday, Nov. 7. Grand opening and ribbon cutting, 5 to 8 p.m. In August the opening had been planned for mid-October.
- December 2026. The space serves as a Community Hub for East Bay Open Studios.
- February 2027. Six months from the August start. After that, according to the council item, the Zero Empty Spaces lease with the building owner becomes month-to-month.
So if you wait for the ribbon cutting before visiting, you skip the first three months of a run that is guaranteed for only about six.
Who Is Working Behind the Glass
Inside, the bookstore floor is now a grid of cubicle studios. In August, Berkeleyside reported 24 studios of 96 to 156 square feet, leased month-to-month, with artists allowed to work around the clock. The artists named on Zero Empty Spaces' Berkeley roster include Annetta Lipman, Puanani Owan and Stephen Gerstman. Owan's bio lists inks and watercolors, colored pencils, markers, wax- and oil-based crayons, and mixed-media collage. Gerstman paints mainly in oils on canvas, and he describes his work as figurative and colorful.
The arrangement has more in common with an open studio than a gallery. The artists keep the full price of anything they sell. A California Arts Council listing posted Oct. 21 advertises 0% commission, along with public gallery hours, open studio events, and paid classes and workshops in a shared space. The same listing says Berkeley is the company's first California location and that "we are building the founding community now," so artists are still being recruited. The work on view will probably keep changing through the fall as new studios fill.
During the August open house, Berkeley artist Mariana Moreno-Gonzalez, who paints pet portraits, told Berkeleyside why she wanted a studio there:
"Being around other mediums is always great. I think art needs community."
The building is already used for events beyond studio work. The Daily Californian reported that the Oct. 8 "Prescribing Connection" evening, which included a panel on social prescribing, art and live music, drew more than 100 people.
The Lease Explains the Arrangement
The studios exist because a vacant storefront costs the property and the block more than a temporary tenant that pays very little. The June 30 council item puts it plainly. It describes the Zero Empty Spaces model as offering property owners "a dynamic daily activation in otherwise unused spaces until a permanent tenant is secured," and it says the goal in Berkeley "is to make the property attractive for long-time tenants." The Daily Californian reported that when a permanent tenant arrives, Zero Empty Spaces would help its artists move to another available space.
The council item lists who is paying for the rollout:
| Contributor | Contribution, per the June 30, 2026 council item |
|---|---|
| Gordon Commercial, building owner | The space rent-free for at least six months starting August 2026 |
| Visit Berkeley | $10,000 toward rollout, $5,000 more contingent on other funding, the $7,500 rental deposit, and removal of the plywood facade |
| Downtown Berkeley Association | An expected $2,500 |
| Mayor Ishii and Councilmember Tregub | $2,500 and $300 from council office budgets, routed to the DBA |
| Zero Empty Spaces | The majority of a rollout estimated at about $35,000 |
Sources describe the rent terms a little differently. The council document says rent-free. Berkeleyside's August story called it a discounted rate for an initial six-month run. Either way, the low cost is what allows a tourism bureau and a business association to put money into one corner storefront.
Studio rents have moved up as the project took shape. In June, the council item expected studios to start at about $400 a month. In August, Berkeleyside reported $4 per square foot, with most studios between $500 and $600. By Oct. 21, the California Arts Council listing advertised studios from 96 to 255 square feet starting at $550 a month, utilities and Wi-Fi included. The largest size listed in October is bigger than anything in the August description, so the layout has changed as well as the price.
A Downtown Calendar Built Around 2036 Shattuck
The studios are one block from Downtown Berkeley BART, according to the Arts Council listing. That puts them within easy reach of several other downtown events this fall. Here they are in order, starting from this post's publication date:
- Friday, Oct. 30, 3 to 7 p.m. The DBA's Halloween Hootenanny at the Downtown Berkeley BART Plaza, with live music, local vendors, activities, treats and a costume contest co-presented with Visit Berkeley. The studios close at 5, so arriving at 3 leaves time for both.
- Through Saturday, Oct. 31. The Downtown Berkeley Association's free Sidewalk Sessions, acoustic sets on downtown sidewalks, plazas and corners, finish their July-through-October season.
- Thursday, Nov. 5. BAMPFA's First Thursday is free all day and includes a 1:15 p.m. curator's tour of the Maren Hassinger exhibition with Anthony Graham.
- Saturday, Nov. 7, 5 to 8 p.m. The Zero Empty Spaces grand opening and ribbon cutting, with local artists and makers and original art. RSVP is free.
- Saturday, Nov. 14. BAMPFA hosts an Artists' Conversation with Emory Douglas and William Rhodes.
- Through Nov. 29. "Maren Hassinger: Living Moving Growing" remains on view at BAMPFA.
- Dec. 5–6 and 12–13. East Bay Open Studios, hosted this year by Oakland Art Murmur, lists the space as an official Community Hub at 2036 Shattuck.
Taken together, this calendar runs from Halloween into mid-December and ends with the studios hosting holiday shoppers during the region's open-studios weekends. After that, the six-month mark in February is the next date that matters at Shattuck and Addison. That is when the lease goes month-to-month, and every month after it depends on whether a long-term tenant has signed. Until then, the posted hours are noon to 5 every day, and it's a good idea to check them before you go.
If you've ever looked at a storefront and wondered what the building could become, ask Portia. She came to real estate from art history and appraisal, and she reads a space the way a curator does. At Pirnia Homes, that habit shapes how she presents every home. If you live near downtown and are curious what your own place could command, request a personalized home valuation.
