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200 affordable apartments planned for urban
infill project at edge of downtown
SHA using federal New Market Tax Credits for first time
 SEATTLE
– April 11, 2007 – Seattle Housing Authority (SHA) and
Dearborn Street Developers LLC today announced plans to build 200
affordable apartments at Dearborn Street, a mixed-use urban infill
project on the Goodwill site at the edge of downtown.
Dearborn Street is a pedestrian-friendly project
that will include a much-needed new and expanded home for Goodwill,
a diverse mix of retail stores, open space and a range of housing.
The project will feature a total of up to 550 housing units sitting
atop the retail space.
Seattle Housing already has secured $20 million
in federal New Market Tax Credits, which it will make available to
the partnership in order to provide subsidy for small businesses in
the new center. The program will provide a combination of equity and
conventional debt for the project. In addition, SHA has applied for
an additional $20 million in New Market Tax Credits for the
development.
New Market Tax Credits are a program of the U.S.
Department of the Treasury. They are designed to spur commercial
development in under-served areas and promote access to growth in
urban and rural communities. This is the first time that SHA has
used New Market Tax Credits and at $40 million, it would be one of
the largest uses of New Market Tax Credits in Washington state.
Dearborn Street Developers LLC and Seattle
Housing are also partnering to build 200 affordable apartments. Of
these homes, up to 100 apartments will be affordable to low-income
seniors with incomes less than 50 percent of the Area Median Income
($27,250 for a single-person household), with the goal of serving
mostly extremely low-income seniors with incomes less than 30
percent of the Area Median Income ($16,350 for a single-person
household). The other 100 affordable apartments would be
designed as workforce housing to serve people making less than
median income ($54,500 for a one-person household).
“We all know that affordable housing is becoming
more difficult to build due to rising land and construction costs,”
said Tom Tierney, SHA executive director. “Public-private
partnerships, such as the Dearborn Street project, enable SHA to
increase the stock of affordable housing that our city so
desperately needs.
“In addition, this project is centrally located
near transit and job centers, such as the International District and
downtown Seattle. Our partnership with Dearborn Street allows us to
create more housing and increases the overall public benefit of the
project.”
SHA and Dearborn Street Developers have been in
discussion over several months to explore ways of working together
to enhance the project. The tax credits will make commercial
investments in the project more attractive by lowering the threshold
for investment by small- to medium-sized retail businesses. Under
this program, Dearborn Street will provide up to $1 million in
direct rent subsidies to small business operators over 10 years.
This will keep commercial rents lower and make it possible for
diverse and local small businesses to participate.
With subsidy for the commercial development, the
Dearborn Street partnership is able to support additional affordable
housing. The partnership will turn to the Housing Authority to
build and operate the housing.
“This New Market program directly supports the
small local retailers and indirectly supports the affordable housing
component by helping defray the costs of a complicated mixed-use
project. We were challenged to provide a new home for Goodwill, to
include local merchants, and to commit to affordable housing. This
program fulfills all three goals,” said Darrell Vange, development
manager for Dearborn Street Developers
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