High Point

High Point, Seattle Housing’s largest site, entered the initial stages of redevelopment in 2004. All of the original 716 worn-out public housing units built in the 1940s will soon be replaced with mixed-income housing for renters and home owners.

Mithun Architects, SvR Design, Nakano Associates, Seattle Housing residents, West Seattle community members, and Seattle Housing staff worked together to create High Point's award-winning redevelopment plan. The plan includes three major components: quality design, a healthy environment and an engaged community.

The plan incorporates ways to implement community and environmental sustainability of the area. It calls for creating a safe, high quality and healthy residential environment with a range of housing types each built to Built Green standards that will be fully integrated with the surrounding community.

New streets are being re-aligned and reconnected with the West Seattle grid, new neighborhood facilities will be operating at more inviting locations, and the mix of housing and resident income levels are becoming more compatible with the greater neighborhood.

The High Point plan has received many awards honoring its approach to the environment and community.

This image shows the streetscape describing the various components. Click on it to view an enlarged version in a .pdf format.

Click here to learn about some of these awards and recent news.

To maintain the green, garden-like feel, the plan designated over 20 acres of land for parks, open spaces, and playgrounds. To view the map of the open spaces plan, click here. A four-acre, beautiful, yet active central park will be at the heart of the community. Another park features a large pond and a jogging trail, and several other community and pocket parks are scattered throughout High Point.

The pond is a main component of High Point's natural drainage system. It also features a jogging trail and benches.

Even planting strips along streets will be greener and wider than elsewhere in Seattle. The plan triples the number of previously existing trees. More than 100 mature trees will be retained and about 2,600 new trees will be planted along streets and parks.

By the end of the decade, High Point will have 1,600 new affordable and market-rate units across its 120 acres, making it Seattle Housing's largest site. These units will be offered to people in the following categories.

Units affordable to people earning 80 percent or less of median income
350	public housing units for very low-income people at 30 percent of median income or below
250	tax-credit units for working families at up to 60 percent of median income
75	independent and assisted-living housing units for very-low-income seniors (0-30 percent)
80	affordable homeownership units
755	total units affordable to people earning 80 percent or less of median income

Estimated Market-rate housing
160	units of market-rate independent and assisted senior housing
255	single family market-rate, for-sale units
389	other market-rate housing - condominiums, townhomes and carriage units,
804	total units of market-rate housing

The Seattle Housing Authority has made an unequivocal commitment to one-for-one replacement of low-income rental apartments. As part of the High Point plan, all 716 previously existing units will be replaced with modern apartments designated for low-income renters. Most of the new replacement apartments will be at High Point, while others will be located nearby and elsewhere in Seattle. Click here to view the High Point replacement housing plan.

The redevelopment efforts are occurring in two phases. Home construction in Phase I, the northern half of High Point, is currently underway. The beginning stages of redevelopment activities in Phase II, the southern half of the site, began this year.

Seattle Housing has worked to include community members and residents in the redevelopment planning. One way they have been involved is by sharing their opinions on what the new housing should look like. SHA asked West Seattle neighbors and residents of High Point to participate in a design survey. The survey was mailed to neighbors of High Point and SHA conducted a hands-on workshop with residents.

More than 450 responses to a visual survey have been compiled and the results can be accessed by clicking on the links below.

Click on the following links for more information about:

High Point's recent news and awards
Replacement housing plan for High Point
High Point's open spaces plan (PDF, 3.7 MB)
Making affordable housing happen - Doing it green (PowerPoint, 8.4 MB)
City of Seattle Municipal Tower exhibit (PDF, 8.9 MB)