Cleveland-based Midwest Development Partners first proposed the mixed-use $417 million Circle Square project in 2014, with Artisan and the 9-story Library Lofts atop a new Martin Luther King, Jr. Branch of the Cleveland Public Library encompassing the first phase of construction. Plans for Artisan were presented to the city planning commission for approval in September 2020 and construction began shortly after in April 2021. During construction of Artisan, the developers received a Transformational Mixed-Use Developmenttax credit from the state in 2022 worth $8 million to help advance future phases of development