Westwood Heights

Designed especially for seniors in the heart of West Seattle

Westwood Heights is a "senior preference" building for people 62 years old or older. Second priority is offered to people 50-61 years of age, to build a safe, secure community of mature adults.

Westwood Heights was remodeled with a $17 million grant from the U. S. Department of Housing and Urban Development and offers affordable housing and services to low-income residents. It is located near bus lines (#54), a library, medical facilities and shopping, providing many amenities for convenient, independent living.

Residents pay a percentage of their monthly income for rent (30 percent for studio apartments and one-bedroom apartments).  For information on living at Westwood Heights, call SHA's PorchLight Office at (206) 239-1500.

A wealth of amenities

Few public housing buildings nationwide offer the range of services available at Westwood Heights.

Daily lunch service is provided by the Senior Services Meal Program. Lunch is served daily in the beautifully remodeled dining room/solarium next to the patio. This service is available to seniors age 60 and over, whether they are residents of the building or of the surrounding community. There is a suggested donation of $3.

Community-based activities abound. Residents can choose from activities that include a community garden, intergenerational activities, bingo, dances, coffee hours, crafts, movie nights and resident council activities.
 

Case management services are available for those who need them. An exercise room is available every day for use by residents. "Lifetime Fitness Program" classes are available three times a week for a nominal fee. The Westwood Heights Technology Lab offers eight computer stations and is open daily with a varying schedule of structured training activities and available computer time.

To find out more about the services and activities at Westwood Heights view their community Web site by clicking here.

ElderPlace Partnership sustains frail residents

ElderPlace provides comprehensive, high-quality health and social services for individuals 55 and older who need "nursing facility care" as defined by the State of Washington. The Providence ElderPlace team of health and social service professionals provides and coordinates all services, offering "one stop shopping" for participants. The entire third floor of Westwood Heights has been set aside for low-income ElderPlace participants who need affordable housing. Participants must be eligible for Medicaid or able to pay from private sources. 

In addition to providing affordable housing for ElderPlace participants, the innovative partnership between Providence ElderPlace and SHA means that Westwood Heights residents have access to 24-hour, on-site care. ElderPlace health care staff are present at Westwood Heights 24 hours a day to attend to participants' needs.

Roxbury House and Village before redevelopment

In 1998, SHA received a $17 million federal HOPE VI grant to revitalize Roxbury House and Village. Low-income housing at this site has been refurbished, rebuilt and reintegrated into the surrounding community. 

Prior to redevelopment, the four-acre site contained: 

SHA was able to secure HOPE VI funding to revitalize Roxbury House and Village because they embodied many of the problems typical of "distressed" public housing communities:

• Roxbury was a highly visible, high-crime area within a stable Seattle neighborhood.
   

• The ill-conceived site design contributed to a variety of social problems. The entire site was one super block, with no way to separate the residents of the Village from those of the House. The seniors and residents with disabilities were surrounded by large families living in the townhomes. 
   

• Hidden pockets in the circulation patterns through the Village and the adjacent Roxhill Park gave rise to gang activity.
   

• The original early 1970's construction of Roxbury Village did not stand the test of time. Serious rot and asbestos problems in the townhouses resulted in high maintenance costs and the closing of many units. Roxbury House had infrastructure problems and poorly-designed common areas that were difficult for residents to use safely and effectively.
   

• The resident mix in Roxbury House, only 25 percent seniors and 75 percent younger people with disabilities, created an uncomfortable environment for both populations.
   

• Roxbury lacked the appropriate accommodations for residents with physical disabilities.

The Roxbury redevelopment concept

The new design for Roxbury involved creating two safe, secure, habitable communities, one for seniors and the other for families, on a site where the two groups had formerly shared an uncomfortable, unsafe existence.

• The site was redesigned to split the super block into two regular city blocks with a new street between them. The high-rise, on the southern block, is set back from Roxbury Street, with a new, welcoming lawn and gazebo, more parking and easy access to transit and services along the arterial. 
   

• With the designation of the high-rise for seniors, specially-designed services could be put in place and offered to other seniors in the neighborhood. This helps to bring people together and break through the isolation seniors often experience.
   

• Some of the family housing has been replaced on the northern half of the site in two new, mixed-income, mutual housing communities totaling 45 units. 
   

• All of the low-income housing has been replaced either on-site or elsewhere in Seattle. For more information on off-site replacement housing, click here.

