Think creatively to give cities new life
Turning a former Jackson prison into a center for artists can serve as a model for rejuvenating other cities
October 28, 2007
Just off Cooper Street in Jackson sits a renovation project that economic leaders statewide ought to be eyeing. It's a textbook example of creative revitalization.
In January, a historic 19th Century former prison will be reopened as an incubator for artistic talent and economic growth. The project, called the Armory Arts Village, is a twist on the familiar formula of reviving a piece of history with a modern marketable use. In Jackson's case, it's not just any piece of history, but the very building that launched the city's long involvement with the prison industry.
The project, five years in the making, saved the building from becoming another sign of economic blight, all because the Enterprise Group, an economic development agency, had the vision and a creative funding strategy to turn the old jailhouse into something more, a $12.5-million subsidized housing complex for artists.
The 62 loft apartments vary in size from 800 to 1,300 square feet, with rents ranging from $416 to $640. Applications and inquiries are coming in from around the state and as far away as Miami and New Zealand. The lofts are bound by strict income guidelines. A single person, for instance, cannot earn more than $24,360. The income of a family of four must not exceed $34,000.
Going after the creative class is hardly a new idea. But plans in most cities center on attracting the pocketbooks of established artists and creative types who can afford market rate lifestyles. Armory Arts Village appropriately flips the theory by targeting artists who need both a break in rent and the skills to market their talent. The Armory lofts' appeal hinges as much on the 13-foot-tall ceilings as it does on the promise that tenants will acquire the skills to grow their talent into lucrative enterprises, ranging from a teaching workshop for the local school district to designing art for area businesses.
"We see the artists who will live here as small businesses in the making," said Steve Czarnecki, president and CEO of the Enterprise Group. "We intend to capture their creativity and show them how to turn it into wealth for themselves and for Jackson."
The painters, actors, welders, sculptors, musicians and video game designers who move in will also receive free use of the galleries, theater/jazz cafe, work studio and teaching labs that dominate the complex's first floor. The work Armory residents produce will be showcased, sold and marketed right within the old prison's walls.
It's all part of a shrewd attempt to stimulate a stretch of Jackson, just four blocks from downtown, into a thriving destination and tax base. "This will be an iconic project not only for Jackson, but for Michigan," says Peter Kageyama, president of Creative Tampa Bay, a nonprofit development group that studies reuse projects around the world.
After a recent visit to Jackson, Kageyama said, "It's similar to projects seen around the world, particularly in the United Kingdom, where the concept of clustering creative industries under one roof has helped turn around a number of cities in England where the manufacturing base left. They can be real engines of urban regeneration."
The skylines of Michigan's old industrial towns are dotted by no shortage of former factories and warehouses that could be transformed into small business, live-and-work training grounds. "This project just epitomizes the idea of using where you've been as a city to take the leap forward into the future," said project director Jane Robinson, who is also a local painter and spent years working in the city's prisons. "The prison industry really built Jackson, starting right here. And now we're using it as the catalyst to reinvent ourselves
again."
Stimulating, small homegrown solutions have to play a bigger role in the thinking of state and local leaders. Cities ought to be partnering with their visionary developers and nonprofit groups to generate niche-marketing ideas for old neighborhoods.
Another aspect of the Armory project worth studying, and duplicating, is the idea of inventorying every inch of abandoned real estate and property in the county.
The Armory site was among the largest, and it grew even more appealing because it sits in a renaissance zone and qualifies for state and federal brownfield redevelopment tax credits. The Enterprise Group purchased the property for $900,000, and in a novel step formed several limited liability corporations so that it could also work as the master developer.
The state chipped in with a $100,000 Cool Cities grant and millions of dollars in tax credits through the Michigan State Housing and Development Authority. And since the initial investment, Czarnecki says the project has received key federal earmark grants. The group also enticed local private foundations and private individuals to become investment partners early on.
"If Jackson can be uppity enough to think it can transform itself into a cool city," said Czarnecki, "any city in the state can. It's all about seeing the value creativity and a knowledge-based economy can bring."
Looking to government or any single industry to revive a city is ancient economic thinking. The momentum is in growing and maximizing partnerships, especially those that aim, as the Armory does, to turn historic relics into viable resources again.
Developers and strategists across the state ought to start looking for more creative ways to bet on their city's futures.
1 comment:
Great blueprint....
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