Tag Archives: social housing

Seattle Social Housing Developer moving forward with new leader

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House our Neighbors campaign leader Tiffani McCoy is now leading the Seattle Social Housing Developer

The Seattle Social Housing Developer is moving forward under a new leader as the Seattle City Council takes up legislation this week that will set the terms for taxpayer funding to power the new development authority to borrow enough to build or acquire 2,000 units of affordable housing over 10 years.

Tuesday morning’s meeting of the council’s Finance, Native Communities, and Tribal Governments Committee chaired by Dan Strauss will take up the ordinance allowing the city to enter into an interlocal agreement with the Seattle Social Housing Developer “to establish the terms and procedures for the implementation, administration, transfer, reporting, and oversight” of the voter-approved social housing tax.

Seattle voters approved formation of the public developer and later a 5% tax on employers who pay any employee more than $1 million in compensation to finance the program. The tax is expected to raise more than $50 million annually. Continue reading →

$2M loan proposed for early boost to Seattle Social Housing Developer

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Seattle’s Social Housing Developer has held up Maryland’s The Laureate, a 268-unit mixed-income, mixed use, new construction project from Montgomery County’s Housing Opportunities Commission, as a model development.

Mayor Bruce Harrell is proposing a $2 million loan from the city to help the Seattle Social Housing Developer start on its mission to provide a wider variety of public affordable housing in the city.

“Increasing housing supply and diversity have been top priorities for my administration, creating more safe, affordable places for people to call home,” Harrell said in a statement. “While there were different strategies for how to fund the social housing developer, we share a vision for this model to be successful and add more housing options across our city. This loan will provide critical support during this interim period for planning and capacity-building so that the developer is set up for success and can achieve its goal of operating publicly owned, mixed-income housing.”

The Harrell administration says the loan would allow the developer “to sustain core operations and potentially pursue near term property acquisition opportunities” until revenue from a voter-approved tax on city employers is available. Continue reading →

Seattle City Council has two weeks to shape alternative to proposed $1M salary tax to fund social housing

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If the Seattle City Council is going to bring forward a competing alternative to a proposed new tax to fund social housing on the February ballot, it is going to be a last-minute affair.

Tuesday, the full council took only the required initial steps in considering a resolution required to place Initiative Measure No. 137 “concerning a payroll expense tax to fund the Social Housing Developer” on the ballot. Continue reading →

Seattle seeks renters with a rough go in the city — housing insecurity, financial eviction, displacement — for Social Housing Public Development Authority board

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Capitol Hill’s affordable 12th Ave Arts was developed by Community Roots Housing, also a Public Development Authority (Image: City of Seattle)

The search has begun for candidates to be part of the first board to lead Seattle’s new Seattle Social Housing Public Development Authority.

The Seattle Renters’ Commission announced this week the call for community members to serve on the board will be open through March: Continue reading →