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City Hall Artspace Lofts

Community + Experiential

Looking to use the arts to improve their economic base, the East Dearborn Downtown Development Authority (EDDDA) sought Neumann/Smith to renovate the historic City Hall complex into affordable live/workspace for artists, studios, co-working areas, business incubator, auditorium, and galleries. Artspace used federal low-income housing + historic tax credits to develop the residential portion of this project.

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The City Hall Artspace Lofts complex consists of three buildings: the City Hall Building, the West Annex Building, and the Concourse. The City Hall is four stories and 42,564 sf; the West Annex Building is four stories and 38,155 sf. These two historic buildings house residential units, tenant storage, a leasing office, café, corridor art galleries, and incubator space. City Hall and the West Annex are connected by the one-story, 24,756 sf Concourse Building, built in 1980.

In 2013, Artspace secured Federal low-income housing and historic tax credits to develop the residential portion of the City Hall Artspace Lofts totaling $10.5M in project funding. Artspace combines 53 units of affordable live/work space for artists and their families, work studios, co-working space for entrepreneurs and artists, a live/work unit for an artist-in-residency program, and galleries. Amenities include: a historic character with terrazzo floors and wainscot in corridors, high ceilings, large windows, open floor plan, large closets, dishwashers, corridor art galleries, community room and outdoor patio. The renovation project involves two (2) historical buildings that are connected by a 1980s concrete structure. The connector building will include business incubator space, a multi-purpose auditorium, and gallery space.