Armory Arts Project

The Jackson Armory Arts Project included the redevelopment of an abandoned industrial site into a center for the arts and culture, including 39 affordable loft apartments.

The Armory Arts Village is a bold, innovative community redevelopment project that uses arts, culture, creativity and innovation as a catalyst for reinventing the community of Jackson and the surrounding region. The effort, spearheaded by The Enterprise Group of Jackson (a nonprofit umbrella organization responsible for economic development in Jackson County, Michigan) is located on the historic site of the original 19th-century Jackson State Prison. The 19-acre site includes several historic prison buildings, a stunning 25-foot-high turreted stone wall around the perimeter of the property, and a vacant industrial complex to the south. Through a combination of adaptive reuse of the historic prison buildings and the creation of compatible new construction on the site, this unique place is being transformed into Armory Arts Village, a one-of-a-kind creativity-focused mixed-use neighborhood. The activities in this neighborhood will be grounded in arts, creativity and innovation and will grow to a critical mass of artist entrepreneurs, increase small business startups, create jobs, and attract new businesses, residents and visitors from around the state and beyond. The Armory Arts Village is designed to serve as a catalyst for community revitalization and an engine for economic growth. Phase One of the development is Armory Artswalk Apartments (the Core Project), which features affordable live/work space tailored to meet the needs of emerging artists, musicians, designers, craftsmen and other creatives with the passion and commitment to turn their creativity into micro-enterprises, small businesses, and other entrepreneurial ventures.

Highlights:

