Keeping city’s Arts District affordable for artists is the focus of Artspace concept
Troy Heard has helmed the Majestic Repertory Theatre on Main Street in downtown Las Vegas since 2016. As the Majestic Repertory’s founding artistic director, he’s watched the theater rocket to online fame with its “Scream’d” production — a songfilled parody of the slasher franchise born in 1996 — and helped local artists hone their acting chops or flex their set-designing skills.
Black box theaters like Majestic Repertory have been the soul of Las Vegas’ Arts District, but many of these creative ventures are being pushed out of the neighborhood, Heard said. The Priscilla Fowler Fine Art Gallery, a former neighbor of Majestic Repertory, was one of them, he said.
Now, the city is trying to preserve and “bolster” its Arts District in the form of an affordable workforce housing complex built with help from the nonprofit real estate company, Artspace.
“We have seen rents go up and other galleries have had to move away,” said Heard, 48. “Artspace is just one factor in a lot of factors that needs to be put in place to sustain the Arts District and the artists of the city.”
The Artspace project is part of the city’s larger master plan to enhance the Arts District, the 18-square-block of businesses and residential buildings nestled between the north end of the Las Vegas Strip and Fremont Street.
The Arts District is home to the monthly First Friday cultural festival, annual Life is Beautiful music festival and year-round attractions like the Punk Rock Museum.
After hearing from her constituents, Councilwoman Olivia Diaz — whose Ward 3 includes the Arts District — found that many artists were being priced out of living and commercial spaces within the area.
“It was very important for me as the Ward 3 representative to start to set some things, actionable items, that we can all collectively rally behind and try to achieve,” Diaz said at a Sept. 6 Las Vegas City Council meeting.
At the same meeting, Jamie Giellis — founder and president of Colorado-based consulting firm Centro — presented her findings on how to bolster the Arts District.the city hired her two years ago as a
consultant to find solutions to bring artists back into the neighborhood, Giellis said at the meeting.
The recommendations included expanding the Arts District boundaries and establishing its identity; supporting the formation of a business improvement district to support Arts District initiatives; creating new spaces to facilitate artistic creation, education and training; uniting the arts and business communities; and establishing affordable living spaces for artists.
Business improvement districts are defined areas where business owners, industry members and even residential property owners pay an assessment to fund improvement projects within the district’s boundaries.
Giellis said she toured the Arts District multiple times, engaged with around 100 stakeholders, attended the annual Las Vegas Arts Summit and conducted a twomonth survey last summer that received 302 responses from local artists and visitors.
These recommendations have been incorporated into the city’s master plan for the Arts District, city officials said. Diaz believes these recommendations, especially the business improvement district, could usher in “a new frontier in the Arts District.”
“What is an arts district in Las Vegas if the artist can no longer afford to be there,” Giellis said to council members. “This is a challenge that, I will say, is not unique to (Las Vegas). Many arts districts across the country have seen it.”
Heard, who has lived in Las Vegas since 2009, said arts districts elsewhere typically see low rents and gradual growth that takes anywhere from seven to 10 years before big companies start to squeeze their way in.
The growth in Las Vegas seemingly happened overnight, he said. It became especially bad during the pandemic, when out-of-state buyers were “snatching everything” and taking advantage of lower rent rates not seen in neighboring states, Heard added.
Artspace, which operates 57 buildings in 35 cities across the United States, was contacted by the officials to help fulfill the affordable housing aspect. The Minnesota-based housing company already has a 35-unit project in Reno that was completed in 2000.
The Artspace team is completing a feasibility study that will shape the apartment complex’s final design.
Process in early stage
Representatives from Artspace made their first trip to Las Vegas last week to inspect sites and get a feel for the neighborhood.
Aneesha Marwah, director of Artspace Consulting, said the city’s arts and culture department has “gone above and beyond” with helping in these early stages.
The Artspace team also had a public meeting in the Historic Fifth Street School – home to the Nevada School of the Arts — off South Fourth Street.
Representatives presented asked for their input on topics like broad community goals for an Artspace complex or which creative businesses could be potential partners for the project.
Dozens of people showed up, with many voicing that they would like a project that preserves housing affordability, makes use of vacant lots, sustains creative businesses and nonprofits, and supports diverse cultural communities.
But it could be years before this project is completed, Marwah said in an interview with the Sun.
The demand for affordable housing is there, Marwah said, but their biggest hurdles will be ensuring there’s enough funding and space for the project.
Unlike the company’s Reno location, where it renovated a historic building, the Las Vegas complex will most likely be built from the ground up and include a mixeduse space of creative businesses on the first floor with apartment units on top.
Apartments will be built with 100 to 150 square feet of extra space for artists to practice their craft. Shared spaces for galleries, meeting rooms or greenery are also typical design elements for Artspace projects.
While the team is hoping it only takes about three years to complete, they’ve seen Artspace projects — like one in Buffalo, N.Y. — that wasn’t finished for 12 years.
“It can take a long time for these projects to really find financing and come together, especially given the need for a lot of affordability here,” Marwah said. “Every project is really unique to the city where they’re at, and I would just emphasize that we’re still very early in the process. … Patience is key; these projects take a very long time.”
Federal assistance
The city is only supporting the feasibility right now, and Marwah said there’s no indication the city would financially back the entire project. In fact, much of the funding could come from federal and state housing grants, said Wendy Holmes, senior vice president of Artspace.
Holmes explained that Artspace makes use of federal dollars put toward affordable housing, such as the low-income housing tax credit program and HOME funds. Those are combined with a small first mortgage and some philanthropy, she added. Anywhere from 10 to 15 different funding sources could be used for this project.
The federal Department of Housing and Urban Development, a likely source of funding, requires rents do not exceed about 30% of the adjusted income of a family whose annual income is 65% of the median income for the area.
In the Las Vegas-hendersonparadise area, that would look like $812 on the lower end for a one-bedroom apartment and $1,035 on the higher end, according to federal data from 2023.
Holmes gave an example of rent rates at one of the Artspace buildings in New York City, where artists are paying from $600 to $650 for a 550-square-foot apartment.
Interested applicants will likely have to qualify for low-income housing, as defined by the state, and be pursuing some sort of creative endeavor — which can range from being a Cirque du Soleil dancer on the Strip to a culinary artist in downtown.
Heard said Artspace was a “great resource” that he had seen work in other cities for decades. He says he doesn’t want this project to “be a drop in the bucket” but instead wants it to lead to an “ongoing effort from the city to develop the arts.”
“The arts reflect the populace, who we are, the diversity (and) the richness of the cultures in the area — the Nuwu Tribe all the way up to the African American population and the rise of Moulin Rouge,” Heard said. “If the city’s willing to make this investment (in Artspace), it can’t be the only investment. There has to be more.”