By Tom Bailey Jr. - The Commercial Appeal -

A South Main Arts District development where artists will live and work will receive a $100,000 grant from the National Endowment for the Arts, Mayor A C Wharton and the Hyde Family Foundations announced today.

The possible sites have been narrowed to two historic buildings within the South Main area, said Wendy Holmes, senior vice president for ArtSpace, the Minneapolis-based nonprofit group that is leading the project.

She declined to identify the buildings because negotiations are ongoing.

“We looked at about eight different properties and sites in the South Main district and narrowed it down to two, and are doing due-diligence to narrow it quickly to one,” Holmes said.

The project began last year with a survey of artists to gauge the demand for affordable live/work space. Construction should start by late next year or in 2013, Holmes said.

The progress “is right where it needs to be,” said Kerry Hayes, special assistant to the mayor.

“We’re working through to see if the buildings will be big enough and have the right kind of access,” Hayes said. “This grant helps a lot, helps us finish out this.”

The NEA’s Our Town grant is one of 51 awarded nationwide.

The grants are designed to invest in “creative place-making,” in which public and private sectors collaborate to form the social, physical and economic character of a neighborhood, city or region around arts and cultural activities.

ArtSpace has about 30 other developments across the nation, but this is the first in the Southeast.

“Memphis is extremely grateful for the continued support of the National Endowment for the Arts and the Hyde Family Foundations,” Wharton said in a prepared statement.

“Memphis is the creative capital of the South, and investing in affordable live-work space for artists will pay dividends culturally and economically for our entire city. Existing arts organizations, businesses, and other stakeholders in the South Main area have a great deal to look forward to as this project moves forward.”

ArtSpace will apply for tax credits for the project in 2012. “If we get them construction could start late next year,” Holmes said. “Sometimes it takes two years to get the credits. If not in 2012 we hope to start in 2013.’’

Memphis is one of five cities receiving the Our Town grant for an ArtSpace development.

The other cities are Honolulu, New Orleans, Hamilton, Ohio, and Minneapolis.

The total contract for ArtSpace to get the project off the ground is $750,000, Holmes said.

That pays for everything from site acquisition to the point of construction, and includes arranging financing, hiring attorneys and architects, and engaging the public.

Artspace usually gets about 55 percent of its capital costs through the low-income housing tax credit program, 15 percent often through historic tax credits if a historic building is involved, from Community Development Block Grants, federal HOME program funds, 10 percent from philanthropies and a mix of local sources.