Oakland Warehouses: Where are they now?

The Ghostship fire on Dec. 2 stirred conversations surrounding safety and policies for the future of warehouses as the world mourned the tragic loss of 36 artists. The Ghostship was unique though, in its unsafe two-story structure and maze-like second floor. Specifically, there was only one known exit—the stairs.

Through further investigation, the stairs were pinpointed as one of the most dangerous parts of the house. In fact, many of the artists that perished were trapped on the second floor after the stairs collapsed. In early December, Oakland officials announced that not a single building enforcement inspector stepped foot in the warehouse in over 30 years. Further, the building was coded for only commercial use, meaning no one was legally allowed to live inside. If the building had been inspected, these issues would likely have been addressed.

This media explosion highlighting warehouses led to a nationwide crackdown on the live-work spaces as cities try to extinguish the problem by closing down the artist housing spaces. The effects of this crackdown are uncertain. On one hand, it could force artist to relocate, but it could have driven the warehouse deeper underground as artists hope to ensure their live-work spaces.

Mya Byrnes, 39, an American-rock singer songwriter who moved into a warehouse in the Lower Bottoms neighborhood in 2014. For her, the LoBot warehouse was a dream space that due to its shear size, allowed creativity on a new scale was always breaming with dancing and laughter. LoBot was a warehouse that did pass inspection and was up to code. However, the building owner stopped renting the space and evicted all 20 artists in Sept. 2016.

Afterward, Mya was forced to go back to New York and hopped from couch to couch and finally found housing after eight months. Other LoBot residents moved to New England or left the Bay Area.

Nihar Bhatt, 29, is a DJ and producer known professionally as Nine. He was at the party the night of the Ghostship fire, and though he survived, he lost multiple friends in the fire.

His main focus since the fire has been a remembrance project to help honor the close friends he lost and showcase the artists’ work. The artist community continues to feel the absence of those they lost, but has channeled that pain into creating stronger relationships with one another.

Bhatt has a small music studio in his home and he has started opening it up to more artists and sharing his resources with others. His hope is to continue to be a catalyst to help create more art