Explore this incredible gallery of some of King County’s most exciting affordable housing developments as featured at HDC’s First Annual Summer Social & Showcase!
ACHD & Habitat for Humanity Affordable Homeownership Pilot Project
Homeownership Rooted in Community
Mission & Concept
Based on values of community, collaboration, and co-learning, African Community Housing & Development (ACHD) and Habitat for Humanity Seattle-King and Kittitas Counties (Habitat SKKC) are combining their strengths to deliver high-quality and permanently affordable homes that meet the critical needs of BIPOC and low/moderate-income families.
This Pilot Program consists of 3 sites donated by the City of Seattle Office of Housing and provides 65 permanently affordable homeownership units. Through our “shared equity” program, we promote intergenerational wealth for the BIPOC immigrant and refugee communities of Seattle’s Rainier Valley and address rampant displacement experience by low/moderate-income families in the region. ACHD will dedicate extensive time to informational workshops, answering questions, and preparing the community for homeownership; topics include financial preparedness, Islamic financing methods, and home stewardship and maintenance.
Site Information
Site 7: 1, 2, and 3-bed condos
Site 6: 1, 2, and 3-bed condos + ground floor commercial space
Site 9: 4-bed, 2-bath townhome units
Notable Features
Site 6
The building front is angled to follow the line of MLK Jr Way S, with the center pulled back from the street for the main residential entry, including a small plaza and planter. A small commercial space is located at the northwest corner of the building, flexibly designed to accommodate a variety of retail, office or business uses. Blank walls at the northwest corner of the building were purposely designed as a space for 5-story mural to the painted.
The project will meet Evergreen Sustainable Energy Requirements. The units will all have ERVs (energy recovery ventilators) as well as ample natural light and ventilation in all units.
The design challenges stemmed from the unique shape of the site and its and characteristics including easements and utilities on site and within the right of way. Building entries, amenity spaces and the solid waste room were designed around these constraints, keeping in mind code requirements, context considerations and design.
Site 9
The project is uniquely formed by the geometric characteristics of the site which was formed by the creation and construction of light rail along MLK. The set of three rowhomes shifts in plan and elevation to address the climbing topography to the west and the busy street to the east. The shifting facades along MLK Jr Way S were also inspired by the cascading concrete retaining walls to the south of the site which have been beautifully tiled with expansive mosaics of traffic reflectors.
Terraced lush landscaping is proposed to surround the new homes and support an underlying storm water infiltration system. All units will have efficient building envelope strategies with high efficiency appliances and HVAC systems
The project is an extension of the small residential community just off MLK and that rises up S. Ferdinand St. Multiple meetings with ACHD and Habitat for Humanity have been intended to ensure as many local community needs can be addressed by this small, but challenging site
Total Cost: $39,000,000 Secured: Seattle Office of Housing Planned: CHIP, NHT, and HTF
Eastgate Housing Campus
An innovative partnership combining a spectrum of complementary homelessness services and affordable housing options in one location serving people on the Eastside.
Plymouth Crossing
The Eastside’s First Permanent Supportive Housing
Overview
Plymouth Crossing is the first instance of permanent supportive housing in Bellevue or East King County. This partnership aims to provide people with a history of homelessness an opportunity to access emergency, life‐saving spaces, a dignified environment, caring community and the supports needed for those who need help.
Notable Features
Serves single adults experiencing chronic homelessness and earning up to 30% AMI.
Includes on-site enhanced behavior health care and medical care, and the campus provides access to a variety of additional services
Financials
Total Cost: $52,000,000
Funders: ARCH, City of Bellevue, King County, Plymouth Housing’s PROOF Campaign, Washington State Financing Commission, and Washington State Housing Trust Fund
Polaris provides workforce housing for families and individuals earning below 60% AMI. The community provides a connection to the Plymouth and PorchLight portion of the campus via a walking trail linking it to Sunset Creek greenbelt. Polaris offers onsite amenities to residents including a fitness room, business center, theatre, sport court, playground, outdoor bbq area and lounge space
Site Information
The site was acquired from the King County Facilities District. It was an underutilized piece of property that had sat vacant for years.
Notable Features
Designed to the Evergreen Sustainable Design Standards
Includes the incorporation of a master plan enhancing the native growth protection areas of Sunset creek.
YMCA Early Learning Center located on-site.
Participated with neighborhood outreach with PorchLight and Plymouth to work with surrounding neighbors on safety and community concerns.
