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 →