During a Preliminary Feasibility Visit, Artspace gathers information in five main areas: project concept, artist market, site feasibility, financial feasibility, and local leadership. While these are not the only factors we consider in making our recommendations, they help us frame the discussion.
If the community is clear about what it wants – that is, if the project concept has been determined – we evaluate that concept in the context of the other factors. For example, if the concept involves adapting a particular historic building for use as an artist live/work project, we consider whether the building in question is structurally sound, suitable for the intended use, available at a price we can afford, and so on. If the project concept hasn’t been determined, we weigh the variables and offer recommendations to help the community decide how to proceed.
PROJECT CONCEPT and CURRENT SITUATION
Many communities have a clear project concept in mind before they contact Artspace. Buffalo, New York, for example, was interested in a live/work project to catalyze development in an economically challenged neighborhood. Fergus Falls, Minnesota, wanted to find a use for a long-vacant historic hotel on the city’s main street. For Santa Cruz, California, where real estate values are among the highest in the country, the goal was to keep artists from being priced out of the community.
Although real estate prices are not exorbitant in Saint Paul, they will become increasingly out of reach along University Avenue where much of the arts activity is happening. While owners may not be able to “flip” their properties in this economy, higher end commercial, retail, and residential developments will be possible once the Central Corridor line goes into operation.
One concept is to secure stable, affordable space for artists in this neighborhood to build on and preserve the growing artist population – especially the studio space—located in the C & E Building, the Triangle Building, the old Mattress Factory Building at 550 and 558 Vandalia as well as the large Carleton Artist Lofts and the Dow Building. Artspace toured all of these buildings to get a sense of the arts activity in the neighborhood. Informally, we counted more than 100 studio spaces in three buildings and know of other buildings with studios as well. The Carleton Lofts adds another 200-plus residential units for artists only in three historic, recently renovated buildings with shared working studio spaces. The size of the artist population in this neighborhood could be significantly larger than at first glance. We were told of many more spaces for artists and creative businesses throughout the neighborhood. Saint Anthony Park reminded us of what is now the Warehouse District of Minneapolis, where hundreds of artists lived and worked until the mid-1980s, when most were displaced by increased property values. Therein lays both the opportunity and the challenge for Saint Anthony Park. The community has hummed along without much ado until recent development opportunities began to increase the neighborhood’s visibility and perceived value with the coming of light rail.
