affordable housing : Featured Stories

For families living in Artspace affordable artist live/work housing, to reside in a safe, secure building where they can create and are considered normal is not only nice, it’s necessary. It's also "a little place of heaven."

The St. Paul City Council has voted to allow ADUs from Emerald to Lexington avenues along University, a pilot project that will bring creative possibilities for density, affordable housing and multi-generational living to the Central Corridor.

Artspace’s annual Breaking Ground event evolves this year from one dynamic evening of speakers and performances to an immersive, two-day “idea lab” on Friday, October 14 and Saturday, October 15 in Minneapolis and St. Paul.

Artspace enjoys a long history of working with culturally distinct groups in the development of affordable artist live/work housing and community spaces. From El Barrio in NY to Honolulu, HI, these projects allow artists to celebrate themselves.

A recently completed affordable-housing complex in the South Quarter of Minneapolis is arguably the most healthy and sustainable in the U.S.    

The arts real-estate nonprofit Artspace is re-scaling its work to take a more geographic approach that includes consulting with a cohort of art organizations in Detroit and developing creative districts in rural Colorado. 

New research reveals the catalytic role that libraries and museums are playing in rebuilding troubled neighborhoods. These important  "anchor institutions" are helping drive economic, educational and social efforts in their neighborhoods.

More transit means more value: How community-driven (Frogtown) and historically aware (Lowertown) TOD works using community-led initiatives paired with city-developed plans that include affordable housing.

Since Artspace pioneered affordable artist live/work housing in the 1990s, disrupting the SoHo Effect in communities across the U.S., demand for such projects has grown. Which begs the question: Is affordable artist live/work housing becoming the new normal?

The creation of affordable artist live/work housing is a proven initiative that reinvigorates neighborhoods, while artists and their work bring members of diverse communities together.

Artspace’s residential projects fill a critical niche in a city’s ecosystem of affordable housing, particularly for artists. But making the case for public policies and resources to realize these transformative projects is challenging.

McKnight Foundation president Kate Wolford and program officer Eric Muschler at Clare Midtown talk about the foundation's affordable housing initiatives and how well-designed affordable housing is a community asset with long-term benefits.

Interest in micro-apartments is growing in MSP because of their affordability and design, the community spaces within the building and the city itself as the living room.

Twin Cities community developers aim to create more public spaces in lower-income neighborhoods as common assets for all to enjoy.

Downtown East could soon become the national face of MSP; quite a step up for a neighborhood that barely existed a decade ago.