By David Haerle
The Daily World
Coastal Community Action Program of Grays Harbor was awarded a $3.25 million grant from the State Housing Trust Fund to build 24 low-income housing units, to be built in Aberdeen and Hoquiam.
The Washington State Department of Commerce announced the award among $97 million in grants and loans for affordable housing projects in communities across the state. Statewide, the funds will help provide an estimated 1,404 multifamily rental units/beds, 121 homes for first-time homebuyers, 86 units of modular housing, and 74 units in cottage-style communities. $85.3 million of funding comes from the state’s Housing Trust Fund, with $11.7 million provided through the U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development (HUD) HOME and National Housing Trust Fund programs, also managed by Commerce in Washington state.
The CCAP award will fund 24 modular units planned by CCAP — with help from the county.
“We’re pretty excited about that,” said Craig Dublanko, the chief executive officer of CCAP. “We collaborated really closely with the county. This is a big deal for CCAP and the community. The county helped a lot,” he noted, specifically naming Social Services Manager Cassie Lentz and Housing Resource Coordinator Curtis Steinhauer as being instrumental in the process.
“They worked really hard to make us successful,” Dublanko said. “We definitely know there’s a need in the Aberdeen-Hoquiam area.”
Dublanko said the grant will fund a “scattered site” project with six separate four-plexes at sites yet to be determined or purchased. Dublanko said part of the grant money is earmarked toward property acquisition.
CCAP is working with IndieDwell, a Boise-based company that builds modular, affordable housing solutions described by the firm as energy-efficient, sustainable, healthy and durable. They are mostly made from recycled shipping containers. The units are shown on the company’s website: indiedwell.com.
Dublanko said each unit will be two bedrooms and about 800 square feet.
“They are really cool looking,” Dublanko said. “The are container-based, and we feel the building quality is really high.”
Each IndieDwell unit will contain the following standard components, according the the company website.
■ Energy Recovery Ventilator in every unit to ensure clean fresh air
■ Solid-core steel exterior walls
■ Steel-stud interior walls
■ Solid-core interior doors
■ Textured melamine cabinetry with soft close
■ Stainless steel hardware
■ Quartz counter tops
■ Delta plumbing fixtures
■ Stainless steel under-mount sinks
■ LED disk lights
■ High-performance Pella Windows
■ Frigidaire appliances (microwave, stove, refrigerator)
■ High-performance mini-split heat pump and air conditioner
■ Allura fiber cement siding with 15-year paint warranty and 50-year structural warranty
This is just a small part of the Housing Trust Fund’s investment in scores of affordable housing projects across the state.
“Washington’s affordable housing crisis has deepened with the economic blows of the pandemic,” said Gov. Jay Inslee. “These important investments, serving thousands of Washingtonians, represent tremendous collaboration between our state’s Housing Trust Fund, other federal, state and local agencies, along with private business and charitable organizations, to bring every available resource to bear in addressing this growing need throughout our state.”
“Equity in community development is one of our top priorities,” said Commerce Director Lisa Brown. “The pandemic is being experienced very differently throughout our state, with more families struggling to find and keep affordable housing, many for the first time.”
“This record-setting annual investment from the Housing Trust Fund is targeted to strengthen community capacity all over the state and maximize financial impact. Every state dollar invested will leverage $5 on average from other public and private funding sources,” Brown noted.
