News

Housing bills continue to advance; 9 days remain in session!

The only people in Washington working more overtime right now than Legislators are housing advocates, and it shows! Our friends at the Housing Alliance have neatly pulled together ONE message to urge senators to support a slew of housing bills. Take action here.

Other Developments…

• City of Kent might get proactive about keeping their housing healthy. Kent’s Economic & Community Development Committee will consider a proactive rental licensing inspection program soon. Let them know it’s a great idea!

• HDC is turning 30 this year! Join us March 6th to celebrate our big 3-0.   

• Affordable housing and mental health care topped the list of human services needs for the City of Bellevue. Staff unveiled their 2017-2018 Human Services Needs Update on February 5th.

• Redmond approved their budget process for the coming year- and approved some affordable housing funds while they were at it!

• Federal Way experiences some growing pains around it’s new shelter. City officials visited with the business community recently to hear concerns. 

• Congrats to DESC for opening The Estelle today! Read more about this new development here.

• The cost of seismic upgrades existing affordable housing has many operators quaking in their boots. Crosscut’s David Kroman talks to Capitol HIll Housing about how their assessing retrofit needs here.

• Need a ramp to make your home accessible, or know someone who does?The Master Builders Association of King & Snohomish Counties might build you a free one if you apply by March 1.

• Ougoing All Home Director Mark Putnam gave The Seattle Times an exit interview and shared his parting thoughts. 

• You might be hearing a lot more about rent bidding soon. Or maybe you won’t, if UW students’ bid to ban it succeeds. 

Join us tonight for the First Public Hearing on Citywide Mandatory Housing Affordability  

Wallingford, Ravenna, Roosevelt, U-District, and Sand Point residents: now is your time to shine! The public hearing process for citywide Mandatory Housing Affordability (MHA) kicks off in District 4 tonight:

Nathan Eckstein Middle School
3003 NE 75th Street
Seattle, WA 98115
5:00 pm

Can you join us in support? You can sign up to give testimony by yourself or as part of a team of four, or show up and wave a sign in solidarity.  Seattle for Everyone will be there at 4:30 with stickers, snacks, and last minute talking points.   

Other Developments…

• Friday was a good news day for Washington housing advocates! All these great bills passed their chamber and move on to the next round:

  • HB 2382 concerning prioritizing surplus public land for affordable housing

  • HB 2578 prohibiting source of income discrimination

  • SB 5407 prohibiting source of income discrimination

  • HB 1570 concerning funding for homelessness programs (actually passed Thursday, but we’re still excited!)

• Other bills need your support to live past Wednesday… which is the next cut-off day. Help them out by emailing your reps right now:

  • Take Action HB 1797: Local options for local affordable housing needs

  • Take action for HB 2437: A capital infusion for affordable housing

  • Take action for HB 2444: the little technical fix with a big impact for low-income housing tax credit-financed properties

• HDC is turning 30 this year! Join us March 6th for our big 3-0.   

• RFP for emergency Shelter & Services outside of Seattle has a new, extended deadline: King County is making $1 million available over three years for new or expanded emergency shelter services outside of Seattle. Apply by tomorrow 2/13. Details here under RFP# 1012-18-VLN.

• A tale of two mobile home parks in two different corners of the county, with potentially different outcomes. Residents of The Firs in SeaTac fight for the security that residents of Friendly Village in Redmond recently received.

• It’s reasonable policy or a nuclear bomb, depending on who you ask. What is it? HB 2583; the bill to repeal Washington State’s prohibition on rent control. Real Change looks at a handful of perspectives here. 

• “I used to think I was gonna die at the park like my elders.” First Nations people in Seattle and King County are disproportionately likely to be experience homelessness, and community leaders are getting creative to meet the need.

• A campaign to tax large Seattle businesses to support affordable housing has launched. The Housing For All Campaign seeks to revisit the employee-hours tax that city councilmembers voted down in November.

• Older adults of the Seattle LGBTQ community: participate in this survey from the Office of Housing and you might win a $200 QFC or Fred Meyer gift card. 

• Bellevue is for lovers of TOD: The city is hosting an open house on the East Main transit-oriented development area on Valentine’s Day, which is this Wednesday, FYI.

As more people experience (and exit) homelessness, volunteers set out to enumerate the county-wide crisis

All Home’s annual Count Us In event got a fair amount of press last week, though the new data won’t be available until the spring. The same week, One Table, the county-wide effort to establish a regional solutions, released their own numbers which King 5 accurately characterized as “staggering.”

