By Josh Blanc
On Thursday October 24th 2024 Artspace groundbreaking ceremony took place for the affordable housing artist work live expansion at the Northrup King Building (NKB). In attendance was a who’s who of the people that recast the famous seed building into the juggernaut that is referred to by many speakers as the beating heart of the Northeast Minneapolis Arts District. In their own words “Artspace NKB Lofts will create 84 live/work units of affordable housing for artists and their families—including one-, two-, and three-bedroom units—affordable at 30 to 80% of Area Median Income (AMI) and available to income-qualifying artists from all cultural backgrounds. The redevelopment will also create 8,120 square feet of commercial space for creatives.”
Artspace acquired the building from Shamrock Properties in 2019. Debbie Woodward, the building manager when Shamrock ran the building, was in attendance. Beloved by the artists and the community was given kudos for her vision and ability to manage the building for artists. Kevin Reich former Ward 1 Council Member told a moment of destiny story of when it came time to sell the NKB many outside groups were itching to purchase the building and Debbie took both Artspace and Kevin many floors down to the bowels of the building for a confidential meeting to make sure rumors did not rule the day as the process took place.
Mayor Jacob Frey, Council president Eliott Payne, Director of Operations & Programming, The Northrup King Building Greg Hanberg, Ex Directory MNWO and Former CM Kevin Reich all took turns complimenting the Northeast Minneapolis Arts District as the best arts district in the country many times over and its importance to the community. How the NKB has been the epicenter of those activities. Funding partners for this new project include. City of Minneapolis, DEED, Erich & Hannah Sachs Foundation, Hennepin County, Intermedia Arts, Metropolitan Council, Mississippi Watershed Management Organization, National Endowment for the Arts, and U.S. Bank
The speakers all discussed how amazing Artspace is to be able to not only create affordable housing for artists while restoring a historic building. Greg Hanberg also highlighted the inclusivity by working with groups like Public Functionary and Intermedia arts to bring diversity to the building. Executive Director Kevin Reich of the Mississippi Watershed Management Organization and former CM, highlighted the focus on fixing the environmental impact of the watershed with their restoration of the back buildings saving millions of gallons of sludge water going into the Mississippi. ArtSpace has done aspirational community building projects that are a shining example of Non-profit work for the community and the arts here in the Twin Cities and around the country.
One of the biggest takeaways is how the arts community continues to expand and set the priorities for ethical community building, quality and care of the past architectural gems of the city in the service of creating space for artists, entrepreneurs and inventors to do the important work of helping our community thrive. A great thanks to all the parties that worked to make this new phase of the Arts District another positive development for the city of Minneapolis and beyond.