Rental homesSEATTLE—February 22, 2006—This month marks the completion of Seattle Housing Authority’s rental housing contracts for all three phases of the NewHolly redevelopment.
The agency’s contract for the first phase of rental housing construction was with Absher Construction and the second and third phases were with Walsh Construction.
After more than ten years of redevelopment work, NewHolly now blends into the surrounding neighborhood, and has shed the stigma often associated with very large public housing sites.
The transformation of the neighborhood was already noticeable after the completion of the first phase, gaining recognition and admiration across the nation as a successful mixed-income community.
Homes for sale“It has been amazing to see the transformation of the neighborhood,” said Tom Tierney, SHA executive director. “And it has happened because of the hard work and partnerships with residents, community members, contractors and SHA staff members.”
The redevelopment efforts have brought the community a long way from what was originally known as Holly Park, a neighborhood of one- and two-story wood frame structures originally built for defense workers in World War II. From the early 1950s through the mid-1990s, Holly Park provided public housing for low-income families. With seed money from $48 million U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development “HOPE VI” grants, SHA initiated a comprehensive planning and redevelopment project that involved Holly Park residents, community member and partners.
When the redevelopment of Holly Park began, there were 871 units of low-income housing on site. Most (799) have already been replaced on-site or in other parts of Seattle. The remaining 79 are either currently under construction or in the planning stage.
Today, the completed NewHolly still provides public housing for low-income families and a lot more.
“The residents’ and community members’ voices were heard and many of their changes were made,” said Carter Hart, SHA’s development project coordinator supervisor for NewHolly. “Today, NewHolly is a safer and friendlier neighborhood thanks to many of these ideas, like having parks and playgrounds that serve as common areas and porches where neighbors can visit with one another.”
NewHolly now offers 1,392 units of affordable, safe and decent homes to a range of income levels. There are 530 units available for people with very low incomes and 288 for people whose incomes are moderate, but still below the area median income for Seattle. There are 470 units for market-rate rentals and homes for sale. About 104 homes for sale have been made available to low-income and first-time homebuyers.
A third of the land at NewHolly was sold to private homebuilders, who have created a variety of homes for sale in the community. These home sales have not only given people the opportunity to buy in-city homes across a wide price range, they have returned the land to the property tax rolls, generating revenue to the City of Seattle.
Proceeds from the land sales are used by Seattle Housing to pay for the new low-income and replacement housing.
Even though the contracts with the private homebuilders are complete, their homes are still under construction in the community. These new houses and town homes will be completed and offered for sale in 2006.
A few other projects are still underway in the neighborhood and will be complete this year. The Community and Market Gardens at the north end of Central Park in Othello Station began development last month and will be in business this summer to offer fresh vegetables to residents and the community.
The Harry Thomas Community Center at Lee House, which is behind the Othello Building at Othello Station, will be renovated and reopened to the community this summer. The Center will offer residents a community meeting space and offices for small businesses or non-profits.
Seattle Housing also will begin developing the 3.6-acre mixed-use site east of the Othello Building in coordination with completion of Sound Transit’s new LINK Light Rail station at the corner of Othello and Martin Luther King Jr. Way S. This land will remain vacant until a year or so before the LINK Light Rail begins operation.