HDC appreciates all the passion, hard work, and dedication our members devote to the affordable housing movement. No single organization could make this impact and secure this progress alone. The collaboration and connection among members is the human energy that works to ensure all people have a safe, healthy, and affordable home. We want to show our appreciation and learn more about our affordable housing community through these member highlights as each member is crucial to achieving the larger vision of this movement. This week our featured member is Seattle Chinatown International District Preservation and Development Authority. Thank you for all the work that you do!

1.     What excites your team about the work you are doing?  

“Many of us have been a part of the CID community for many years – as visitors to the museum, patrons of the restaurants, and shoppers in the stores.  We felt a part of this neighborhood before working here, but our investment is only deeper.  What I think is really great about our jobs is that we are able to make a lasting difference in this community – both in the physical sense in our projects and the relationships that we build in the community.

— Jamie Lee, SCIDpda Director of Community Initiatives

2.     What is a favorite office anecdote? 

“A lot of what we’re building on [at Hing Hay Coworks] is supporting economic development and business diversity in the neighborhood. Predominantly, the businesses here are retail and restaurants—mostly restaurants. We want people to know that the CID is more than just retail and restaurants. We give folks in our neighborhood an opportunity to see that there are resources here. The folks that come into Hing Hay Coworks, who occupy a community space within Hing Hay Coworks, they bring their friends in, and they bring their clients in, then they go out into the neighborhood to get a coffee or have a lunch meeting. So the capital stays within the community, as well. Being able to support that, as well as offering more than just retail and restaurants is important.”

— Eliza Chan, Program Supervisor for Hing Hay Coworks, a program of SCIDpda

3.     What upcoming projects, partnerships, and news are you looking forward to?  

“Because SCIDpda works in a neighborhood with some of the highest density of unreinforced masonry buildings (URMs) in the city, we have been working with the city on the URM policy committee for many years. While we’re proponents of seismic upgrades for all our URMs in the city, we do want to make sure that adequate funding and support are provided by the city before a mandatory upgrade policy passes. Seismic upgrades for our historic CID buildings will save lives but also may serve to protect the century-old history of the CID by protecting the buildings in which so many people live and work. The URM policy is a large development and historic preservation challenge for the CID, and we look forward to helping property owners in the district pull all the pieces together to keep these buildings viable for another 100 years.”

— MaryKate Ryan, SCIDpda Preservation Planner

4.     What have you been most proud of during your time as an HDC member? 

“I’m not one to be reflective of what we’ve done, as there’s just so much more to do. I think for me personally one of the best things about HDC was the development of the asset management group because it showed growth in the industry. But one of things I’m most hopeful for is that, as the PDA has changed, how can HDC better benefit my organization with some of the younger people coming on and looking at how the affordable housing industry fits into greater community development work. I’m looking forward to the future developments within our organization and how HDC can support us.”

— Maiko Winkler-Chin, SCIDpda Executive Director

HDC appreciates all the passion, hard work, and dedication our members devote to the affordable housing movement. No single organization could make this impact and secure this progress alone. The collaboration and connection among members is the human energy that works to ensure all people have a safe, healthy, and affordable home. We want to show our appreciation and learn more about our affordable housing community through these member highlights as each member is crucial to achieving the larger vision of this movement. This week our featured member is Byrd Barr Place. Thank you for all the work that you do!

1. What excites your team about the work you are doing? 

Byrd Barr Place (BBP) is a Community Action Agency supporting the diverse neighborhoods of Seattle’s Central District with a variety of services for those in poverty. BBP nurtures a more equitable Seattle through programs and advocacy that enable people to live healthier, prosperous lives. What excites us is that each year, our programs help 20,000 Seattle residents with basic human services—a warm home, food on the table, and immediate financial relief—so they can break the cycle of poverty and build self-sufficiency.  This work is fulfilling, we go home at the end of each day feeling that we’ve made a positive impact on the world around us.

