Since 1901, the Schmidt Brewery building has been a landmark on West 7th Street. During its years as a brewery, millions of bottles of beer from numerous brands were produced there. The brewery shut its doors on June 24, 2002 and was vacant for nearly a decade until a large redevelopment project revitalized the space. The building reopened in December 2013 as Schmidt Artist Lofts; more than 200 artists now call the live-work artist lofts home.
Prior to redevelopment, Schmidt was a high-production brewery. Phil Gagne, Schmidt brewmaster from 1979 until the brewery’s closure in 2002, says that in the 1980s and early 1990s, about 500 employees brewed 2.1 million barrels of beer each year. Over the years, brands like Stahlmann, North Star, Landmark, Pfeiffer, and Jacob Schmidt called the space home. Grain Belt and Pig’s Eye were the last beers produced in the brewery.
After a short-lived conversion to an ethanol processing plant, the brewery sat empty from 2004 until redevelopment began a few years ago. The redevelopment was a joint effort of the city of Saint Paul, the state of Minnesota, Saint Paul community members and Dominium, a property development and management company. Dominium transformed the building from its state of disrepair into beautiful live-work apartments for artists. The building is an “icon in Saint Paul,” says Gagne, adding that it was bittersweet to watch the building be transformed, but that the redevelopment is “bringing new life back into it.”
Schmidt Artist Lofts is an affordable housing option with reasonable rents made possible by federal tax credits. To live in the apartments, residents must meet federally set income limits and must also show an active commitment to an art form. Jean Ferguson, vice president of property management with Dominium, says, “Saint Paul had pent-up demand for housing for artists.”
To meet this demand, Dominium converted the former brewhouse and bottlehouse into 247 individually designed lofts and impressive common spaces, some of which serve as studio space for artists. The apartment’s first residents moved into 121 units in the former bottlehouse in December 2013 and 126 units in the former brewhouse opened between May and July 2014. In addition, Dominium built 13 new three-bedroom townhomes on the property. Since July 2014, the property has been fully leased, and there is a waiting list for units.
The popularity of Schmidt Artist Lofts is a testament to its unique offerings for artists. In addition to typical amenities like common spaces, a rooftop patio, and a fitness center, Schmidt also provides in-house gallery space and studios created expressly for painting, pottery, dance, and other artistic pursuits, at no additional cost. “We sort of dubbed [Schmidt] ‘Disneyland for artists’ when we were working on the initial design because the amenities here are just so much better than what you would have anyplace else,” says Ferguson.
Ferguson says Dominium tried to preserve some of the history of the building. Numerous relics were saved from the brewery and now serve as art. For instance, in the brewhouse lobby, a portion of an old tank used for brewing is suspended above a seating area. The exterior of the brewhouse and bottlehouse retain their original appearances, but the interior imparts modern design onto an industrial backdrop.
According to Ferguson, the building’s artists represent about 30 disciplines and include painters, musicians, graphic artists, actors, and everything in between. MJ Antonsen, a resident artist and painter, says the artistic community in the buildings creates an environment “very conducive to creating.”
As a Saint Paul native, Antonsen sees the preservation of this historic site as a benefit to not just the local art community, but also the city. Ferguson agrees. “Schmidt is such a landmark in the city of Saint Paul…so to be able to restore the building and bring it back to life in a way that we can open up periodically and let the public in…it’s just been really great,” she says.
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To learn more, visit schmidtartistlofts.com. To see the Schmidt Artist Lofts, stop by during the St. Paul Art Crawl on April 24-26.
