[7][8] In 2005, Jason Goodman and Jeremy Lovitt conceived of 3rd Ward as a continuation of the facilities and atmosphere they had had as students at the School of the Museum of Fine Arts in Boston.
The business was a means of cost-effectively providing access to the creative community and facilities while allowing members the space needed to do work.
[11] To raise rent money for the 30,000 square foot space Goodman and Lovitt threw large Burning Man-style parties.
[10] The partners also sold all their marketable possessions—a van, a piano, a table saw—and took as tenants a skateboarding troupe called the Silly Pink Bunnies.
They hosted holiday markets,[15] pig roasts,[16] drink & draws,[17] festivals,[18] literary fairs,[19] and illegal all-night parties.
[23] 3rd Ward was able to capitalize on this growing creative community as a means to raise its profile as a hub within a burgeoning art scene by connecting manufacturers, landlords, makers, and buyers to each other.
[29] There was a greater emphasis on avoiding the old models of giant parties that brought police attention and focus more on expanding the reach on the business.
[9] In 2009, the partners expanded 3rd Ward to 573 Metropolitan Avenue in Brooklyn as a live-work space for artists, classes, and band practice room.
[30] The next year Goodman opened a restaurant in a former empty lot at the intersection of Lorimer Street and Metropolitan Avenue called "Good."
[8] Goodman claimed the landlord made an unsolicited offer to buy out their rights due to the recent passage of the loft law and that they had no advance notice of the evictions.
[42] Goodman was able to find a partner with Brooklyn Flea founder Jonathan Butler at 1000 Dean Street in Crown Heights for the incubator.
[35] Goodman himself stated the company suffered from a lack of short-term liquidity due to rapid expansion with the Philadelphia outpost and the kitchen incubator.