Financials
Total Cost: $131,000,000
Funding Sources: Tax Exempt Bonds, Tax Credit Equity, King County
Our mission is partnering with men and the community to create a path from homelessness to stable living. Our core values are relationship, dignity and respect, community and empowerment.
Our EMS/Day Center provides a no-cost, safe place for men experiencing homelessness to sleep, eat, take showers, do laundry and connect to life-transforming relationships and services that lead to stable employment, better health, and stable housing.
Financials
Total Cost: $21,000,000
Funding Sources: King County, Eastside municipalities, community support
Plymouth Crossing – 13620 SE Eastgate Way, Bellevue Polaris – 13300 SE Eastgate Way, Bellevue PorchLight – 13668 SE Eastgate Way, Bellevue
Mercy Angle Lake Family Housing (MALFH)
Transit-oriented affordable housing with inclusive design and services for people with intellectual/developmental disabilities.
Mission & Concept
At Mercy Angle Lake Family Housing, Mercy seeks to create an inclusive, affordable, and supportive living environment that empowers individuals and families of diverse backgrounds to thrive. We are dedicated to:
Promoting Accessibility and Inclusivity: Offering 130 thoughtfully designed units, including 26 specifically tailored for individuals with intellectual and developmental disabilities, to ensure every resident has a comfortable and accommodating home.
Enhancing Quality of Life: Providing a variety of unit sizes, from studios to three-bedroom apartments, to meet the diverse needs of our community, fostering a supportive and vibrant neighborhood.
Facilitating Connectivity and Convenience: Strategically located adjacent to the Angle Lake Light Rail station, we ensure our residents have easy access to public transportation, connecting them seamlessly to the broader community and essential services.
Fostering Community and Support: Collaborating with The Arc of King County to offer on-site services and family support, we are committed to creating a nurturing environment where residents with developmental disabilities receive the care and assistance they need.
Our vision is to build not just homes, but an inclusive community where each individual is valued, supported, and empowered to achieve. Through innovative design, strategic partnerships, and a steadfast commitment to affordability, Mercy Angle Lake Family Housing stands as a beacon of hope and opportunity for all who call it home.
Site Information
This project represents Mercy’s sixth TOD project with Sound Transit. The site was acquired by Mercy from Sound Transit at a substantial discount to its market value. Mercy secured the rights to develop the site through the Sound Transit RFP process.
MALFH will include studios, one-, two-, and three-bedroom units. This wide range of unit sizes ensures that the project will meet the needs of a diverse collection of family structures including individuals, couples, small families and large extended families. Additionally, 26 of these units have been specifically designed to meet the needs of individuals with intellectual and developmental disabilities and their families.
Notable Amenities & Partnerships
The Arc of King County will move its headquarters into the 11,000 sf office in development on the ground level of Mercy Angle Lake. The new Arc Legacy Center will provide a platform for The Arc’s expanded service delivery for individuals with IDD and their families living throughout King County and at Mercy Angle Lake.
The Arc offers health support, family and life skills training, employment assistance, and community integration programs, while both The Arc and Mercy will work together to foster an inclusive community through educational workshops and advocacy efforts.
Design & Sustainability Features
Bike Plaza along S 200th St with secure bike parking and information about nearby transit.
Community room that connects to the courtyard for resident outreach and community building, after-school programs, and adult education.
Solar panels installed (33 kw PV array).
Centralized heat pump hot water system.
Additional accessible units beyond code minimum requirements that are designed based on The Arc of King County stakeholder input and lived experience.
Community Engagement
The project team collaborated with city staff on a development agreement to reduce the parking requirement from approximately 1.1 stalls per unit to 0.6 stalls per unit, which, along with other land use criteria departures, al-lowed the project to maximize the zoning/building envelope and increase the unit count from 90 units to 130 without any adding parking, while main-taining the goal ratio of 40% family-sized units. The development agreement was unanimously approved by the SeaTac city council, who continue to sup-port the project.
The efficient project massing was driven by the triangular site with the long, curved property line on the west side, and 20 feet of grade change from the southwest corner to the north end, which aided in providing 3 levels of park-ing with no internal ramping.
The internal courtyard was placed to reduce the sound from the busy adjacent streets as well as the nearby SeaTac airport.
