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Senator Patty Murray visits High Point
First hand experience of cooperation among
housing agencies to produce new housing
 SEATTLE—January
17, 2006—The question on Senator Patty Murray's radar
was, "How do housing agencies work together to produce the housing
needed by Seattle's low-income residents?"
In answer to that question, leaders from the
Seattle Housing Authority, the Washington State Housing Finance
Commission and the City of Seattle's Office of Housing met with the
senator on January 17 to brief her on their tactics and to tour a
clear success story - the redeveloped High Point in West Seattle.
According to SHA's Executive Director Tom
Tierney, the High Point redevelopment shows how the creative
combination of various funding programs and initiatives can help to
spur new low-income housing as well as new private investment.
Federal funds from the U.S. Department of
Housing and Urban Development served as seed money for this project,
which also drew from the Housing Trust Fund and used tax-credit
equity administered by the Housing Finance Commission.
“We combine lots of different
resources to make this kind of development work,” said Tierney. “We
just couldn't make this redevelopment work without the vital
partnerships we have developed with the State and the Federal
governments."
“Preserving and creating new affordable housing is a challenge,
especially in Seattle and King County," said Murray.
"Fortunately, the region has strong housing leaders and agencies
that work closely together to make a positive impact in people’s
lives. My tour of High Point and other affordable housing
developments in West Seattle was another reminder of how
critical it is for the federal government to be a strong partner
with our local and state housing agencies.”
For more information on the redevelopment of
High Point,
click here.
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