High Point progress ever more visible
New rental housing taking shape
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SEATTLE—August 26, 2004—It’s still early in the
process of building new housing at
High Point,
but August 2004 marked the beginning of visible housing construction
activity and, most visibly, the pouring of concrete foundations.
Absher Construction and its subcontractors are
nearly finished with the final grading on the entire Phase I
site. The next thing observers
will notice is a steady flow of concrete mixing trucks coming into
High Point
to fill the forms that are being erected to hold the concrete.
In addition, construction on the housing has
actually begun. Walls and roofs are being installed on the first
buildings. As these structures come up out of the ground, residents
and neighbors will
begin to see the new community taking shape. |
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The drainage system at High
Point will employ a series of natural pathways for water to
drain from the site. |
Housing units will be completed gradually: the
first batch will be available for occupancy in the spring of 2005. By
April 2006, all 344 new Phase I rental units will be completed. The
overall plan calls for the completion of Phase I in 2006. By then,
Phase II residents will have moved into their new homes in Phase I. Market
rate for-sale housing construction is not far behind, the first of
those homes will be completed in the fall of 2005. Starting in 2006, construction in Phase II will begin, and will last
approximately two years.
The relocation puzzle
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While construction has been going smoothly, the
plan to move the original residents back onto the site has presented
some challenges. The original hope was to move residents who are
now living in Phase II into the new housing and then begin
demolition and construction work on Phase II. Unfortunately, there
will not be enough one-bedroom apartments completed in the first phase to
accommodate all of the High Point residents who want to stay on
site. |
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One of the first units emerges out of
the
ground at High Point. |
According to Tom Phillips, project manager,
"It is difficult to match the bedroom mix of the apartments exactly to
the immediate need. The finished community, as envisioned since the
initial funding application, will have fewer
one-bedroom units overall than the original community had."
Currently, there are 57 households living in
one-bedroom apartments at High Point. Of these, 23 are seniors. When
Phase I is completed, it will have 75 one-bedroom apartments for
seniors and 10 one-bedroom apartments open to anyone. In accordance
with a resident vote, seniors have the privilege of choosing their
housing first. Depending upon how many seniors choose to live in the
senior-only apartment building, there will be a shortage of
one-bedroom apartments of between 24 and 34 units.
Phase II will include an additional 18
one-bedroom units. These will be built in sloped areas and will be
"stacked flats." This means there will be one apartment on
top of another, both with ground-level entries, one at the top of
the slope and one at the bottom. This is the only location on the
site where this type of construction works.
According to Phillips, "We expect that
Phase II will accommodate most of the remaining households, since
there is likely to be some tenant turnover by that time. Unfortunately,
some households who want to stay in the neighborhood will have to
make an additional move before they finally settle into their new
apartments. They
will be provided with a Section 8 voucher or other subsidized
housing while they wait for Phase II to open.”
Similar difficulties were also encountered at
NewHolly, requiring a few households to move more than once in the
process. "We wish that everyone could be accommodated with just
one move," said Phillips, "but unfortunately, it is
difficult to line up all of the puzzle pieces perfectly for each
category of bedroom size. I am confident that we'll be able to get
everyone who wants to come back to High Point in a suitable
apartment once the development is completed. We truly
appreciate the patience of the residents affected by this."
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High Point in the news -
"Edens Lost & Found"
Meanwhile, the High Point redevelopment
has become a star player in a PBS show in the making, called
"Edens Lost & Found." This show, scheduled to
air in late 2005, is featuring four cities around the country
that are doing noteworthy work to restore livability to
cities. Here's how their Web site describes the program: |
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Tom Phillips and Miranda Maupin discuss
the High Point project on camera. |
There is a tendency to think that we are
living at the pinnacle of civilization. Is this true? Or are we
living in a way that robs future generations of the resources they
will need to live humane and satisfying lives? Edens Lost
& Found, a forthcoming PBS Television special, is the
story of urban rebirth and sustainability -- telling real stories
of real people who are building cities that sustain and support
today's generations ... and those yet to come.
High Point, and its environmentally-friendly
design, is the centerpiece of the Seattle segment. On Thursday,
August 26, a video crew spent the day on site with Development
Manager Tom Phillips and Miranda Maupin from Seattle Public
Utilities.
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