Saint Anthony Park impresses us as a prime candidate for an artist-focused project. The driving force behind a project for artists in the neighborhood is to find stable, affordable working space for individual artists. A project that only has working studio space will require many more private resources and often can be difficult to fund. We find a combination of residential (live/work) space in conjunction with working studio space is highly complementary and helps to achieve multiple community goals and provides access to a variety of funding tools. We know from our waiting lists for live/work spaces in Lowertown that the demand is high for residential space for artists. Hence, marrying the two concepts seems most prudent to leverage the most resources. There is a concern, especially among the C & E artists, that using housing to get studios is very limiting. Also, live/work space is not feasible for older, more established artists who already own their own homes (many in the neighborhood) and have chosen not to do art in their homes for a variety of reasons. Studio-only space is working in other parts of the Twin Cities and many artists in the neighborhood would like to strive for that here. Although the creation of artist working space is laudable and certainly needed, it may not be realistic in this economy to focus on studio-only space, exclusive of other kinds of space that also serve creative people and leverages public support. We would hope for the neighborhood and city that all kinds of space for the creative economy can be either retained or created in St. Anthony Park.
We are confident that there is a market for a minimum of 50 units of live/work housing as well as 20-plus working studios. While we do not have an in-depth knowledge of the real estate opportunities in this community, we drove through the neighborhood with Amy Sparks and Catherine Reid Day to look at potential sites. There appear to be several potential candidates for a project involving adaptive reuse of an historic building plus new construction. We would like to have a better indication of support from the local cultural leaders, from the City Council and Mayor's office, from the philanthropic community and from state and federally elected officials. The more layers of elected official support, the better. Since our meetings, Stacey has met with Alice Hausman who had specific suggestions about how to leverage state funds for the arts in St. Anthony Park. All this to say, the support that has already been rallied needs to continue and spread to other potential stakeholders. We all need to understand where the potential resources are for a development of this kind. Part of our continued follow up has been to uncover those sources. Specific recommendations include:
1. Quantify the number of artists living and working in the area. Perhaps an intern could work for the Council to count the number of spaces and buildings. We understand that there are more spaces in buildings that we did not see. The reason this information is important is that it will help the neighborhood create economic impact statements about arts activity and employment.
2. Continue identifying opportunities for creative sustainable affordable space - available properties, buildings as well as vacant or underutilized land. Think broadly and don't let environmental issues get in the way. Many such issues can be overcome with the right funding tools. Examples of good building sites are vacant or underutilized parcels, buildings with 45,000 square feet or more with large windows, 11 foot + ceiling height and freight elevators. Many times artist space is created in an opportunistic way. Are there areas, blocks slated for redevelopment, properties that have been difficult to develop, city-owned parcels that through redevelopment could solve a municipal issue and catalyze a development renaissance.
3. Build case for support. Use this report to present information showing what sustainable, affordable facilities for artists do for the neighborhood and the larger community? What will happen if nothing is done? Demonstrate to the City that converting industrially zoned land into "Traditional Neighborhood" zoned land would be beneficial.
4. The Saint Anthony Park Community Council should have a section of its website that is arts-focused and perhaps connects to the websites of artists who are in the neighborhood. Consider a resource for artists looking for space in the neighborhood?
5. Discuss the proposed plan with potential and current partners including the Mayor's staff. Talk about the impact on the neighborhood, the numbers of people served, increased tax base if underutilized properties or buildings are redeveloped as part of the plan. Come to the elected officials and staff with specific information and talk about solutions to keeping and creating artist space. Build a case for why they should care.
6. Continue to follow up with LISC and the Central Corridor Funder's Collaborative to identify resources that could be available for feasibility and site identification/due diligence work.
7. Consider creating an Arts District, a formally designated area that is properly zoned to compliment artist uses and may include other incentives. It is important to recognize, however, that cultural districting might have unintended consequences of driving up real estate prices/rents and forcing artists out of an area.
Community leadership is the number one determinant of a successful project. In our experience, there are usually 4-5 "leaders" who move projects forward. Those leaders typically come out of a combination of the neighborhood, the city, the arts community, planning department, and the list goes on. Many times the initial "idea" of creating sustainable space comes out of the arts community but the push to make it happen comes equally from other parts of community. There is no one way that works but generally speaking, the project needs to become the passion of a few key individuals who have a vision and determination for moving the concept into reality.
