Artist housing project fails to secure city funding

If the yearslong effort to create an affordable artist-housing project in Sarasota is going to become a reality, it won’t be with significant financial support from the city.

On Monday, the commission voted 3-2 to reject a request to partner with the Arts and Cultural Alliance of Sarasota County on construction of live-work space for artists at 4644 N. Tamiami Trail. The Arts Alliance is negotiating with Sarasota County to use the site, which county officials are trying to sell to aid the development of affordable housing.

The Arts Alliance asked the city to approve a partnership that would involve the city purchasing the land, setting aside a portion of the 6.2-acre site for the artist housing project. Although final terms of the partnership were subject to further negotiations with the county, the Arts Alliance asked the city to consider spending up to $1.9 million.

The commission was split on the merits of the partnership, but a majority of the board opposed making a financial contribution targeted solely at artists, particularly when the county intended to use the land for affordable housing one way or the other.

“I want to support it, but I tell you what — with the number of things we have going on in District 1, Newtown in particular, it’s just real tough for me,” Commissioner Kyle Battie said.

Since 2014, the Arts Alliance has been working with the Minneapolis-based nonprofit Artspace to construct affordable live-work space for artists. Artspace has managed more than 50 similar projects across the country. In February, the county selected the Artspace project as its favored proposal among six for the North Trail site.

“I think this area of the county is very ripe for a focus on arts and culture,” County Commissioner Christian Ziegler said.

Still, as the county advanced to negotiations with the Artspace team, it sought changes. The Artspace plans called for 64 units, and the group offered $1.3 million for the site.

The County Commission directed staff to seek a 50% increase in the price and a 50% increase in the number of units capped at a price affordable for individuals making 80% or below the area median income.

The Arts Alliance saw the partnership with the city as an opportunity to address the land costs without affecting the affordability of the housing units. City commissioners Jen Ahearn-Koch and Liz Alpert offered their support for the proposal, calling it an opportunity to meet the needs of Sarasota’s arts community while also encouraging the economic revitalization of the north Trail.

Although Battie and Mayor Hagen Brody were hesitant to support a project focused on one profession, Ahearn-Koch and Alpert noted the city contributed to the Lofts on Lemon project, an affordable housing complex in which a portion of the units give preference to teachers, police officers, firefighters and nurses.

Although the Arts Alliance believed a partnership with the city would help deliver a development aligned with the community’s best interests, Executive Director Jim Shirley said the city’s support was not essential.

“We’re not stopping at all,” Shirley said. “We’re going to move forward with our negotiations.”