Siler Yard: Arts + Creativity Center

Space for Creativity to Work

2012-2020

 

 

 

PROJECT OVERVIEW

In 2012, Creative Santa Fe engaged with Artspace to investigate the possibility of an affordable live/work rental project in Santa Fe, which would become Siler Yard: Arts + Creativity Center. The Artspace Market Study paved the way for an analysis of potential sites for Siler Yard, which identified a portion of the 53 acres of city-owned land near 1218 Siler Road as the best fit. New Mexico Inter-Faith Housing joined the project team in 2014 to serve as lead developer and applicant for affordable housing development funding, and continues to lead the project through its final stages of development. 


Donations to this project are still eligible for $0.50/dollar tax credits from the State of New Mexico! The tax credit expires on February 28, 2022. You can contribute via the project website


Siler Yard is an innovative nonprofit-driven project working at the intersection of urgent affordable housing and economic development needs in Santa Fe, New Mexico. The project combines highly affordable live/work rental housing co-located with a community makers-space, all amplified through on-site resources for economic development and support. Siler Yard is located on a city-donated redevelopment site on Siler Road. This type of live/work affordable rental housing has never before been developed in New Mexico.

In August of 2015 the project was awarded a prestigious “Our Town” planning grant from the National Endowment for the Arts. In April 2016 the City of Santa Fe agreed to donate five acres of land to the project on Siler Road. After an extensive RFP process, a collaborative design team was selected, led by AOS Architects, including Surroundings, Trey Jordan Architecture, Onion Flats, and da Silva Architecture. Pavilion Construction of Albuquerque was selected as the general contractor.

The project broke ground in 2020, with occupancy beginning in Winter 2021-2022. For more information and answers to commonly asked questions about Siler Yard, please visit the project website.

 

 

"Affordable housing has always been an important component of every vital and vibrant city, and never more so than in times of great income disparity like the present. Envisioning, planning, creating, and manifesting viable solutions, like the Siler Yard Affordable Artist Housing Project, are absolutely and fundamentally essential if we as a city are to honor our commitment to maintain the exciting blend of humanity that we so cherish and celebrate in our city of Santa Fe."
-~ Michael Freed, artist, founder of Offroad Productions
"For over a thousand years, this region has been home to a continuum of creativity. For the vast majority of this time, affordable housing was part of the natural equilibrium of life. Homes were pulled up out of the earth - made and changed to suit evolving needs and technologies. Today, Santa Fe continues as a cultural crossroads and a hub of making, with the Siler Road area as its epicenter, yet a dramatic and well-documented housing shortage threatens the ability for artists and creative professionals to remain in this beautiful place. Affordable housing in Santa Fe has never been more important. This project will help to stem the crisis by boldly declaring that the creative community is essential to our collective future.
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-- Shawn Evans, Principal, Atkin Olshin Schade Architects, lead designers of the Siler Yard project
"Siler Yard is VITAL in starting a movement of affordable housing for the creative's and residents in Santa Fe. It’s central location, affordable rents, and artists focused amenities will only enhance Santa Fe's reputation as a world class art center."
--Steve Brisk