Haines residents (Image: Capitol Hill Housing)

Capitol Hill Housing is acquiring a new property in the neighborhood and has plans to sell off another one as part of its ongoing mission to provide affordable housing and develop community-oriented properties on the Hill — and beyond. Here are details on the transactions. Meanwhile, CHH’s 12th Ave Arts project should start construction next year.

• Low-income apartments will stay that way: Housing that serves some of the most in-need residents on Capitol Hill has been purchased by one of the few organizations around that would choose to keep the property serving low-income renters. Capitol Hill Housing announced Wednesday that it has added E Olive Street’s Haines Apartments to its roster of Capitol Hill properties with affordable housing. You can see the other CHH buildings here. CHH says it will renovate the 30-unit, 1908 building. The Daily Journal of Commerce reports that CHH paid $3.32 million for the property.

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Capitol Hill Housing (CHH), a Seattle-based developer of affordable housing, has purchased the Haines Apartments, a Capitol Hill building providing homes for 30 low-income elderly and disabled residents. 

Located at 1415 E. Olive Street, the Haines Apartments is a 3-story brick walk up, built in 1908. Since 1992 the Haines has provided a home for elderly and disabled households on Capitol Hill. All of the residents are extremely low-income – on fixed incomes, limited pensions or social security – and some of the residents have lived at the property for as long as 20 years.

The current HUD affordability contract was scheduled to expire later this year, and there was a high risk that the building would be purchased by a market rate developer, both displacing these elderly and disabled residents and losing the affordable apartments. The building’s acquisition by Capitol Hill Housing means that the residents will not be forced to move, and that they will be able to maintain their affordable rents. The apartments provide affordable housing to 30 households making less than 30% area median income (about $18,500 for one person annually).

David Stahl, a current resident of the Haines Apartments said “I feel fortunate to have found a home at the Haines.  I am relieved to know that Capitol Hill Housing is purchasing the building and it will be affordable for years to come.”

CHH will manage as well as own the building. The Haines was purchased with funds from the voter-approved City of Seattle Housing Levy and a loan from Impact Capital. CHH plans to renovate the building within the next five years.

 

 The Haines is an example of the organization’s vital preservation work, occurring just around the corner from the high-profile new development at 12th Avenue Arts. “At a time when our neighborhood is growing and changing at a rapid pace, CHH is not just creating new structures and homes, we are also working hard to preserve the resources that already exist” stated Capitol Hill Housing CEO Christopher Persons. “The healthiest neighborhoods are those that protect the homes of long term residents.” 

 

“We’re working hard to save a building that gives vulnerable people a safe and affordable place to live,” said Katie Porter, CHH Associate Developer.

• Elizabeth Dean Wells apartments: Small apartment building Last month, CHH announced it was planning to sell one of its smallest properties — the five -unit Elizabeth Dean Wells house on 19th Ave E:

  (Image: Capitol Hill Housing)

After careful consideration, Capitol Hill Housing (CHH) staff has made a recommendation to the CHH Board of Directors to move forward with a plan to dispossess the Elizabeth Dean Wells apartments. This is a small, five unit apartment building on Capitol Hill’s 19

^th Avenue East.

ED Wells was constructed in 1953, and acquired by CHH in 1987. For the last 25 years, CHH has operated and maintained the property, providing stable, affordable apartments. CHH has met or exceeded all of the requirements to keep the apartments affordable. ED Wells lacks the efficiencies of larger properties, and the building requires very significant capital improvement work in the near future. The planned dispossession of the property will likely involve a sale to another party.

CHH understands that relocation can be a disruption to a building’s residents. Staff will work closely with EDWells current residents on relocation, and provide relocation compensation. If desired by current residents, they will be considered to move into another CHH building.

Capitol Hill Housing has been intentional in the planning of this process, and the sale of the ED Wellsapartments is in keeping with CHH’s strategic plan adopted in spring 2010. The dispossession follows an evaluation of all of CHH’s properties, as well as furthers the goal of having a board authorized operating reserve for the organization.

This dispossession will allow CHH to continue to develop more affordable housing in the community. The funds from a sale of the property will be contributed to an operating reserve, which was started in early 2012. The reserve funds are required to develop new properties, as the financial requirements of lenders have become increasingly restrictive in recent years. CHH is a strong organization that continues to provide more affordable housing in the Seattle area, but this is only possible with increasing liquidity. In 2011-2014, CHH is adding or preserving 188 new affordable apartments and anticipates continuing this pace in the following years.

The corner lot at 19th Ave E and E Harrison is across the street from the Miller Community Center. We checked around briefly to see if we could learn more about who Elizabeth Dean Wells was but came up empty. We’ll have to touch base with CHH to see what they can tell us. 19th Ave E will see more changes later this summer when construction begins on the new mixed-use development at E Mercer — future home of Tallulah’s.