[taxthedeer]

Wonder how many more tries there will be before we are stuck with this lemon?

What can we do as citizens to get this grant approved and this project moving forward n 2014?

[Southsider2k12]

What can we do as citizens to get this grant approved and this project moving forward n 2014?

No one has ever said.

[taxthedeer]

Is there a limit to how many times Michigan City can apply for this grant and be denied?

Why was this property acquired in the first place when there was no guarantee of funding in place for it's restoration?

[Southsider2k12]

Is there a limit to how many times Michigan City can apply for this grant and be denied?

Why was this property acquired in the first place when there was no guarantee of funding in place for it's restoration?

That is a great question too.

[Southsider2k12]

Now leadership is saying it could be 3 or 4 times before approval...

http://www.thenewsdispatch.com/articles/20...fb903761652.txt

[Southsider2k12]

Apparently the condition of the Warren Building is the key problem in getting Art Space funded.

http://www.harborcountry-news.com/articles...e7348679694.txt

[Southsider2k12]

http://www.wsbt.com/business/wsbt-new-life...0,6104126.story

By ALICE CULP aculp@sbtinfo.com
South Bend Tribune
11:31 a.m. EDT, August 17, 2013

MICHIGAN CITY - The moss on the floors of the six-story Warren Building in Michigan City is a testament to the decades it has stood vacant.

And yet there is a plan afoot to turn the tallest building on the city's "North End" into an affordable live/work facility for low-income artists, called the Uptown Artist Lofts project.

A similar proposal has been discussed for the Northwestern Mutual building in downtown South Bend.
If the Michigan City project becomes a reality, the former Warren Building will be the centerpiece of the city's New Uptown Arts District, a six-block stretch of Franklin Street, which lies between Blue Chip Casino and Lighthouse Place Premium Outlets.

"It will be a tremendous catalyst for development," said Tim Bietry, chairman of the board of directors of the Michigan City Preservation and Education Foundation, who expects coffee shops, art stores, restaurants and other retailers to follow.

It all began several years ago, when the Michigan City Area Chamber of Commerce identified six zones of the city that need to be developed, said Bietry, who was then president of the Chamber. One zone identified was the Franklin Street corridor.

"That area was a pretty bad place to be 20 to 30 years ago," said Tim Haas of the Michigan City Main Street Association, a group that is working with the Economic Development Corp. Michigan City to attract developers and investors to the city's downtown.

But, he said, Franklin Street has seen a resurgence of life in recent years, as artists have begun moving into the area. It went through some rebranding, becoming known as the Uptown Art District after the artists decided to support the Main Street Association's efforts to attract business.
"Our membership doubled overnight," he explained.

But, in spite of the renaissance in the area, he said, there is not enough living space to meet demand.
In 2009, Michigan City invited Artspace Projects Inc., a Minnesota-based nonprofit real estate developer, to the community to determine if the city could support a live/work space project. Artspace has completed more than 1,500 affordable live/work units for artists and their families in places like Chicago, New York City, Houston, Seattle and Washington, D.C.

Before the city sent the invitation, Bietry called other cities with Artspace projects to find whether the organization delivered on its promises and if the cities were happy with results. They were.
When Artspace enters a community it assesses sites, sustainability, the viability of funding and the willingness of local leaders to support a project, said Shannon Joern, senior director for national advancement at Artspace.

"In Michigan City there is a very clear desire to use the arts as a downtown revitalization strategy," she said in a phone interview. "We are very impressed in the community, city partners and local leaders and are convinced this project can be successful there."

During the feasibility study, a third-party conducted a survey of artists -- painters, weavers, performers, musicians, pottery makers, etc. -- from a 50-mile radius around Michigan City. Eighty-nine artists expressed interest in moving to a live/work space. Of those, 60 percent were not current Michigan City residents.

So, the nonprofit looked around town and chose the Warren Building, built in 1927, for the project. When its transformation is complete, the building will contain 44 units of space for low-income artists -- those making 60 percent less than the area median income -- and their families.

Artspace projects are a "creative way to give an old building with historical significance, new life," said Sarah White, director of property development for Artspace.

A lot of work will go into restoring the Warren Building's facade and interior, which has "really lovely terrazzo flooring and beautiful wrought-iron railings on the staircases," she said.

Artspace buildings usually have wider hallways, so residents can easily move their equipment into and out of their quarters, she said. "They have lots of windows for natural light, and we add an extra 150 square feet or so to each unit to make it a true live/work space."