• 62 permanently affordable apartments are designed to meet the living and working needs of artists, musicians, designers, craftsmen and other creative people; open floor plans allow residents to tailor their live/work space to meet their individual needs.
• Specialized shared workspace equipment for resident artists includes a two-story large industrial art production space, a ceramics/sculpture studio, and three generic classrooms/workrooms.
• The project features flexible gallery/exhibit areas, as well as multi-use performance/special events space.
• Members of the community and state staff agree that this project would either never have happened or would have taken many more years had it not been for “Cool Cities.”
• As plans moved forward on the project, a number of key unanticipated roadblocks occurred, including environmental contamination, property rights, and funding, to name a few, that would have stopped any normal project from occurring. Because of the collaborations, support, focus, resources, and relationships built from Cool Cities, the project is a huge success.
• Apart from creating the multi–state agency Cool Cities Coordinating Team, Cool Cities established a State Department Champion role and State Neighborhood Champion role, which provided key liaisons to the community and project. The “Champions” were involved in regular meetings about the projects to help move the projects along. These relationships between state agency staff and the community were crucial to the overall project’s success.
• Jackson had a major champion on the project – Neeta Delaney and The Enterprise Group of Jackson.
• The Cool Cities Coordinating Team, and the creation of the Department and Champion roles, served as collaborative models for the communities.
• After the announcement of the Jackson Armory Arts project being awarded a Cool Cities Neighborhood Designation, the Jackson-based Great Lakes Home Health Care relocated next to the Jackson Armory Arts project before it was even started because it wanted to be close to the eventual hub of creativity that the Jackson Armory Arts project was to provide. The company has already announced an expansion.
• Because of Cool Cities, Jackson, along with multiple partners, is creating a riverwalk that connects downtown and the Jackson Armory Arts. This River Arts Walk has the potential to be the finest riverwalk in the state of Michigan, according to MDOT officials.
• A local business adjacent to the Jackson Armory Arts project has plans to expand, including opening a new restaurant, because of the Cool Cities project.
• The Jackson Armory Arts building includes 62 live/work residences and is attracting artists representing multiple mediums, including musicians, fashion designers, potters, woodworkers, storytellers, writers, glass-blowers, and others. The project has attracted residents from Michigan, other states, and even from New Zealand.
• The Jackson Armory Arts project has received a great deal of media attention, including local press, Detroit Free Press, National Public Radio, and national magazines for travel, city planners, and artists.
• The Jackson Armory Arts project is recognized by national and international experts specializing in adaptive reuse, live/work spaces, and artist incubators. They have said that there is no other project like this in the country and that it has the potential to be a world-class model and destination.
• “Here was this place of diminishing spirit, and it has turned into a place where entrepreneurship and creativity will thrive.” – Jane Robinson, Jackson Armory Arts – Enterprise Group
• Residents feel that they are a part of history in the making. 
• Jackson reported in 2005:
  • Each initiative's sponsors have realized greater participation and collaboration as a result of receiving the Cool Cities designation. Two or three Cool Cities Initiative groups have applied for Community Development Block Grant funding for the 2005–2006 year, to leverage additional funding.
  • Maximized use of the designation and logo for marketing and promotion, including press releases, official city documents, street signs, banners, websites, etc.
  • AMS Developers developed software that allows us to analyze the progress of each of our Cool Cities initiatives and specifies which Resource Toolbox sources of funding relate to which initiatives. It also allows us the ability to evaluate each initiative, its related potential funding sources, and how we could coordinate and prioritize funding opportunities so that our initiative sponsors would not be competing against each other. 
  • Business partners have donated funds for marketing and promotion materials and activities.
  • The city supported a project to acquire 3.2 acres of the Cooper Street Prison property declared surplus by the Michigan Department of Veterans Affairs, which is adjacent to the Armory Arts Project. The investment demonstrates the community’s recognition of the vitality and energy the Armory Arts Project will produce. Great Lakes Home Health Care will construct a 28,000-square-foot corporate headquarters. The $3.2 million project will retain 250 employees and add an additional 125 full-time jobs within five years. 
  • Another business has announced plans to purchase the vacant Jacobson's Building from Jackson Community College (part of the West End Visioning property). The healthcare provider plans to acquire the former 68,000-square-foot Jacobson’s Department Store and the Johnson Center. Jacobson’s has been vacant since 1992. The company has 250 employees and is in a rapid growth mode, expanding by 10 percent per year (125 percent in five years). The company will invest a minimum of $3 million into the former Jacobson’s Building.
  • Public investment includes the two-way conversion of Cooper and Milwaukee Streets, and a $250,000 grant from Michigan State Housing Development Authority to complete nine units for the Downtown Rental Rehab Program. The Partnership Park initiative has received $785,390 in public investment.
  • Foote Hospital, the city's largest employer, is undergoing a $30 million expansion of its emergency room, administrative offices, common areas and heliport.The city vacated and re-routed Ellery Street to accommodate the expansion. The hospital and city are now working cooperatively to create new infill housing in the area. The project is currently under way; therefore, only a portion of the investment has been realized to date. The city and state are both contributing to a feasibility study ($49,994) to determine whether or not the Jackson Amtrak Depot can be converted to an intermodal facility. 
  • The city declared the Blake Building an Obsolete Property Rehabilitation District (OPRD) to make the project financially feasible, increase the investment level, and shorten the project timeline. The OPRD is worth approximately $55,000 annually for 12 years. 
  • The former CAMP Building is being transformed from a corset factory into state-of-the-art condominiums. The $5.2-million project will create 26 owner-occupied residential units with underground parking. The city declared the project a Neighborhood Enterprise Zone (NEZ) to promote the adaptive reuse of the building and to attract empty-nesters and young urban professionals to the downtown.
  • Approximately $297,816 in private investment was leveraged for the Downtown Rental Rehabilitation Program. Partnership Park has enjoyed $24,200 in private investment. 
  • The CityView Lofts Project anticipates $5.2 million in investment by completion.
  • “Designation as a Cool City has drastically changed the working relationship between state government and the local community for the better, in that it has built our capacity to take responsibility for our future with enormous state cooperation, communication and encouragement. It evokes pride in our community and has brought awareness and attention to Jackson Downtown ALIVE! (what we sometimes call the best-kept secret in Michigan). It has re-energized Jackson as a community. Being a "Cool" City evokes emotion – as we have noticed in our local paper's Voice of the People section. Everyone has an opinion on what we should or shouldn't do to be "Cool," and even the uncomplimentary letters are giving "ink" to "Cool" City Jackson. We realize there is much work to do to achieve retaining our twenty-somethings, but we are seeing vitality, interest, investment, and hope that will cause people of all ages, especially the youth, to consider Downtown Jackson ALIVE to live in and play in.” – Debbie Weid, Dept. of Community Development