Westwood Heights (formerly called Roxbury House)

• Common areas within the building were upgraded to facilitate services programs for seniors, including a new lobby, commercial kitchen and sun-filled dining solarium, with new interior stairs between the ground floor lobby and daylight basement activity spaces.
   

• Fifty-eight unpopular studio units were reconfigured into 38 more desirable, one-bedroom units reducing the total number of units in the building to 130.
   

• Seven one-bedroom units compliant with the Americans with Disabilities Act are now located throughout the building.
   

• All the units were carpeted and outfitted with new vanities in the bathroom and additional kitchen cabinets.
   

• The elevators and plumbing, heating, ventilation, hot water and electrical systems were renovated, with required structural upgrades. 

Westwood Court and Longfellow Court (formerly Roxbury Village)

• Roxbury Village has been replaced by Westwood Court and Longfellow Court, two rental cooperatives developed in partnership with the Lutheran Alliance to Create Housing (LATCH). Together, they contain 45, one- to five-bedroom townhouse rentals serving households with a range of incomes.
   

• With HOPE VI funding, SHA helped pay for the construction and provides operating subsidies so that 15 of the 45 units are considered public housing and are affordable to residents with incomes below 30 percent of median income. All the public housing units have two or more bedrooms.

Mutual housing now sits on the site of the old Roxbury Village with Westwood Heights in the background.

Redevelopment History

• Westwood Heights residents who did not wish to remain during construction transferred to other SHA properties or received a Housing Choice voucher and assistance in finding another affordable place to live. About 50 households chose to stay at Roxbury House during construction.
   

• Westwood Heights construction was completed in December 2001.
   

• Roxbury Village was demolished in 1999. Construction of Longfellow and Westwood Courts was finished in spring 2001.

Roxbury revitalization sparks positive changes nearby

Westwood Heights East

Once Westwood Heights and Longfellow and Westwood Courts were complete, SHA and LATCH began to focus on illegal activities in privately-owned properties across 27th Avenue from Westwood Heights, an area renamed Westwood Heights East. SHA joined with several City of Seattle departments and neighborhood organizations in a concentrated effort to stop drug activity through stepped up police presence and enforcement of Housing Choice Voucher contracts against the absentee landlords of some of the properties. 

Next steps are to renovate these buildings so that they become an asset to the neighborhood and provide additional affordable housing.

Roxhill Park

Roxhill Park, a 13-acre open space located directly north of Longfellow and Westwood Courts, has been transformed. New recreational facilities include a new ball field, funded by a King County ball field improvement grant, a children's play area, wheelchair accessible concrete picnic pads, trails and bridges. Gangs no longer use the park for illegal purposes.

Roxhill Park is at the headwaters of Longfellow Creek, one of three major creeks in Seattle that are still free flowing, and in which West Seattle residents are trying to restore salmon runs.  With funding from the Pro Parks Levy and the hard work of many volunteers, three acres of wetlands have been restored and over 45,000 native plants and trees planted.

For more information about Roxhill Park, click here.

Directions to Westwood Heights
Address:  9455 27th Ave. SW

Westwood Heights is located in the West Seattle neighborhood, in the southern-most area, very near White Center. From downtown Seattle it can be accessed either from Highway 99 or from the West Seattle Viaduct and 35th Ave. SW. 

Using the West Seattle Bridge 

From downtown Seattle, travel south on Aurora Avenue and take the exit for the West Seattle Bridge. Cross the bridge and drive up the hill into the West Seattle Neighborhood. At the first stoplight, turn left onto 35th Ave. SW. Drive south on 35th Ave. SW for about 3.3 miles to the light at SW Roxbury St. Turn left onto SW Roxbury St. Travel east seven blocks. Westwood Heights will be on the left at the corner of SW Roxbury St. and 27th Ave. SW. 

Using Route 99/Aurora Avenue

From downtown Seattle, travel south on Aurora Avenue onto the Alaska Way Viaduct. After 3+ miles it becomes E Marginal Way S. Cross the First Avenue S Bridge and stay straight to go onto WA-509 S. Take the ramp towards Myers Way/White Center. Merge into First Ave. S. Turn slight right onto Olson Pl. SW. Turn slight right onto SW Roxbury Street. Westwood Heights is on the northwest corner of SW Roxbury St. and 27th Ave. SW.