Olympia officials consider artists' housing

Work-living space project would provide affordable units

By Matt Batcheldor | The Olympian • Published October 28, 2008

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OLYMPIA – City officials are considering trying to attract an affordable-housing project for artists to downtown.

Officials have spoken with Artspace, a nonprofit organization based in Minneapolis, that develops buildings with artists' workspaces and living quarters in the same complex.

The Olympia City Council will consider tonight whether to invite Artspace to tour the city. Council Member Jeff Kingsbury said he supports the idea.

A city delegation including Kingsbury and Councilwoman Rhenda Strub visited two housing developments the organization has built in Seattle. The organization also has projects in Everett and Portland.

The idea behind such a development is that rising rents can otherwise price out artists, particularly in places such as Seattle, which saw its downtown gentrify in the 1990s.

The city's role in such a project would be minimal, Kingsbury said. It would simply invite the organization, which would decide whether to build here and finance the project.

The city could help fund the project through Community Development Block Grant dollars it distributes from the federal government.

The city also could sell property it has downtown for the project, such as the old state Department of Transportation site on State Street or a parking lot north of the Olympia Transit Center, said Keith Stahley, director of Community Planning and Development for the city.

"At this point, we're very early in the process," he said, "just at this point considering whether there's mutual interest in continuing our discussions."

Cathryn Vandenbrink, regional director of Artspace's Seattle office, did not respond to a phone message.

Artspace's Web site shows 21 live/workspaces that the organization has developed or planned to develop nationwide, from Buffalo, N.Y., to Santa Cruz, Calif.

It has developed two projects in Seattle. Tashiro Kaplan Artist Lofts, in Pioneer Square, was a $16.5 million project to rehabilitate two historic buildings into 104,000 square feet of live/work space for artists, according to the Web site.

It was built because rising rents were pricing artists out of downtown housing.

And Hiawatha Artist Lofts, also in downtown Seattle, has 61 one- and two-bedroom affordable live/work studios and six commercial storefronts for artist-related businesses.

Artspace also has built solely commercial and studio spaces and consultancy services.

Stahley said the city has "always been interested in a second housing development downtown" after a plan for what's commonly called the Colpitts project — a seven-story, 126-apartment development on Columbia Street between Fourth and Fifth avenues.

The city has sold that land to Colpitts Development Co. of Seattle, and construction could start next year.

But those would be market-rate apartments, meaning they would cost as much as the developer wants and the market will bear.

In contrast, an artist-housing project would have affordability requirements, meaning rents would be lower.

"What I'm hoping for is that the council indicates a desire to continue the conversation with Artspace," Stahley said.