New Site Links Artists to Homes, Studios

Painter Jason Gringler, 28, moved to New York City from Toronto, only to discover that the studio apartment where he planned to live and work was no longer available.

After reaching out to contacts, he found a charming 950-square-foot loft in East Williamsburg. The $925-a-month price tag was well within Mr. Gringler's budget.

The New York transplant's housing woes were solved by a 28-year-old photographer turned builder, Jason Goodman. Earlier this month, Mr. Goodman launched an online housing portal for artists and other creative professionals looking for reasonable rents, Grounded NYC (groundednyc.com).

The site began after Mr. Goodman, who rebuilds and redesigns dilapidated and outdated warehouses in north Brooklyn, started informally linking property owners with would-be renters in the area. The available stock at Grounded NYC now includes $2,400 Bushwick two-bedrooms and several lofts like Mr. Gringler's for up to $1,550.

Mr. Goodman works as a general contractor out of an office at a membership-based 20,000-square-foot artists' facility he founded in East Williamsburg, 3rd Ward.

"Spaces are so expensive," Mr. Goodman, who does showings and asks prospective tenants for first and last month's rent and a security deposit, said. "The hardest thing about having an enjoyable life in New York is dealing with this insane market."

With its stringent rules and broker-free model, this would-be classified site is no Craigslist. The property must be offered to Grounded NYC before being publicly advertised, and it must be priced at or below market rates. Mr. Goodman insists that the property be well managed by what he deems to be an honest, non-slumlord owner. His last rule is more abstract: He has to feel good about it.

"I don't want to rent it to my friend and find out the guy doesn't fix the plumbing and there are rats," Mr. Goodman said. "I drive by the building, I talk to people who live in the building, and I get a feeling that this person is a legitimate, honest landlord who is going to manage the building well and deal with tenants fairly."

Mr. Goodman knows the perils of finding residential real estate firsthand, having arrived from Boston three years ago after a stint at the Museum School with just $400. Mr. Goodman ultimately put down roots in a spacious Williamsburg loft.

Some apartment hunters are put off by Mr. Goodman's listings because they often are in out-of-the-way, industry-heavy areas of Brooklyn. Still, other residents say the benefits of space and the proximity to other creative professionals outweigh potential neighborhood pitfalls, and say Mr. Goodman is a networking deity who is helping to transform the area into an artists' enclave.

A photographer's assistant who lives in East Williamsburg, Shane Lyons, falls into the latter camp. Despite the nearby plastic bag and automobile parts warehouses, he said he appreciates his home's proximity to the subway and the relative tranquility. "It's actually really quiet," he said. "I lived less than a mile away, and it was ridiculously loud and there was a whole bunch of music playing all the time."