2. What is a favorite office anecdote?

One of our senior clients stated a few weeks ago that she just loved coming to our building, because all of the staff members smiled at her.  She doesn’t go anywhere else where so many people she didn’t know smile at her.

3. What upcoming projects, partnerships, and news are you looking forward to? 

We will be partnering with the Washington State Commission on African American Affairs and the Urban League of Metropolitan Seattle on a research project on health and well-being in the Black community; the first phase of a multiyear initiative to foster a groundswell of positive change to address the inequities in health in Seattle and King County. The study of our findings will be released in the summer of 2019.

4. What have you been most proud of during your time as an HDC member?

We have been asked to present as a panelist at the upcoming Prosperity Now summit in D.C. next month.

We will be presenting on a project we plan to rollout in the fall: To develop and distribute communications that will inspire, educate and enable communities of color to form land trusts or similar entity that acquires and preserves long-term land ownership; as a means of preserving cultural diversity, fighting displacement and increasing long-term wealth creation.

HDC appreciates all the passion, hard work, and dedication our members devote to the affordable housing movement. No single organization could make this impact and secure this progress alone. The collaboration and connection among members is the human energy that works to ensure all people have a safe, healthy, and affordable home. We want to show our appreciation and learn more about our affordable housing community through these member highlights as each member is crucial to achieving the larger vision of this movement. This week our featured member is one of our founding members, Environmental Works. Thank you for all the work that you do!

1. What excites your team about the work you are doing?

Everyone at Environmental Works is passionate about our mission of designing culturally appropriate places for underserved populations.  Our team loves it when we are  engaged in community design processes for our projects.  Community design ensures that our constituents have a voice in the design of their homes, feel ownership and pride of place where they live, and are empowered to craft their communities in ways that are specific to their needs and culture.

We are also excited to be increasing our capacity to serve underserved communities!  We have expanded our team to 20, to keep up with increased need for affordable housing and community facilities.  We recently renovated our offices at the historic Fire Station 7 (our home for over 45 years) to accommodate our growing staff.

2. What is a favorite office anecdote?

EW’s board and staff have an annual tradition during the winter holiday season of preparing a meal for residents of a recent project we have designed.  It’s a great way to stay connected to the people we serve, and to commemorate the importance of housing for all.

3. What upcoming projects, partnerships, and news are you looking forward to?

The Everett Safe Streets Project with Catholic Housing Services, under construction now, will be one of the first net-zero supportive housing facilities in Washington thanks to a special award from the Housing Trust Fund.

The Bryant Manor Apartments redevelopment, in partnership with the FAME Housing Association and Catholic Housing Services, is an exciting project on a great property that is serving a critical need for Black families in Seattle’s Central District.  This is a project full of opportunity to connect with the existing community, and reconnect with members of the community who have been displaced in recent years.

4. What have you been most proud of during your time as an HDC member?

We are proud to have been one of the original members and founders of HDC, and to continue to work with this tight-knit group of passionate and inspiring individuals to ensure that people in Washington State have homes they can afford.  We are grateful that HDC provides an opportunity for all of us to come together, so that we can connect with people who have worked on other aspects of our projects (such as financing).  EW’s Christina Congdon notes, “The HDC leadership course was a great way to meet colleagues, and helped me feel more confident as a member of the housing community.”

HDC appreciates all the passion, hard work, and dedication our members devote to the affordable housing movement. No single organization could make this impact and secure this progress alone. The collaboration and connection among members is the human energy that works to ensure all people have a safe, healthy, and affordable home. We want to show our appreciation and learn more about our affordable housing community through these member highlights as each member is crucial to achieving the larger vision of this movement. This week our featured member is Weber Thompson. Thank you for all the work that you do!

1. What excites your team about the work you are doing?

We are really excited to be working on a few projects utilizing a mixed-income, integrated services model. We really believe in the broader impact of this type of work.  Bringing together a more diverse group of residents and integrating more deeply in to the community is a different model for affordability and we think it’s the right approach for our city.

