Seattle will vote on creation of new ‘social housing’ authority in 2023

E Madison’s The Madkin is being held up as an example where a public housing authority could help save affordable housing in the city (Image: Madkin Tenant Association)

The backers of I-135 to create a new public developer “to build, acquire, own, and manage social housing” in Seattle say they have successfully gathered enough signatures to place the initiative on the ballot — but the vote won’t come until 2023.

“Voters across Seattle will now get the opportunity to vote for a new intervention to our affordable housing approach,” the House Our Neighbors group said in a statement. “We are on the brink of establishing a public developer to create housing for folks who are in the 0-120% AMI bracket, where restorative justice measures must be implemented– no more punitive evictions.” Continue reading

‘Save the Madkin’ — Residents rally to preserve rents as another old but affordable Capitol Hill apartment building changes hands

(Image: Madkin Tenant Association)

By Elizabeth Turnbull

An E Madison apartment building has become the latest flashpoint in efforts to preserve affordable rents and a push for social housing in the city as residents of The Madkin gathered with advocates outside their homes at 1625 E Madison on Wednesday to protest potential rent hikes that they fear may accompany a sale of the building and to call for support for social housing.

“We’re calling on and urging city leaders to stop this kind of thing that has been happening in the city of Seattle for many years,” Violet Lavatai, the executive director of the Tenants Union of Washington State, said at Wednesday’s press conference. “For-profit owners would come and buy the building, fix it up and then increase the rent, where there is none of the tenants that can afford these rents.”

Backers are hoping to put an initiative on the ballot this fall that would establish a public developer to create more rental housing options in Seattle, powered by public funding, and protected from free market influences, and city and county restrictions.

In the meantime, remaining islands of affordability like the family-owned Madkin are being snapped up. Continue reading

Organizers say ‘Yes on I-135’ social housing initiative is behind on signature goal

Organizers trying to get the House Our Neighbors initiative to create a new public developer “to build, acquire, own, and manage social housing” on Seattle’s November ballot say their signature gathering effort is falling short of goals and are asking for support to help wrap the process up before the end of June.

“It is a common practice for signature gatherers to be highly visible in public spaces because of the great opportunities those provide,” an announcement from the House Our Neighbors organizer reads. “However, our approach is conscientious of the spirit and intent of events and gatherings, such as the Missing and Murdered Indigenous Women’s Day and we opted to not interrupt those sacred moments of healing out of respect, and instead we showed up in solidarity.”

The group says its grassroots approach, the spring’s bad weather, and a limited budget have put its signature gathering effort at around 15,000 signees — short of its goal of gathering the approximately 27,000 signatures it needs by June 20th.

The group headed by homelessness advocacy group Real Change is asking for supporters to add their signatures to help make the total. Continue reading

‘Neighborhood Residential’ — As it gears up for future zoning changes, Seattle City Council considers new way to talk about ‘Single Family’ housing

The fate of a large “single family”-style house behind what is now Broadway Park has worried neighbors for a decade (Image: CHS)

As city officials prepare for upcoming changes in Seattle zoning hoped to create more housing in the high-demand city, the City Council is working on changing the language used to describe one of Seattle’s most hotly debated uses of land: so-called “single family” housing.

“Seattle’s neighborhoods have always been more diverse than the single family only designation would have us believe—from some of the longest-standing and beloved neighborhood businesses, to brownstone apartment buildings built before tightening zoning restrictions, connected housing with shared courtyards, that all allow for residents to live near schools, parks, and services our communities rely on,” citywide representative on the council Teresa Mosqueda said about her newly proposed legislation. “Changing the zoning title can help reflect the diverse housing we need across our city to support community well-being, walkability and affordability in Seattle, and create a more equitable and inclusive Seattle to accurately reflect our diverse neighborhoods.” Continue reading

A Broadway development more than 20 years in the making, the process to fill Capitol Hill Station’s new apartments has begun — UPDATE

Capitol Hill Station’s Park luxury apartment building will provide its tenants with plenty of Cal Anderson views (Image: Live Capitol Hill Station)

One quarter of the first batch of units in the new Capitol Hill Station mixed-use development have been leased, as of early this month, according to the complex’s general manager.

The major project above the light rail transit station has been seen as a key development for the neighborhood creating hundreds of new homes and thousands of square feet of new commercial space on Broadway. The COVID-19 crisis has delayed construction but the new, mostly “market-rate” apartments are finally hitting that market.

110 affordable units in the Station House development on the northeast area above the station opened earlier this year and faced high demand.

More than two years after the project’s groundbreaking across the street from Cal Anderson Park, which included a ribbon cutting from Mayor Jenny Durkan, the leasing process on the first 94 units of 400-plus on Broadway started in mid-September amid the coronavirus pandemic, general manager Kristin Lipp told CHS. Continue reading

In Seattle’s spending plan for new tax on big businesses, a small victory for housing in the Central District

Sawant had the backing of Black faith leaders in the call for new money for housing dedicated to addressing historical wrongs in the Central District (Image: Low Income Housing Institute)

On a big day for the Seattle City Council, Kshama Sawant is celebrating a small victory for housing in the Central District.

As part of a busy morning of sorting out how best to spend the some $200 million a year expected to be generated by the city’s newly approved tax on big businesses, the council’s budget committee approved Sawan’ts amendment calling for at least $18 million year in the new tax spending plan to fund the construction of new affordable housing in the Central District.

