“I love Utica!”
Thos were the words of Will Law, president of Minneapolis-based ArtSpace Projects, Inc., an innovative organization cast as “America’s leading real estate developer for workforce housing and the arts.”
Over a decade from concept to completion, passionate stakeholders and local leaders gathered at 1020 Park Avenue in Utica on Sept. 10 to celebrate the ribbon-cutting on ArtSpace Utica Lofts, an innovative hybrid work-and-live 43-unit affordable housing space for local creatives.
“It was a cold, cloudy day that made it hard to see what could happen here,” recalled Law. “Today, years later, I’m filled with joy!”
Building a bridge
The new build brings to life what for years was a vacant lot on the block between South and Rutger Streets.
Utica Michael P. Galime spoke of the search for a perfect place for the project ending here, where it effectively built a bridge between the Stanley Theatre and Utica’s Art District, “infilling” it with artists.
“10 years of waiting,” said Alicia Dicks, President and CEO of the Community Foundation of Herkimer & Oneida Counties, a funding partner for the Artspace project, “and now we’re here.”
Darren Scott, director of Upstate Development for New York State Homes and Community Renewal, spoke on behalf of Gov. Kathy Hochul.
“We’ve been here a lot,” said Scott of another trip west on the thruway from Albany to Utica, “because Utica is such a great place to work.”
Scott called working in Utica “a dream” because the city gets it, “puts skin in the game,” and does the work that needs to be done.
Erika Mallin, executive director of New York State Council on the Arts, distinguished the Utica project from the over 3,000 her organization has contributed to funding to say that it is special in its “art and work” paradigm.
About the households
Households with incomes up to 80% of the Utica region’s median income are qualified to apply for residency in the 4-story structure orbited by creative spaces such as the Uptown Theater and Munson Williams Proctor Art Institute.
Thirty-two of the units are reserved for occupancy by local artists. In keeping with Utica’s proud history of an integrated immigrant community, ArtSpace is partnering with The Center (f/k/a Mohawk Valley Resource Center for Refugees) to reach out to artists of diverse ethnic background to enrich the ArtSpace Utica living community.
“When we give artists the space to do what they do best … to create … to work … to live,” said Mallin, “It benefits everyone. It connects community.”
The innovative project informs several of the city’s goals, including expanding mixed-use affordable housing per its $10 million New York State Department of State’s Downtown Revitalization Initiative (DRI) award. The ArtSpace building now stands as the first and only to date in that DRI target zone.
Among the gathering was Brian Thomas, commissioner of Urban and Economic Development for the City of Utica, its longtime ‘urban planner.’ Around the time Heins was gaining buy-in for the vision of Artspace Utica Lofts, Thomas set forth in the city’s forward-facing plan that initiatives needed to clear a path for the “creative class,” to come to work and live here.
“Building housing that is affordable for artists in the City of Utica is critical to sustaining the arts scene,” said Thomas, “which is critical to the future of the city.“
This article originally appeared on Observer-Dispatch: Artspace Lofts opens in Utica
Reporting by Cara Dolan Berry, Utica Observer Dispatch / Observer-Dispatch
USA TODAY Network via Reuters Connect