Funding Note
MALFH is supported by the Amazon Housing Equity Fund including a $2 million grant and $15 million in below market rate construction and permanent financing. The Amazon HEF allowed Mercy to expedite the design, permitting and construction of the crucially needed housing, avoiding several additional public funding rounds.
Between 30-60% AMI. 26 units set aside for people with IDDs.
Construction Timeline
Start: November 2023 Completion: June 2025
Financials
Total Cost: $69,683,000
Community Partners
The Arc of King County National Equity Fund Sound Transit King County King County Housing Authority State of Washington Amazon Housing Equity Fund JPMorgan Chase
2650 S. 200th Street, SeaTac
Solera and Astra Apartments
Two buildings, Solera and Astra, designed as a mixed-income community serving working families.
Mission & Concept
A large mixed-use development in the Sunset neighborhood of Renton that blends urban and suburban attributes. Replacing an underutilized strip mall, Solera was born through a deeply collaborative, and community-informed effort, by an affordable housing developer, an experienced architecture firm, and a dedicated project team.
Solera is Evergreen Impact Housing Fund’s first project supported by a consortium of five local credit unions. Developer DevCo broke ground in August 2021, and the property is expected to welcome residents in 2024. This mixed-income project in Renton consists of 590 multifamily units; half will be affordable housing units, 20 percent of which will be set aside for persons with disabilities.
Project Description
A large mixed-use development in the Sunset neighborhood of Renton, Solera blends urban and suburban attributes. The master plan includes 590 mixed-income apartments, 96 fee simple townhomes and over 30,000 SF of commercial space in two buildings. While other developers had failed to find a workable fit for the large 11-acre parcel, affordable family housing developer DevCo made its vision for affordable- and workforce-housing pencil out, with a number of larger 4-bedroom units. The city’s desire to balance the mix with market-rate units created a design challenge for us, demanding extra resourcefulness in building shape and unit design. Likewise, balancing the extra parking needed for mixed-use affordable housing with zoning regulations on parking and the project’s unique amenities—including indoor basketball court, dedicated “work from home” space, and commercial daycare facility—we designed a large underground parking structure and “hid” above-ground parking on the inside of wraparound structures. Finally, to signal Solera’s dual commercial and residential identities, we clad ground floor commercial space in dark brick masonry for a modern look, incorporating warm wood-like siding above with balconies and shed roofs for a more residential feel. Without making them identical, we gave both buildings tripartite facades and a dark neutral color palette to reinforce a sense of unified community.
Building Information
216 – 1 Bedroom – 726 SF
206 – 2 Bedroom – 1,044 SF
102 – 3 Bedroom – 1,193 SF
41 – 4 Bedroom – 1,463 SF
25 street-oriented townhouse units.
Notable Features
30,000 SF of commercial space, including a potential daycare location with dedicated outdoor area.
Large elevated courtyards in each building provides passive and active outdoor spaces.
Outdoor space (balconies or patios) for every unit, work from home areas, bicycle and residential storage on the residential floors.
Half court indoor basketball courts in each building.
Building A includes a tot lot and off-leash pet area.
Structured parking for residents and guests for approximately 800 cars.
Built to Evergreen Sustainable Development Standard. Building A has heat pump water heaters and solar panels on the roof.
Pedestrian oriented street frontage along Sunset Blvd in combination with a new frontage road providing parallel parking to serve the commercial uses within the project. Features include street trees, benches, planters and ample sidewalk along the building facade.
Wings (shed roofs), four-bedroom units, continuous courtyard with the feel of a European street, outdoor play area for children, outdoor space (balconies or patios) for every unit, work from home areas, bicycle and residential storage on the residential floors.
Community meeting as part of the major modifications under a previously approved master plan. The community was excited to have the space in use again and are looking forward to fresh commercial spaces. We worked with the city to align our goals.
Collaboration between long-time community focused church, non-profit affordable housing developer, and the City of Seattle.
Mission & Concept
St. Luke’s stands as a testament to community-driven efforts aimed at preserving and expanding affordable housing in Seattle’s vibrant Ballard neighborhood. This new construction, infill development introduces 84 new affordable family apartments, enriching the area’s amenities.
Guided by a mission to strengthen communities and improve lives, BRIDGE Housing is a leading nonprofit developer, owner, and manager of high-quality affordable housing committed to advancing opportunities in the Pacific Northwest region.
