Harlem school slated for artists’ housing

Artspace, a Minneapolis-based arts organization that seeks to build affordable live/work space for artists, has joined forces with a Harlem community development organization called El Barrio’s Operation Fightback to transform an East Harlem elementary school into a 90-unit affordable apartment complex for artists, the New York Times reported.

The groups have just received a federal low-income housing tax credit worth $24 million for the project at PS 190 on East 99th Street, the Times said, which will begin construction this spring and is slated for completion in 2014. The Department of Housing Preservation and Development will transfer ownership of the school to the community groups in coming weeks, said Melodie Bahan, a spokesperson for Artspace, allowing for construction to commence.

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The complex will feature studios and one-bedroom and two-bedroom units, ranging in price from $500 to $1,100 a month. [NYT]