SEATTLE—July 20, 2007—The homeWorks construction project, which is taking on extensive remodeling activities in more than 20 Seattle Housing Authority high-rises, is operating to varying degrees in 11 public housing buildings this summer. Crews are taking advantage of good weather to tackle exterior work at a number of buildings, and plumbing replacement work is beginning at two buildings.

Capitol Park has been the site of window and shower replacement, which is now winding down. The window replacement here was complex and time consuming, so Seattle Housing Authority paid for hotel rooms for residents during the most intense work. In contrast, the replacement of windows at Queen Anne Heights is taking one day, and residents can remain home during the work.

homeWorks has also kicked off at Lake City House, another building with a window replacement project. Work will start with excavation and paving for the relocation of the parking lot in August. Subsequent exterior work includes renewing the deck railings and improving wall insulation.

This will require scaffolding the building for many months, beginning when the earth work is complete. Unlike most of the homeWorks buildings, plumbing at Lake City House has already been replaced, so that intrusion is spared.

Plumbing replacement is getting underway at University West and Olympic West. In addition to plumbing at Olympic West, the decks will be renewed, but from a swing stage instead of the scaffolding that will surround Lake City.

Cal Mor Circle has been completely under scaffolding for several months, and the exterior coating work will continue until the end of the summer. Underneath, the leaky brick structure is being transformed into a newly insulated, stucco-coated building that will offer great improvement in terms of comfort as well as looks.

Center Park, one of the first apartment buildings in the United States to be constructed specifically to serve people with physical disabilities, presents the homeWorks team with some unique challenges.

Its work will involve intense remodeling in every unit. In addition to repainting and refurbishing, the kitchens will be redone, many with built-in accessibility features. Residents will temporarily relocate to specially-designated “hotel units” within the building. For many of these residents, the key to independent living is a carefully structured home environment where “everything in its place” has particular importance.

Mindful of the disruption that a change of apartments can mean to residents, especially those with visual impairments, property manager Bill Drummond and his staff have been working to assess and deal with individual accommodation needs. Drummond has visited and interviewed each resident one-on-one to thoroughly understand each resident’s needs. Residents and their support networks, including service providers and family members, have been invited to several meetings over the last few months to help accommodate scheduling conflicts. Construction in units is planned for mid-September.

While construction winds down in the last buildings of Phase I and is in full swing in Phase II, the start of Phase III is already on the horizon for Barton Place, Ross Manor, Stewart Manor, University House, Jackson Park House, Center West and West Town View. Construction will officially begin in early 2008, although the schedule for starting work in each building has not yet been established.

As with the other phases, the first step is a resident meeting in each building in August. This meeting provides information and solicits public comments about the Tax Credit financing process that provides some of the funding for the remodel.