Elgin marked the official start of the new $14.5 million project Tuesday which will provide a mix of living and working space for low-income artists, meant to distinguish the city as an “artists’ community.”
“Elgin is defining (itself) as the art center of the Northwest suburbs,” said Mayor David Kaptain at a groundbreaking ceremony for Elgin Artspace Lofts at 51 S. Spring St.
As classical violinists from the Elgin Youth Symphony played, a group of city, county and state officials, artists, private supporters and Artspace representatives mingled about inside the former Elgin Community College’s Fountain Square campus.
Officials say the project — which will create 171 new jobs, involve renovation of the former ECC campus and the construction of a new building next door — is the catalyst in revitalizing the downtown and the answer to providing much-needed affordable housing for artists and their families.
Officials broke ground today on the new Elgin Artspace Lofts, which will provide a mix of living and working space for low-income artists(Provided by Artspace Projects, Inc.)
“This is the beginning of our renaissance,” said state Sen. Michael Noland, D-Elgin. “This is the day we came alive and artists led the vision.”
To pay for the development of Artspace, first proposed to Elgin City Council in 2007, the city approved a land swap deal with Elgin Community College for the building at 51 S. Spring St. The city also contributed over $1 million in cash. The majority of the money, $975,000, came from the Central Area Tax Increment Finance District. The remaining dollars, $32,500, came from the city’s General Fund, said Colleen Lavery, Elgin’s chief financial officer.
Artspace was awarded a $1.1 million tax credit for each of the next 10 years by the Illinois Housing Development Authority to help pay for the $14.5 million project.
Minneapolis-based non-profit Artspace has developed more than two dozen major projects in the United States, including one in Chicago, and has six more under construction, including one in Waukegan. Projects typically involve adaptive reuse of existing buildings, but sometimes new construction.
Artists include writers, painters, dancers and musicians, officials have said.
The lofts will be leased to those making 60 percent of the area median income or less. That means those making $45,060 and supporting a family of four, and individuals making $30,060 would qualify as low income, according to Artspace officials.
Officials said leasing is expected to begin in spring 2012 for the 55-unit condominium that will include 5,800 square feet of “arts-friendly” commercial space, a gallery and outdoor plaza, as well as studios, one-, two- and three-bedroom condominiums. Rents will range from $329 for a studio unit up to $1,027 for a three-bedroom.
Gwydhar Gebien, producer/director with Blue Damen Pictures, an independent Chicago-based film company currently shooting a film in Elgin, said it is projects like these that rejuvenate a community.
Gebien, who now lives in Glendale Heights, said she use to live in Chicago’s Humboldt Park neighborhood where she saw a deluge of artists move in and change the community for the good.
“It’s amazing how it turned around the area,” she said. “Artists are always on the forefront of the cultural wave…of making a place flourish. Having an arts community will do great things for Elgin.”
Gebien is planning on filling out an application to set up her film company in the Artspace building.
Artist Freddrick Wimms, who lives in Woodstock but grew up in Elgin, said he plans on filling out an application to live in the Artspace lofts.
He said the lofts will help put a “spotlight on the city” and attract other businesses such as restaurants and coffee shops. He said it will “bring culture to downtown” and make it a destination spot for the arts.
Information on Artspace is available at artspaceelgin.org.
