Artspace will hold a ground-breaking ceremony Sept. 25 for its downtown housing project.
After six years of planning, Artspace is finalizing the paperwork that will complete the financing and get construction started. Minot Artspace Lofts has taken a little longer to come together than most of Artspace's projects, said Heidi Kurtze, vice president of property development for Artspace, Minneapolis.
"We didn't give up. We didn't walk away, and we are about to break ground so it's very exciting," Kurtze said.
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This rendering from LHB Architects shows the proposed Minot Artspace Lofts to be built at 3 N. Main St. Construction is to start next month.
"We are very appreciative of the community sticking with us," she added. "It definitely takes a community and a partnering to get projects like this to the point we are at right now."
Actual construction on the $9 million project will begin in early October. Artspace will begin leasing the 34 live/work units next spring in anticipation of a July opening.
Financing has come from a variety of sources. Part of the reason for the construction delay is that tax credit financing had dried up nationally for a time. Key to the project were the $616,250 in North Dakota tax credits awarded last year and a national grant last June from ArtPlace that brought $600,000 in support.
Artspace has received $150,000 in grants from the City of Minot since 2007. It has support from Minot Area Community Foundation, Otto Bremer Foundation, Bremer Bank, U.S. Bank and many individual and business donors.
Under a contract with the City of Minot and Minot Parking Authority, Artspace is in the process of acquiring a downtown site, now a parking lot, for $107,800.
Artspace has been doing investigative excavation at the site at the corner of Main Street and Central Avenue, where the former Leland Parker Hotel had stood. Testing showed a lot of rubble and some asbestos needs to be removed.
Loeffler Construction of Minneapolis will oversee the erection of the four-story building, which will include more than 50,000 square feet.
Designed with space for artist studios, units will be affordable to households earning below 60 percent of the median income for Ward County. Median income currently is $58,400. Rents will range from $267 to $626 for the 13 one-bedroom units, $315 to $746 for the 13 two-bedroom units and $358 to $856 for the eight three-bedroom units.
The project will have 34 parking spaces, a community room and commercial arts-related retail space, such as frame shops, galleries or areas to serve the local arts communities.
The ground-breaking ceremony is set for noon at the site. Artspace continues to develop a list of speakers.