Besides the apartments on the upper floors, the project will create a community arts and gallery space along Franklin Street, to be used by building residents as well as other community groups. Potential uses for the ground level spaces include community art classes, art exhibitions, small performances and gathering and event space for local organizations.

[taxthedeer]

It's that time of year again. Any chance on us getting any money to fix up the Warren Building this year?

[testerosa]

What has the econ dev. corp been doing? They cant seem to getmuch done if anyting! The redevelopment of the downtonw area is critical to the success of the city. Lets' do this thing, if commercial property owners are just going to hold on to proerty and allow it to disintegrate, the city specifically John Pugh should get a handle on this and resolve it, at some point these properties should be condemned. Why can't our hired and e
ected officials just get this done? Does the cityown the Warren bldg? I think it is privately owned, since when does MC give property owners money to fix up their own bldgs?

[taxthedeer]

What has the econ dev. corp been doing? They cant seem to getmuch done if anyting! The redevelopment of the downtonw area is critical to the success of the city. Lets' do this thing, if commercial property owners are just going to hold on to proerty and allow it to disintegrate, the city specifically John Pugh should get a handle on this and resolve it, at some point these properties should be condemned. Why can't our hired and e
ected officials just get this done? Does the cityown the Warren bldg? I think it is privately owned, since when does MC give property owners money to fix up their own bldgs?

John Pugh retired as city planner three years ago. Craig Phillips now serves in that position.

The Warren Building is owned by the Redevelopment commission of the City of Michigan City.

Mayor Meer served on the city council when it was acquired. The question the mayor needs to answer is why did he vote to acquire the Warren Building if there was no money to fix it up?

If this was the TV show "The Apprentice", Donald Trump would have fired Mayor Meer.

http://beacon.schneidercorp.com/Applicatio...129411012000022

[testerosa]

John Pugh retired as city planner three years ago. Craig Phillips now serves in that position.

The Warren Building is owned by the Redevelopment commission of the City of Michigan City.

Mayor Meer served on the city council when it was acquired. The question the mayor needs to answer is why did he vote to acquire the Warren Building if there was no money to fix it up?

If this was the TV show "The Apprentice", Donald Trump would have fired Mayor Meer.

http://beacon.schneidercorp.com/Applicatio...129411012000022

OK so we have new people in old positions still not getting anything done but spending tax dollars with no due diligence. Where did Artspace go?

[Groucho]

OK so we have new people in old positions still not getting anything done but spending tax dollars with no due diligence. Where did Artspace go?

I remember going to the dentist in that building when they still had an elevator operator. Talk about a long time ago.

[Southsider2k12]

John Pugh retired as city planner three years ago. Craig Phillips now serves in that position.

The Warren Building is owned by the Redevelopment commission of the City of Michigan City.

Mayor Meer served on the city council when it was acquired. The question the mayor needs to answer is why did he vote to acquire the Warren Building if there was no money to fix it up?

If this was the TV show "The Apprentice", Donald Trump would have fired Mayor Meer.

http://beacon.schneidercorp.com/Applicatio...129411012000022

The impression that was given is that this wouldn't be a three years process, and the money for the fix up would come from the grant. oops.

[taxthedeer]

Great news!!! Funding has been approved today to begin fixing up the Warren Building. Congratulations to the entire city team.

[Southsider2k12]

Michigan City NOW Just posted that the Warren Building/Art Space program has been approve and will be funded.

[Tim]

Michigan City NOW Just posted that the Warren Building/Art Space program has been approve and will be funded.

Wow - what a huge step forward for Our Fair City's downtown. Can't wait to see the results!

[TimMC26]

Wow - what a huge step forward for Our Fair City's downtown. Can't wait to see the results!

Here's the full story on the Artspace project being approved.

From LaPorteCountyLife.com

Artspace Gets Tax Credits; Will Become Reality in Michigan City

WRITTEN BY TIM MORAN

The third time was the charm for the Michigan City Artspace project.

On Thursday morning, the Indiana Housing and Community Development Authority selected the project labeled “Uptown Artist Lofts” as one of 15 projects statewide to receive tax credits necessary to make what numerous Michigan City officials, residents and business owners had been dreaming of for years a reality.

“We are really thrilled about this,” said Carolyn Saxton, executive director of the Lubeznik Center for the Arts. “We’ve been involved in the process since the beginning and actually brought the idea of Artspace to the city a few years ago and have been working on it with them since then.”

The project, which plans to install 30 or so artist lofts in the historic Warren Building at 717 Franklin Street, suffered a pair of setbacks in 2012 and 2013 when the IHCDA did not select the project as one to be funded.

