The trend: Live/work units in the works

Live/work units in the works Some sleek new artists' digs will be rising in north Minneapolis this fall. Dubbed Bearden Place, in honor of African-American artist Romare Bearden, the development will include six live/work townhouses in the Willard Homewood neighborhood.

The neighborhood has been hard hit by foreclosures, but an "artists' core" is emerging, said Tom Streitz, director of housing for the city of Minneapolis. The site, on the northwest corner of Plymouth and Sheridan Avenues N., is adjacent to Homewood Studios, an artists' work/gallery space.

"More people are working out of their homes, and live/work space is becoming more accepted," Streitz said. "We want to create new kinds of housing."

The city and the Builders Outreach Foundation, the charitable arm of the Builders Association of the Twin Citties, recently held a contest to solicit designs for the site. The winning design, selected from 47 nationwide submissions, is modern in style, with first-floor spaces that can be used as galleries. The design was the work of MSD/WhatWorx Collaboration (www.whatworx.com), which includes Ira A. Keer, Sandra Gay, Tim Heitman, Gary Lampman, Robert Fischer, Donovan Hart and Spencer Finseth.

"What stood out in jurors' minds was that it [the winning design] treated the whole site," Streitz said. In addition to the 1,600-square-foot live/work units, which will be priced at $175,000 or below, the design included a shared vegetable garden and a rain garden.

Construction is scheduled to begin in September, and the units will be featured on the Parade of Homes the following March.

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NEW YORK TIMES NEWS SERVICE

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