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.”