County Executive boosts effort to help homeless residents transition to affordable housing

New housing units for veterans, seniors, low-income families, and other local residents in need will begin construction in 2015 thanks to funding announced by King County Executive Dow Constantine.

More than $6.4 million has been allocated to a variety of affordable and special-needs housing projects across the county, creating 260 units of housing ranging from studios to three bedrooms, including a major project in Shoreline.

"It's nearly impossible to build a successful future without a stable place to call home," said Executive Constantine. "These grants will help transition seniors, veterans, young adults, and hard-working families out of homelessness and into safe, affordable housing."

Capital dollars were awarded to six local housing projects to create and preserve at least 365 units of affordable rental housing. More than 70 units will be dedicated to housing low-income working households, and more than 100 will house people who are homeless, chronically homeless, or at risk of being homeless, including units set aside for homeless veterans and their families. 

    

"This is a great day for Shoreline," said Rod Dembowski, King County Councilmember for Shoreline, Lake Forest Park, and other suburban cities. 

"The Compass Housing Alliance project at Ronald Commons is an exciting opportunity to provide affordable housing for our veterans and those struggling with the high cost of housing in our community. The project also brings new momentum to the City of Shoreline's transformative planning efforts for the Aurora Corridor through the city center. HopeLink's on-site services will provide additional critical support for our community."

Funding for the affordable housing capital funding round comes from a variety of federal and local sources. Local fund sources include the voter-approved Veterans and Human Services Levy; funding from state-authorized surcharges on document recording fees; and other local sources including Housing Innovations for Persons with Developmental Disabilities funds and proceeds from the Mental Illness and Drug Dependency dedicated sales tax revenues.

Federal contributions for housing capital come to King County from the HOME Investment Partnership Program. A combined Request for Proposal process coordinated by King County helps to leverage and maximize available resources to gain the greatest impact for the region.

Housing units will be affordable to a range of households with incomes at or below 80 percent of the area’s median income (AMI), with the majority supporting households below 50 percent of AMI, the region’s area of greatest need. In 2014, a three-person household with an income at 50 percent of the county’s median earns $39,700 annually; a single-person household at 50 percent of median earns $30,900.