Lack of affordable housing has pushed up the number of people experiencing homelessness, but the group did have some good news to share: people who become homeless are exiting it faster.

Even Pearl Jam is getting involved. The band is set to play two shows at Safeco in August and will donate at least $1 million in proceeds to a TBD anti- homelessness effort. Along with their announcement the band challenged everyone from fans to philanthropists to do what they can to bring about a little better set of days for our communities.

Other Developments…

• Today’s the deadline to submit comment on Ft. Lawton! Wouldn’t it be nice if the fenced-off, recent target of arson was replaced with 240 safe, healthy, affordable homes? We think so.

• Rep. Macri’s controversial bill to repeal rent control drew big crowds to Olympia for a pubic hearing last week.

• What does Mayor Durkan’s affordable housing announcement mean for the CID and its neighbors? It’s a start, says the International Examiner.

• 12,008 new homes sprouted up along the I-5 corridor last year, a 50% increase from 2016. More supply is good news as 1 in 5-6 homes in the area are topping $1 mil.

• Federal Way will consider an employment program for people experiencing homelessness, Mayor Ferrell said in his State of the City address. The mayor also discussed downtown development post-moratorium. 

• Deadline extended: RFP for emergency Shelter & Services outside Seattle: King County is making $1 million available over three years for new or expanded emergency shelter services outside of Seattle. Apply by 2/13. Details here under RFP# 1012-18-VLN.

• Tell the Regional Affordable Housing Task Force your experiences making King County your home in person on January 30th (hint: that’s tomorrow!) or online. Details here. 

• Seattle’s Tenant Relocation Assistance Ordinance is nearly 30 years old, and this year one councilmember has a proposal to require landlords to do more. Erica C. Barnett offers this primer on the existing policy and Councilmember Sawant’s proposal.  

• F.A.R. for the course? This piece from the Urbanist proposes developing affordable housing on publicly-owned golf courses.  Another option: lidding I-5.

• Burien’s new City Council takes on a familiar issue: homelessness. 

• Unique opportunity for Redmonders to help craft city budget: The City of Redmond seeks applications from people who live or work in Redmond to inform the city’s budgeting-by-priorities process.

• Bellevue School District awarded $855k Best Starts for Kids funding for programming for students experiencing homelessness.

• Older adults of the Seattle LGBTQ community: participate in this survey from the Office of Housing and you might win a $200 QFC or Fred Meyer gift card. 

• Development of new mixed-income housing begins near Mt. Baker Station. The property will list studios beginning at $1,028, one-bedrooms for $1,344, and two-bedrooms for 1,836, using the multi-family tax exemption.

3,066 affordable homes in the balance as legislature mulls capital budget

Tomorrow is the eighth day of the legislative session and it is a doozy. Why? Because it is also the deadline for housing developments expecting Housing Trust Fund dollars to apply to low income tax credits. These developments are otherwise ready to go and just need lawmakers to pass a capital budget, which they were unable to do last session. 

Our friends at Washington Low Income Housing Alliance estimate that 3,066 #shovelready affordable homes statewide are at risk of not being built this year if the budget isn’t passed by the 17th. Let your lawmakers know our state can’t afford to wait! 

Other Developments…

• MHA Webinars 1/25 & 1/29: We can mandate affordability in Seattle this year! Get ready for public hearings in your neighborhood by brushing up on your Mandatory Housing Affordability knowledge. There are two dates to choose from, register for either here.

• The Fort Lawton DEIS hearing was awesome! Seattleites showed up to city council know that public land should be used to meet our urgent affordable housing need. You can still submit written comment until January 29th! 

• Market conditions are making it harder and harder to use Section 8 vouchers. Crosscut talks with SHA and KCHA about the program here.

• …But could there be a promise of relief on the horizon? Seattle area-average rents decreased for the first time in a decade. We’re still the third hottest market, though.

• Emergency Shelter &Services outside Seattle: An RFP! King County is making $1 million available over three years for new or expanded emergency shelter services outside of Seattle. Apply by 1/30. Details here under RFP# 1012-18-VLN.

• The Firs Residents stay in place, at least for now: A judge blocked eviction proceedings for Firs residents, who hope to acquire the park in SeaTac themselves.

• Bellevue considers more affordability at deeper levels for MFTE.

• Count Us In, All Home’s annual census of people experiencing homelessness, is now accepting volunteers. The count will take place in the early morning hours of Friday, January 26th.

• Advocacy Workshops from our friends at SKCCH! Our friends at the Seattle/King County Coaltion on Homelessness have a series of Homelessness Advocacy 101 Workshops coming up. They’re free to attend, and a lot of fun! 