Project Description
St. Luke’s emerged through a Request for Proposal (RFP) initiated by St. Luke’s Episcopal Church in 2021. According to The Reverend Canon Britt Olson, St. Luke’s vision for the next century is to create a nurturing community where love thrives. Located in the heart of Ballard, a diversified, urban area known for its exceptional schools, lush green spaces, and robust community institutions, St. Luke’s will provide easy access to numerous amenities, including multiple grocery stores, frequent bus service to downtown and the University of Washington, public parks and libraries, and a forthcoming light rail transit station. This initiative aims to address the pressing need for affordable housing while fostering the wellbeing of Ballard and its neighboring communities.
Site Information
28 studio units, 22 one-bedroom, 14 two-bedroom (includes manager’s unit), and 20 three-bedroom.
Design Features
Efficient design to incorporate 84 family units on a 0.34 acre site.
Roof-top amenity area for residents. Community room, shared laundry facilities, on-site resident services.
Modern, simple, Scandinavian design to fit in with community.
First project in the City of Seattle to utilize the density bonus on church-owned land.
Sustainability Features
25% of common area electricity provided by PV array on roof.
75% of construction waste diverted out of landfill.
Total Cost: $52,000,000 Construction Lender: JP Morgan Chase Equity Investor: National Affordable Housing Trust – UnitedHealth Group Soft Lenders: Seattle Housing Authority, Seattle Office of Housing
2035 NW 58th Street, Seattle
The Rise on Madison/Blake House
Seattle’s first nonprofit development high-rise
Mission & Concept
A jointly-operated development by Plymouth Housing and Bellwether Housing that provides essential services and housing through a unique partnership.
Within this 17-floor building are two distinct apartment complexes: Plymouth operates Blake House on floors two through five—focused on serving seniors and veterans who have experienced chronic homelessness—and Bellwether operates The Rise on Madison (The Rise) on floors six through 17—serving families making 60% or less of area median income with 10% of those homes featuring two and three bedrooms.
Notable Features
Notable Features
The development encourages transit use by minimizing on-site parking (no below-grade parking), and linking residents to nearby light rail, street car, and buses.
Offers over 4,000 feet of ground floor commercial retail space.
Swedish Health Services offers on-site medical care.
Complies with Washington State Evergreen Sustainable Development Standards.
A 0.28 KwH PV system on the roof provides additional funding points above and beyond ESDS and Seattle Energy Code.
The project utilizes an all-electric Air to Water Heat Pump Domestic Water Plant.
“This development represents so much of what is great about Seattle—support for an innovative development that will serve a broad range of needs, collaboration among committed partners, and a deep commitment to ensure that lower income people have a place in this city.”
The Rise on Madison: Low-wage workers and other lower income people (up to 60% AMI).
Construction Timeline
Start: May 2024 Completion: September 2025
Financials
Total Cost: $81,000,000 Residential: King County HFP, WA HTF, Capital One construction loan, Hudson Housing Capital LIHTC equity, Citi perm loan Commercial: NMTC equity, federal direct appropriation, state direct appropriation, King County, WSHFC, Enterprise perm loan, capital campaign funds
1400 Madison Street, Seattle
White Center HUB
Deep community partnership project in White Center serving immigrant and refugee families
Mission & Concept
A community-driven and designed campus that provides much needed human services and permanently affordable housing for families in White Center at risk of displacement from gentrification.
White Center HUB was born following a series of community meetings that identified a major need for affordable housing, health services, and a centralized hub for community life in White Center.
Site Information
Site acquired as surplus land from King County – formerly used as King County Public Health Center.
Building Information
Notable Amenities
Federally Qualified Healthcare Center (HealthPoint), family counseling, behavioral healthcare, and alternative education programs (Southwest Youth and Family Services).
Community kitchen and food justice programming (FEEST).
Youth recording studio and sports programs (YES! Foundation)
Design & Sustainability Features
Emphasis on healthy materials (avoiding vinyl in windows and flooring).
Solar PV, EV charging, HPHW, DOAS, advanced stormwater capture and filtration.
Between 30-60% AMI. Immigrant and refugee families in unincorporated King County.
Construction Timeline
Start: May 2024 Completion: September 2025
Financials
Total Cost: $81,000,000 Residential: King County HFP, WA HTF, Capital One construction loan, Hudson Housing Capital LIHTC equity, Citi perm loan Commercial: NMTC equity, federal direct appropriation, state direct appropriation, King County, WSHFC, Enterprise perm loan, capital campaign funds