“Thanks to our powerful community movement, $18 million will be set aside annually beginning in 2022, to build affordable housing in the Central District for Black working-class and poor families,” Sawant said Thursday in a press release on the approval. “It represents a minimum floor of investment, not a ceiling, because other housing funds in the Amazon tax “spending plan” resolution, the Housing Levy, and other sources also can and should be accessed for affordable housing development in the neighborhood.”

Sawant’s win represents a compromise victory. The socialist city council member had originally called for a $50 million dedicated fund for the area with the backing of Seattle Black clergy and faith leaders (PDF):

We call for City Council to enact a progressive tax on big business to fund housing and services, including construction of at least 1,000 homes in the Central Area to bring back households that have been displaced over the years by racist gentrification.

The coalition said the dedicated funding “would begin to undo racist gentrification policies that private developers and the city have been responsible for creating and perpetuating over the years.”

The Central District funding is joined by amendments earmarking millions for new “tiny home” villages in the city and further relief for small businesses pummeled by the COVID-19 crisis.

The full JumpStart tax funding resolution including the dedicated Central District housing funding now goes to the full City Council for a final vote on Monday.

 

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Sawant loses fight but ‘Tax Amazon’ COVID-19 relief and housing proposal begins path through Seattle City Hall

With COVID-19 set to tear up the city’s budget, District 3 Seattle City Council member Kshama Sawant has turned again to a familiar target: Amazon and the biggest two percent of businesses. But Monday, her council counterparts opted to send a proposal for a new tax on Seattle’s largest companies to provide emergency relief from the pandemic down a legislative pathway not controlled by the Socialist Alternative representative for Capitol Hill’s District 3.

More than 5,400 people signed a petition to the council spearheaded by Sawant to enact the new tax proposed last month with South Seattle rep Tammy Morales. Another over 1,100 people emailed council members calling on them to send the legislation to Sawant’s Sustainability and Renters’ Rights Committee.

Monday, the suite of three bills was sent unanimously to the Select Budget Committee, chaired by council member Teresa Mosqueda, who said she would work to get the legislation a robust discussion with urgency.

Sawant levied criticisms against council member Lisa Herbold and council president Lorena González for their votes to repeal her head tax on Amazon in 2018.

Monday, several council members, including Herbold, pushed back against Sawant for promoting the idea of a divided council during an emergency.

“I don’t think it’s helpful to really promote that divisive approach to how the council does its business,” Herbold said. “I think this council acts in a way that’s fair and respectful of one another.”

Council member Debora Juarez said “this type of politics in the midst of a lethal pandemic, to me, is unacceptable and a waste of time.” Continue reading

On 19th Ave, church plans seven stories of affordable housing for seniors ‘displaced due to gentrification’

Mount Zion Housing Development, the real estate and housing arm of the 19th and Madison baptist church, has unveiled details of its planned seven story, 62-unit affordable senior housing project planned for its property just north of the church.

The 1700-block 19th Ave development is being planned for “seniors who have been displaced or who are at risk of being displaced due to gentrification in the Seattle Central District area” and would be a coordinated facility with the nearby E Madison Samuel B. McKinney Manor. Continue reading

Capitol Hill Housing seeks community feedback on ‘LGBTQ-affirming affordable senior housing project’ The Eldridge

(Image: Environmental Works)

You can help shape The Eldridge, an eight-story affordable housing project focused on LGBTQ+ elders on Broadway between Pike and Pine that will include at least 100 units at a mix of affordability levels rising above the preserved facade of an auto row-era Seattle landmark.

Affordable housing developer Capitol Hill Housing and Capitol Hill architectural firm Environmental Works are collecting community feedback as they prepare for the start of the city’s design review process set to begin later this year:

Capitol Hill Housing’s LGBTQ-Affirming Affordable Senior Housing Project at 1515-1519 Broadway has been awarded funding by the Seattle Office of Housing, King County, and the Washington State Housing Trust Fund. The project team is preparing to submit the initial design package to the city for the Early Design Guidance process and is currently seeking feedback from community members on the project. A public update meeting was held in August 2019 and the project team plans to hold an additional public meeting in mid-2020 to obtain feedback on the building design and programming. Community members are encouraged to submit comments about the project in the meantime by visiting the project webpage or contacting the project team at [email protected] (note: any information collected may be made public).

Last August, CHS reported on early plans for the project being envisioned as one of Seattle’s first “community preference” developments — a new program that encourages developers receiving city money to offer a portion of their affordable units to communities with ties to the neighborhood, particularly those with a high risk of displacement.”

‘To actually prevent winter evictions,’ Durkan proposes alternative to Seattle City Council’s ban

Mayor Jenny Durkan won’t veto the bill but the she said Tuesday she also won’t sign Seattle’s new law banning evictions during winter months as she proposed a new plan for $200,000 in funding for an existing eviction prevention program.

The middle ground decision means the council’s legislation — including a loophole for “small landlords” who own four or fewer units — will now become law.

But Durkan says she is proposing a new solution be taken up by the council, saying the its winter eviction ban championed by District 3 representative Kshama Sawant created only “a legal defense during eviction proceedings” and “nearly half of households failed to contest an eviction or appear in court.” Continue reading