Rancho del Arte > Mesa Development Celebrates the Arts

Image from Perlman Architects

This blog started with a feature post on Rancho del Arte. Just to wrap up the most recent "news" and put it all together looking forward to the next year, there are some things to keep in mind about Creative Place Making, transit-oriented development and financing affordable housing.
[see accompanying post from today].
Local Initiatives for Sustainable Communities LISC Phoenix invited John Williams, head of the San Francisco Federal Reserve, for an on-site tour in the new urban downtown Mesa that was the subject of another post on this blog.

An article by Cristina Serlin that appeared yesterday December 17, 2015 starts off with
"A new housing development in Mesa, Ariz., brings together affordability, sustainability, and the arts . . ."
Read more >>
http://www.housingfinance.com/developments/mesa-development-celebrates-the-arts_o

The $14.2 million development was financed with low-income housing tax credits (LIHTCs) allocated by the Arizona Department of Housing (ADOH), which also provided gap financing through the HOME program and the state’s Housing Trust Fund. Alliant Capital was the LIHTC syndicator, with JPMorgan Chase as the investor. Additional funding included a construction loan from Chase and HOME funds from the city of Mesa.
According to Eric Paine, the CEO of Community Development Partners, "We designed El Rancho del Arte through a thoughtful, human-centered collaboration with the local Mesa stakeholders. We involved the community and local artists to create a housing culture that supports the arts and encourages community engagement,” says Paine. “We are very proud of the outcome as we feel we have achieved our goal of raising the bar on affordable housing.”
The second phase of the development is under way and has received an award of LIHTCs from ADOH. CDP plans to break ground on the 47-unit project in February. The development team also is exploring a community-supported food business accelerator program with a commercial kitchen.
Take a look at the overhead image below and you can see the inside atrium in Phase 1 that is not visible from the street. It's a masterstroke of design providing exposure to sunlight for inside-facing windows overlooking a recreation area with seating and an outdoor grilling area-gathering place.

<iframe src="https://player.vimeo.com/video/131697520" width="500" height="281" frameborder="0" webkitallowfullscreen mozallowfullscreen allowfullscreen></iframe>
<p><a href="https://vimeo.com/131697520">El Rancho Apartments // Mesa, Arizona</a> from <a href="https://vimeo.com/producofilms">Produco Films</a> on <a href="https://vimeo.com">Vimeo</a>.</p>
<p>song - &quot;fantastic voyage&quot; by olive musique // licensed through premiumbeat.com</p>