Ft. Lawton public hearing tomorrow, 1/9

The Stranger calls it a “civic Rorschach test.” Fenced-off, vacant, surplus public land in Magnolia could become the site of over 200 affordable homes, but only with support from Seattle neighbors. The Seattle Office of Housing is accepting public comments on the draft Environmental Impact Statement and an open house is scheduled for Tuesday, January 9th. Affordable housing advocates, are you ready? Submit a comment and RSVP here. Arrive early if you’d like to speak. We’ve got stickers and snacks to go around!

Other Developments…

• HDC Members: Register now for a Racial Equity Toolkit Workshops this Friday, Jan 12th! Learn why the racial equity lens is critical to your work, commit to action steps identified in the toolkit, and more. Join us in-person or virtually for one of two sessions offered.

• A Monday of Olympic proportions: the Washington State legislature convenes today to begin a 60-day session. A top priority for Democrats and Republicans is passing a Capital budget and, hopefully, investing in the Housing Trust Fund. (Hint: Give them a nudge!)

• King County seeks your input on how to implement the Vets, Seniors, and Human Services Levy! Attend a feedback session in Bothell, Auburn, Issaquah, or Seattle. Details and registration here.

• Parking lot of ideas: The PLUZ committee of the Seattle City Council is reviewing a suite of parking reforms that could impact how we build affordable homes. 

• Home prices are predicted to drop under the new tax law, but that isn’t necessarily good news in high-cost locales like King County. Curbed looks at what will happen in our market and others here.

• A new shelter opens this month for families experiencing homelessness in Federal Way.

• Good news on the Eastside: The Sophia Way is planning a permanent shelter for women and a local safe parking program got a pretty cool upgrade for their four-legged residents. And then there’s this story… I’m not crying, you’re crying.

• BREAKING: Rising Rents Drive Homelessness according to research from Zillow, which correctly predicted the results of 2017 Point-in-Time counts of people experiencing homelessness. Speaking of point-in-time counts…

• Count Us In, All Home’s annual census of people experiencing homelessness, is now accepting volunteers. The count will take place in the early morning hours of Friday, January 26th. 

What did we miss? Email us with suggestions.
Send Housing Developments straight your inbox every Monday! Subscribe here.

We did a lot together in 2017. Thank you.

Last year we passed the Vets, Seniors, and Human Services Levy, made room for affordable housing in more neighborhoods through inclusionary zoning, protected whole cities from source of income discrimination, and so much more. 

None of those great things would have happened without you. Thank you for staying engaged, taking action, and contributing to the movement for safe, healthy, and affordable homes for all. We can’t wait to keep advocating with you in 2018.

Other Developments…

• King County seeks your input on how to implement the Vets, Seniors, and Human Services Levy! Attend a feedback session in Bothell, Auburn, Issaquah, or Seattle. Details and registration here.

• Seattle is entering the third year of its declared homelessness emergency with a rising death toll, but a new strategy.

• National Development Council Training Opportunity for HDC Members: Through a partnership with the NDC, HDC members are entitled to a 27% discount on select NDC trainings. Details and registration here. 

• Fort Lawton Update: Fenced-off, vacant, surplus public land in Magnolia could become affordable homes, but only with support from Seattle neighbors. The Seattle Office of Housing is accepting public comments on the draft Environmental Impact Statement and an open house is scheduled for Tuesday, January 9th. Affordable housing advocates, are you ready? Submit a comment and RSVP here.

• HDC Members: Register now for a Racial Equity Toolkit Workshops on Friday, Jan 12th! Learn why the racial equity lens is critical to your work, complete a self-assessment, commit to action steps identified in the toolkit, and more. Join us in-person or virtually for one of two sessions offered.

• Imagine Housing broke ground on 63 new affordable homes for families at 30Bellevue! Here’s a story on this fantastic development, which broke ground on the 12th.

• 176 affordable homes are coming to Issaquah! The transit-oriented development will leverage the multi-family tax exemption.

• The Kent City Council denied a request from Federal Way Public Schools to increase impact fees in 2018.

• Crosscut talked to local non-profits, including affordable housing developers, to get a sense of Tax Cuts and Jobs Act will impact their work. Meanwhile, homeowners are trying to prepay their property taxes to avoid the 2018 increase.

• Count Us In, All Home’s annual census of people experiencing homelessness, is now accepting volunteers. The count will take place in the early morning hours of Friday, January 26th. 

  What did we miss? Email us with suggestions.
  Send Housing Developments straight your inbox every Monday! Subscribe here.