Downtown Elgin Artspace set for Dec. occupancy

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Jim Weylarz walks out of the old Elgin Community College Fountain Square building downtown in October 2011. The building will become the Artspace lofts, a $14.5 million project to create affordable live/work housing for artists. | File~Sun-Times Media

Updated: March 3, 2012 11:37AM

ELGIN — Watercolor painter Karen McGuire spent the lunch hour Wednesday looking at potential new digs in the $14.5 million Artspace Lofts project under construction downtown.

“It would be exciting to live around creative people, to bounce ideas off of each other,” McGuire said.

Downtown Neighborhood Association Executive Director Tonya Hudson took McGuire’s contact information before McGuire took a group tour of what used to be Elgin Community College’s Fountain Square Campus at 51 S. Spring St.

On the tour, John Shales of Shales McNutt Construction said the project is on schedule and is expected to be finished by late fall, with tenants moving into spots in December.

Shales showed how the building is being renovated to create housing units, retail space, a community room that can be used for rehearsal space, and a well-lighted atrium, while other housing will be put up in a new structure adjacent to what had been a department store before it became a campus.

Cherie Murphy, assistant to the city manager for community engagement, stated that the nonprofit organization cannot take applications yet for the 55 Artspace dwellings.

“Because this is federally funded, there is a specific process that must be followed. Artspace is collecting emails and contact information for anyone interested in applying, and they will host an informational meeting later this summer to explain the process for applying. People can register for information on the Artspace website,” Murphy said in an email.

According to Murphy, “All types of artists can apply, including dancers, musicians, writers and sculptors. Anything to do with the arts is eligible. Artspace tries to get a good mix in the building of both art disciplines, ages, lifestyles and such. However, first, all applicants must go through a qualification process based on HUD rules. Once they are deemed qualified, they will be put in a pool for selection.”

Income criteria

To qualify for a unit, an artist’s annual income must be at 60 percent or less of the Chicago area median income, which means $30,060 a year for a single person and $45,060 or less for a family of four. Rents will range from $329 for a studio to $1,027 for a three-bedroom place.

To get on the list, interested artists are being directed to visit artspaceelgin.org or email Artspace director of property development Heidi Kurtze at heidi.kurtze@artspace.org.

Murphy noted Artspace will have a panel of qualified people review and select the final tenants. The city will not be involved in that process, beyond possibly having a representative on the panel, she stated.

Artspace Projects Inc. of Minneapolis is a nonprofit developer of arts facilities. Over the last two decades, Artspace has completed 30 major projects around the country.

The Elgin project will be Artspace’s second in Illinois, the other being the 24-unit Switching Station Artist Lofts in Chicago, which has been in operation since 2003.

The Illinois Housing Development Authority allocated federal tax credits and state affordable housing tax credits to enable the construction of the live-work development.

Elgin businessman Mark Seigle led a drive that brought in $500,000 from the private sector toward the project. And the city swapped out land near ECC with the college for the downtown campus, which eventually will put the site back on the property tax rolls.