Those affected include GMAC Film, Sharmanka Kinetic Theatre, Glasgow Print Studio, Street Level Photoworks, Project Ability, Project Rooms and Transmission Gallery.
The building is owned by City Property, the arm’s-length commercial property company of Glasgow City Council.
In an email sent to supporters, Louise Oliver, interim creative programme director at GMAC Film, said the situation had escalated rapidly and warned the future being proposed for the building “does not include organisations like us”.
She said: “Hot off the heels of the closure of the CCA, we are facing another act of cultural vandalism. Trongate 103 – the cultural hub in the Merchant City that houses a group of independent arts organisations (including GMAC) – has been handed a four-week notice; a non-negotiable eviction order. ”
“City Property has terminated the current lease agreement for the cultural tenants in the building and intends to impose dramatically increased rents to any who remain, an increase that charities and grassroots arts organisations simply cannot afford.”
Arts organisations at landmark Merchant City venue told to leave by March 27
She added: “The reality is clear: the future being proposed for this building does not include organisations like us. It is a blatant attempt to exploit third sector organisations incapable of defending their position in the face of authorities ignoring an established approach they were party to setting up on behalf of the people and culture of Glasgow.
“Trongate 103 was renovated with public funding to create a long-term, affordable home for grassroots arts organisations and charities in Glasgow. The original funding model was based on stability – 25-year leases and sustainable rents – precisely because these are charities and cultural producers, not commercial tenants. ”
Ms Oliver accused City Property of “attempting to shift the building from the originally agreed subsidised cultural model to a fully commercial footing”.
She said in recent years there had been attempts at huge rents hikes and service charges and the introduction of building insurance and major capital costs that !were explicitly excluded when the project was publicly funded”.
Ms Oliver added: “We know that City Property operates as an arm’s-length property company for Glasgow City Council. It’s right there on their website. We also know it exists within Glasgow’s civic infrastructure. We are being treated as commercial liabilities at best, unwanted squatters at worst.
“What is happening here raises urgent questions about how we value culture, community and the third sector in this city. This is not just about GMAC. This is about what kind of Glasgow we want to live in.”
City Property said: “Lease renewals are a standard process for all tenants given that existing leases expire and the market rent of properties change over time, which is reflected in any new lease agreement.
“Lease renewal negotiations for 103 Trongate have been ongoing for some time and we have already advised our tenants that the serving of a notice to vacate would be necessary to enable the old leases to end and the new lease agreements to take effect.
“This is common practice across the property market”