Another great thing about some of our projects, Othello Square for example, is that we’re hearing the voices of those who don’t typically feel they are being listened to when it comes to the redevelopment of their neighborhoods. We’re engaging in meaningful community outreach programs and we’re seeing people step forward in droves to be a part of the change that’s occurring near their homes, schools, and workplaces.

2. What is a favorite office anecdote?

We can’t help but think about our beloved co-founder, Scott Thompson, who passed away in 2017. In addition to steering the firm toward sustainability, he led us to design affordable housing. It was easier said than done however, and winning that first affordable housing project was tough. But we’ll always remember his tenacity. After a particularly disappointing close second place finish on a potential project with Seattle Housing Authority, his response was: “You know that we are just going to keep coming back until you hire us, right?” That persistence paid off! We won the very next job: Raven Terrace in the Yesler Terrace redevelopment.

3. What upcoming projects, partnerships, and news are you looking forward to?

We’re over the moon to be working on our first high-rise affordable housing project! It’s the perfect project for us because it utilizes our firm’s extensive high-rise experience and combines it with our passion and dedication to creating healthy communities for people of all means to thrive.

4. What have you been most proud of during your time as an HDC member?

Well that’s an easy answer: our back-to-back Affordable Housing Week theme song wins! We’re really proud that our team is fearless enough to put themselves out there in the name of promoting affordable housing. We’re still waiting for those videos to officially go ‘viral’ though…we thought Construction Spice would shoot to stardom overnight! Oh well, there’s always next year.

HDC appreciates all the passion, hard work, and dedication our members devote to the affordable housing movement. No single organization could make this impact and secure this progress alone. The collaboration and connection among members is the human energy that works to ensure all people have a safe, healthy, and affordable home. We want to show our appreciation and learn more about our affordable housing community through these member highlights as each member is crucial to achieving the larger vision of this movement. This week our featured member is Venture General Contracting. Thank you for all the work that you do!

1. What excites your team about the work you are doing? 

One of the most exciting things about building housing in general is creating a space that someone calls home. The developers, architects, subcontractors and other partners that we work with on delivering affordable housing projects are passionate and creative, making coming to work fun and rewarding. We care about all of our community members and strive to provide impactful construction solutions that help these important developments succeed.

2. What is a favorite office anecdote?

We thrive in challenging situations, and believe the impossible is only that which has yet to be achieved. As a young company, we took on one of our largest and most challenging projects to date, and many thought it would be an impossible feat. This challenge only added to the team’s dedication and drive to deliver the project according to the owner’s goals. We did it, when no one thought it was possible. You see, we like challenges. They push us all to be better, they bring us together, build comradery and make the day-to-day exciting and fulfilling. We relish the opportunity to help our clients break boundaries, achieve their goals, and develop transformative public spaces and buildings.

3. What upcoming projects, partnerships, and news are you looking forward to? 

Partnering with Mount Baker Housing and the greater development team to deliver the Maddux, a two-building affordable housing project near the Mount Baker light rail station. Those that are familiar with the development site know that we are dealing with highly contaminated soils. Mount Baker Housing has become the first nonprofit to work with the Washington State Department of Ecology to clean up and develop the site. We are thrilled at the opportunity to work alongside them and provide construction solutions to effectively manage the soils without affecting the budget and schedule of the development. Another bonus is building a thoughtful project that will positively impact the community while cleaning up a toxic underutilized development site.

4. What have you been most proud of during your time as an HDC member?

We became a sponsor of Affordable Housing Week this year and really enjoyed seeing the event from ideation through execution. We were excited to support getting the word out about the various events that made up the week; and generally help promote the conversation about affordable housing and the benefits it brings to our community. We donated time to write the press release for the week as well as designed and managed online and print advertisements to drive more traffic to the Affordable Housing Week webpage. Multiple commercial real estate publications donated ad space, and it felt great knowing that someone might have made their way to learn more about HDC and AHW through our collective efforts.