The IHCDA has a “qualified allocation plan” that takes into account a certain set of criteria and assesses a point total to each project. This year, 44 projects submitted applications and Michigan City’s Artspace plan received a total of 159.50, the fifth highest point total of the 15 that were approved.

The IHCDA board of directors voted on which projects would be approved after a recommendation from staff members who looked into the criteria, IHCDA spokesperson Emily Duncan said.

“We allocated about $12.1 million in tax credits and an additional $5.25 million in supplemental IHCDA funding that included other sources outside of tax credits but still under the umbrella of the IHCDA,” Duncan said.

Duncan added that the Artspace project received “a lot of local attention” and received $988,013 in tax credits and $400,000 in supplemental funding. The credits requested to fund the project were identical to the amount allotted for Artspace.

Indiana Lt. Governor Sue Ellspermann, who chairs the Indiana Housing and Community Development Authority (IHCDA) said the rental tax credit program “is an effective way to leverage private investment to provide affordable housing in communities throughout Indiana. The projects approved today demonstrate how the program can be used to rehab existing apartments, convert abandoned commercial structures to apartments or fund new construction. Many of these projects also support larger community development and neighborhood stabilization efforts.”

Saxton said a collective “Wahoo!” was heard from the Lubeznik staff Thursday when they heard the good news from Mayor Ron Meer.

“We see this as another anchor for the arts experience in Michigan City and a tool for continued revitalization of Franklin Street,” Saxton said. “We hope to see an influx of tourists come in to see the work that will be done there and we hope this space can be a place for the artists’ creativity to be cultivated.”

The excitement carried over to the nearby Uptown Arts District, where the future neighbors of Artspace expressed their joy.

“This is awesome news,” said Linda Weber, the ‘big toe’ of Urban Soles, a shoe store located one-block away from the Warren Building. “This is going to affect the city positively in so many ways. It builds on the revitalization that has been going on here lately and will definitely build foot traffic in the area.”

Artspace will be a welcome addition to the District. Weber, who has been a business owner on Franklin Street for nearly five years, said she is “delighted” to see how far the Arts District has already come, and that the addition of Artspace will only add to the attract-ability of the area.

“This is a great community to be a part of, and this will only enhance that,” she said.

Artspace, a Minneapolis-based company with similar type artist lofts across the nation, runs a network of 35 affordable arts facilities in 13 states.

The plan to utilize the city’s Warren Building as an Artspace location was approved unanimously by the Michigan City Common Council in 2011, but a plan for implementation could not begin until the necessary tax credits were received.

See the details of the projects that were approved by the IHCDA here.

[Southsider2k12]

Thanks for posting that Tim.

[MCRogers1974]

Thanks for posting that Tim.

Another article:
http://www.insideindianabusiness.com/newsitem.asp?ID=63928

[Southsider2k12]

http://nwigazette.com/2014/03/03/downtown-...ft-development/

by Sue Baxter
The dilapidated six-story Warren Building, located at 717 Franklin Street, is about to be transformed into 44 units of space for low income artists and their families with a ground level for community arts and Gallery space. Located in the Franklin Street Historic District of downtown Michigan City, this building will soon become a sustainable mixed-use, community arts project funded by a grant from the Indiana Housing and Community Development Authority facilitated by a national organization Artspace.org. Lt. Governor Sue Ellspermann, who chairs the Indiana Housing and Community Development Authority, announced state funding of $1.4 million in annual rental housing tax credits to develop Uptown Artists Lofts in downtown Michigan City on February 27th, 2014. .
Painters, sculptors, dancers and others who require an abundance of well-lit space in which to work will now flourish in this new location. Many artists gravitate to old warehouses so Artspace was created to find solutions for artists to partner with developers and create living and working spaces for artists. Potential for the first floor include community classes, art exhibits, small performances, and a gathering place for local organizations.
The Michigan City Preservation and Education Foundation and the Michigan City Redevelopment Commission were the driving force behind the project. This development is hoped to become a catalyst for continued downtown development, bringing a vibrant and active downtown to life. Other key partners were the Michigan City Chamber of Commerce, the City of Michigan City, and the Michigan City North End Advocacy Team.
Today, Artspace owns and operates over 35 projects in 21 cities coast to coast, a leader developer for the arts. Artspace unleashes the arts to drive a community’s revitalization that creates job creation, cultural preservation, engaging communities, and more livable communities. More info can be found at www.artspace.org
For more cultural events like Artist Receptions, Concerts, and Theatre Shows and local Things to To, log onto www.panoramanow.com