In a recent update on the almost-200-unit project that’s begun construction in North Delridge, we mentioned they were working on a new name, since “Cooper at Youngstown” turned out to have a nearby conflict. Today, Steffenie Evans from Legacy Partners says they’ve chosen one: Youngstown Flats.

After initially spending a lot of time and energy to find a name that was both rooted in the history of the neighborhood and not already in use, we were a bit surprised to learn that the artist housing at Youngstown Cultural Arts Center was called Cooper Artist Housing at Youngstown.

We immediately scheduled a meeting with the artists in residence to discuss the name we had chosen an what impact it might have on their community if we kept the name. It became very clear that even though their brand is not visible in internet searches or on-site signage, they had a strong identity with the “Cooper” name.

Wanting to be sensitive to our community, and a community that we had especially hoped to engage in our search for incorporating local art into our building, we decided the right thing to do was to re-name our project.

We had initially included “Youngstown” in our name because it was the historical name for the North Delridge neighborhood and ties back to the Youngstown School that has been at the heart of the community for decades, and to the energy of the Youngstown Cultural Arts Center. The name “Youngstown Flats” celebrates the history of the community and the immediate neighborhood that the project is joining. Like the Youngstown Cultural Arts Center, it provides a connection between nature, the arts and history.

The crew working on the site at 26th/Dakota is wrapping up excavation for the building’s garage, and the construction crane is expected soon. Legacy and Barrientos LLC took over the site after it had been granted permits a few years ago as a condo project; it’s being built as apartments with a few live-work units and a relatively small commercial space, as well as a mini-park on unused right-of-way across the street. They also recently announced art-procurement plans that will get into high gear around February.