Capitol Hill Losing Velocity?

In the ongoing drama that is Capitol Hill's arts scene this year (no pun intended, though it is damn funny), Velocity Dance Center's residency remains as uncertain as ever, and the likelihood that said residency will continue to be on the Hill is smaller than it has ever been.

Negotiations with Elizabeth Linke, the former landlord of Capitol Hill Arts Center (another organization that is currently homeless), have stalled, says Velocity representative Kara O'Toole.

"It's not really our most promising option anymore," she says, citing the need for building upgrades before the space is suited to housing dancers rather than small stage shows and comedians.

More troubling to those who have lived with the building tension between commercialization and the arts scene, only one of the organization's other options is in Capitol Hill. Though O'Toole says Velocity wants to stay in the neighborhood, other more affordable options beckon from South Lake Union. Currently Velocity has worked out month-to-month leases with Redside Partners LLC, the firm managing Oddfellows Hall since the owner shift that originally sparked the trouble, causing rents to rise as much as 20 percent.

O'Toole says Velocity can afford to stay in Oddfellows month-to-month until the end of the year if they must, but the decision has to be made by then.

"We'd love to stay in Capitol Hill. It's our home," O'Toole says. "But there just aren't that many spaces anymore that are both affordable and suited to our needs. There are fewer undeveloped warehouses and such. There's a pretty rapid commercial market here."

This conflict has come to the fore in the past six months with many near-casualties for the neighborhood's arts community, including Theater Schmeater. Unless negotiations with either of Velocity's two Capitol Hill options pan out, the dance company could be the first organization this year that prayed for a miracle that didn't come.