The green roof is covered with vegetation and solar panels
There is another type of important Pride event happening this week on Capitol Hill.
Thursday, the application process for new Broadway affordable senior housing development Pride Place opened to interested residents. Move-ins are expected to begin in September. Hundreds are expected to apply for one of the building’s 118 studio and one-bedroom units neighboring queer dance club Neighbours.
Calling its project “affordable, affirming housing for LGBTQIA+ seniors in the heart of Capitol Hill, Seattle,” developer Community Roots Housing says it is working with community partner GenPride to put the final touches on the building this summer.
But the real work is the application process. Applicants must financially qualify for the building that is utilizing “affirmative marketing” to reach out to underrepresented communities and help make the new building a home for the LGBTQIA+ senior community. Community Roots cannot restrict leasing to queer-identifying seniors because of federal housing law. Instead, the developer and GenPride are marketing Pride Place to LGBTQIA+ seniors who meet income requirements.
Demand can be heavy for this type of housing. In winter of 2020, More than 1,300 people applied for the 110 affordable apartments above Capitol Hill Station in the Community Roots Housing Station House development.
In addition to 118 units of studio and one-bedroom apartments, the $52 million, eight-story building will feature 3,800 square feet of commercial retail space and a 4,400-square-foot senior and health services center. Inside, Pride Place is being built to match its communities with 14 of its units designed to meet the most accessible ADA requirements along with features like wider hallways and more railings.
Outside, brightly colored window boxes have created a new rainbow landmark on Capitol Hill.
CHS toured the under construction building here in January.
The idea to create housing and a senior center for LGBTQ elders on Capitol Hill had its roots in a 2018 study from the Goldsen Institute at the University of Washington. The report, entitled “Aging in Community: Addressing LGBTQ Inequities in Housing and Senior Services,” had been commissioned by the City of Seattle’s Office of Housing to examine the housing and service-related needs of LGBTQ older adults.
The study surveyed more than 500 LGBTQ people aged 50 to 87 in Seattle and King County and found that 40% of older LGBTQ participants wanted to move, compared to only 13% in the general older adult population but faced significant barriers. Nearly a third reported experiencing discrimination based on their sexual orientation in the sale or rental of a house, apartment, or condominium. Those who moved within the past year, half had experienced homelessness and a third had experienced eviction within the past five years.
Pride Place will be available to residents earning between 30% and 60% of the area median income.
To learn more and apply, visit prideplaceseattle.org.
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This is a great start, but having filled out one of those herculean applications I feel bad for the inevitable backlog of paperwork that will keep people from being moved in promptly. Part of the reason why there are so many homeless people in Seattle is that the affordable housing applications are so gargantuan and invasive that if you don’t have access to steady internet/printing/faxing etc you’re basically shit out of luck.
This is pervasive across services, not just housing. I’ve been working with a friend trying to get his birth certificate from another state along with other documents so that he can get an ID, which is required to start just about any service. We’re entering year two of this process together, and he’s been at it for many more. There’s very few places that offer help with these types of things, and often times people get conflicting advice and directions. If you have access to internet and printing and some spare time, please try to help out some of your friends and neighbors 🙏
Hey, I’ve had to get docs for a lost ID because I had also lost my SS card, do you know what your particular hold up is? It took me awhile to resolve it, too, but just a couple months.
I didn’t have to request a birth certificate so if that’s the issue I’m afraid I’m no help there. But the other docs I got were a driving record from my previous state (assuming your friend drove) and I called my old high school and asked them to send me a scan of my section in my high school year book.
But the process to get an ID or DL again is bonkers. It would have been easier if I had been an ex-prisoner or veteran, the option of documents outside of that were so minimal.
They haven’t had any form of government recognized ID for around 15 years, and one of the bigger holdups was definitely the birth certificate, which has finally come 🙌 They were born on the other side of the country and it was only possible to get in person up until recently. There’s also issues of getting to/from offices and having a place to store belongings. The fact they’ve been burned so many times trying to get documents and it’s such a hassle getting around, they want to be absolutely certain they have everything in order.
Actually, the paperwork for Pride Place seems to be relatively modest so far.
Yeah…CRH is like any other. Ya got to fill out the paperwork. They are a really big developer and can redirect staff to new buildings to get them started.
Glad to see this close to opening, wish we had hundreds more just like it. (Or bigger!) Is there any word about when commercial tenants might be announced?
And a sidenote about new buildings … we’re still waiting to see neighbors move into the new YMCA housing up the street at Harvard and E Denny Way, which seems to have been sitting mostly-empty for about a year now. Currently, skateboarders are the only ones making good use of that outdoor seating area. Nothing against skateboarders, but it would be nice to see residents there too!
So the LGBTQ elderly can move in here and start bitching about the noise from Neighbors
Which is moving, btw ^_^