Z Space (2011)

In October of 2011, Lisa Steindler, the Executive Artistic Director of Z Space, a San Francisco-based non-profit organization that developed and produced new theatrical work, readied herself for the annual board retreat. She was excited by the opportunities she saw for Z Space, which had proven itself capable of significant change, but her excitement was tempered somewhat by a sense of uncertainty. In the midst of planning for Z Space’s capital campaign, Steindler learned that a small adjacent theater space would soon become available. But Z Space already had big plans to turn its own large theater into the versatile space Steindler had always wanted it to be, and it was unclear how a second theater would fit into those plans. She wasn’t entirely sure if, or how, all of Z Space’s plans could happen at the same time. Could Z Space take on a second performance space while it was still figuring out the first? Should it? This case explores facilities and real estate decision-making at a gr