Our journey from a single airbnb to a series of boutique film studios + event spaces

Before Shell’s Loft was a physical space here in Brooklyn, it was an idea in my mind. Growing up in the Bronx and California, my appreciation of home was shaped by frequent impromptu family gatherings -- filled with music, laughter, card-playing and so much cuttin’ up. My favorite auntie had an open door, no-invitation-needed policy that allowed everyone in our community to partake in her joy on a regular basis. My mother, a resourceful talented DIY-er, would borrow books from the library to learn how to upholster chairs, and strip and refinish furniture found at garage sales and flea markets. Many of my childhood weekends were spent at the San Jose flea market. My abula was a master seamstress, and all three—my abuela, my mother, and my auntie—have a green thumb. When we weren’t hunting for vintage furniture, we were planting and growing.

I wanted to bring this energy with me when I moved back to New York City and enjoy those intangible moments of joy that I experienced at a young age. And even more importantly, I yearned to form a community. Our original location in Clinton Hill, Brooklyn is where this community began to take shape. I was a commercial real estate agent at the time and when I stumbled upon an old piano factory with 5000 square-foot loft spaces that no one wanted to rent, I took a leap of faith. Using the DIY skills my family instilled in me, I set to work, creating a space that would draw like-minded people into it. 

The original loft in Clinton Hill, Brooklyn

Community has always been at the heart of everything

It was the early days of Airbnb when I launched Shell’s Loft—a place where guests from around the world could come and stay. Before I knew it, I had made countless new friends and found my community. And things only expanded from there. I took over more spaces in the building and offered people a place to gather—for brunches, yoga classes, meetings, creative projects...and eventually, the film shoots came knocking.  

2018 Brown Girl Brunch at Shell’s Loft

Along the way, I continued to tweak my design style, with inspiration from trips to Southern Africa, the Caribbean and Scandinavian countries. I dubbed my personal style as “Scandi-African”—a merging of my appreciation for the clean minimal aesthetic of Scandinavian design and my love of the texture, pattern and color of modern African design (the combination makes perfect sense when I think about my own Afro-Puerto Rican heritage, and the convergence of cultural influences that make up who I am, and anchor love of designing spaces).

Our Former “Zen Loft” in Clinton Hill

Our former “Green Loft” in Clinton Hill

Just Keep Going

Over the span of a decade, the demand to book my huge Brooklyn loft caught on like wildfire. So much so that I took over 7 (yes, 7!) loft spaces in our Clinton Hill building. Our small team hustled to handle back to back bookings: an event ending at 12am and shoots checking in the next morning at 6am and 8am. We were exhausted, but the growing business and excitement for our next steps kept us going.

Then the 2020 pandemic hit. After a brief (and, in hindsight, much needed) pause, somehow we managed to stayed afloat. Film shoots slowly came back, we adapted—purchased foggers to disinfect our spaces between bookings, masked up, tested, and pondered what was ahead.

It turned out that universe had big, unexpected plans for us when we learned our Clinton Hill building was being sold and turned into luxury condos. The curated loft spaces we spent over a decade building were about to be gutted.

We weren’t ready to quit. So in an unknown economy, we took a risk and set out to find a new space. After viewing too many disappointing spaces to count, we stumbled upon something that checked all of the boxes. The space that is now our Red Hook location had it all, including a 6000 square foot parking lot/outdoor space! Easy load in and truck holding for shoots, more space than we could have dreamed of, a dedicated warehouse for our props, and a perfect backdrop for weddings. We were ready for the next phase. With covid still rampant, it took time. Shoots were still slow, events were few and far between, but we pushed forward, we got the word out, put in safety protocols, and before we knew it we were up and running with this new iteration of Shell’s Loft! We even fully dug into the wedding business, but soon realized film is our expertise, so we collaborated with those who do it best, our friends at Marlow Events. Our team is growing, we’re now gearing up to open a second location in Fort Greene! And we’re forever daydreaming and planning for what’s next. But wherever we expand to, our early days, design, and community will always travel with us.