New low-income housing development in the works for Aberdeen

Mayor working with Low Income Housing Institute to find location

By Dan Hammock The Daily World • April 28, 2017 10:00 pm
SALLY PAINTER PHOTOGRAPHY A possible new low-income apartment building coming to Aberdeen would likely be modeled after the Cheryl Chow Court in Ballard. The building is a six story, 50-unit building that has a rooftop garden and is very energy efficient, which keeps residents’ utility bills low.
SALLY PAINTER PHOTOGRAPHY A possible new low-income apartment building coming to Aberdeen would likely be modeled after the Cheryl Chow Court in Ballard. The building is a six story, 50-unit building that has a rooftop garden and is very energy efficient, which keeps residents’ utility bills low.

A high-profile, low-income housing agency in Seattle is working to build a multi-story housing facility in Aberdeen to help answer the need for affordable housing for low-income singles, families and couples.

The Low Income Housing Institute in Seattle has provided housing for low-income and homeless people in King and Pierce counties and is now in the finishing stretch of a four-story unit near the bus transit station in Olympia.

“I have been meeting with (the Low Income Housing Institute) for several months now, helping them with site selection,” said Aberdeen Mayor Erik Larson. “At this point their board of directors has approved for the organization to pursue a project in Aberdeen, so the real work is just beginning.”

Larson said there is no set design, so how tall the development might be and how many units would be available would be determined after a site is selected. He said they are looking at a facility similar to the Low Income Housing Institute’s Cheryl Chow Court, a six story, 50-unit, low-income apartment complex in Ballard.

“We hope to be able to look at a site viable for affordable housing (in Aberdeen),” said Sharon Lee, Executive Director of the Low Income Housing Institute. “We’re a ways off, as we have to raise the funds, hire an architect, and hope we get funding. We do know there is a tremendous need for low income housing in the area.”

For funds, the institute looks to places like the Washington State Housing Trust Fund, the Housing Credit Program, and both private and foundation funding, she said.

Lee said the Cheryl Chow Court in Ballard is “green energy efficient” and has a beautiful rooftop garden. “Because it’s green it’s very energy efficient and it keeps residents’ utilities down.” It also has what is known as an Urban Rest Stop on the first floor.

An Urban Rest Stop is a program through the Low Income Housing Institute where showering, laundry and restroom facilities are made available to homeless individuals and families free of charge. According to their website, 714,683 showers, 318,116 loads of laundry and 1,368,499 restroom visits were made to Urban Rest Stops by 36,361 unduplicated — not counting repeat users — patrons. The Low Income Housing Institute is a nonprofit organization that relies on donations to provide the thousands of dollars needed a year for things like toothbrushes, toothpaste, soap, laundry soap, and the rental and electricity cost of washers and dryers.

The Cheryl Chow Building is targeted for low income senior residents. The user group of an Aberdeen building could be different.

“I think (in Aberdeen) it will be a combination of singles, couples and families,” said Lee. “We’re hoping to have a mix.” The Low Income Housing Institute has several successful projects for low income groups that include veterans, seniors and people who are currently in the workforce.

The Cheryl Chow Court in Ballard’s namesake was a driving force behind creating Urban Rest Stops in downtown Seattle 15 years ago as chair of the Seattle City Council’s Housing and Human Services Committee. She was also well known for her efforts to develop housing for homeless families at the former Sand Point Naval Station at Magnuson Park in Seattle.