(The Center Square) – King County is distributing $26 million in funding to local organizations to create up to 760 units of affordable housing to meet the growing demand for accessible housing for low-income households.
The funds come from the King County Department of Community and Human Services’ Housing Finance Program. The program administers capital funding for affordable housing projects through federal and local sources.
Federal funding sources include the HOME Investment Partnership Program and the Community Development Block Grant Program. Local funding sources include the Regional Affordable Housing Program and revenue from the Homeless Housing Document Recording Fee Surcharge. Both of these local programs come from state laws authorizing the collection of surcharges on document recording fees.
The funding will go toward construction of 10 affordable housing developments that total 760 units. The awarded projects will generate 673 new and 32 renovated rental units throughout the region, including unincorporated King County. The funding also goes toward projects to build 55 new homeownership units.
According to King County Executive Dow Constantine’s Office, over half of the housing units support seniors, people with intellectual disabilities, and the homeless.
“These investments will be life-changing for all those who will soon have a new place to call home,” Constantine said in a statement. “As income inequality increases, we must eliminate the barriers to housing and homeownership that far too many of our neighbors and working families face.”
First American Housing Association’s Bryant Manor project will build the largest number of affordable rental units, with 149 dedicated to families at risk of displacement. Awarded funds will support the second phase of the redevelopment project. Phase one is currently under construction and is expected to be completed this year. Construction includes an early learning center and 101 units.
The other awarded projects include:
Downtown Emergency Service Center’s 120-unit permanent supportive housing building in Seattle’s Victory Heights neighborhood’El Centro de la Raza’s 84-unit affordable rental units and ground-level commercial space;Mercy Housing Northwest’s 90-unit Burien Family Housing project;Catholic Housing Services’ Emma McRedmond Manor in downtown Redmond;Imagine Housing and Together We Grow’s 17-unit apartment complex in Kenmore dedicated to seniors on low and fixed incomes;Manufactured Housing Community Preservationists’ homeownership project that will provide 30 new manufactured three and four-bedroom homes suitable for large families and households;The Low Income Housing Institute and Childhaven partnership’s Skyway Family Housing, which will provide 55 affordable multifamily units for individuals and families in Skyway experiencing displacement and gentrification;Habitat for Humanity King and Kittitas Counties homeownership project to provide 25 permanently affordable single-family townhomes in Bellevue; andHomestead Community Land Trust’s Willowcrest Townhomes project’s second phase, which will build 19 new homeownership units, 14 permanently affordable land trust homes, and five market rate homes in Renton.
