$7M in Affordable Housing Projects Recommended to City Council

Proposal would create 89 new affordable housing units, 59 conversions, 62 rehabilitations

Brian Walker, Communications Manager, 509-625-6765

Thursday, March 9, 2023 at 2:17 p.m.

A total of $7,089,605 in federal and local funds for nine affordable housing projects that would create 89 new units, 59 conversions and 62 rehabilitations to help address the housing crisis are recommended to the City Council by the City’s Community Housing and Human Services Board.

The applicants, project names, types, addresses, funding amounts and total units include:

  • Spokane Housing Authority, Hifumi En, new construction, 926 E. Eighth Ave.; $2,581,320, 86 units;
  • Volunteers of America, Alexandria’s House, rehabilitation, 2236 W. Pacific Ave., $800,000, six units;
  • Catholic Charities, Summit View Apartments, rehabilitation, 820 N. Summit Blvd., $154,435, 27 units;
  • SNAP, Alexandria Apartments, rehabilitation, 524 W. Sixth Ave., $800,000, 22 units;
  • SNAP, Patrician Apartments, rehabilitation, 102 E. Second Ave., $678,850, 17 units;
  • SNAP, Pacific Apartments,  rehabilitation, 2701 E. Pacific Ave., $705,000, 10 units;
  • Take Up the Cause, Sunset Hill Apartments, acquisition/conversion, 2804 W. Seventh Ave., $1 million, 59 units;
  • Northeast Community Center, four-plex, rehabilitation, 2407 E. Empire Ave., $300,000; three units; and
  • Transitions, TLC Center, rehabilitation, 3128 N. Hemlock St., $120,000, four units.

The recommendations were made after a competitive request for proposals process to address urgent housing needs for low- and moderate-income individuals. The intent of the RFP was to rapidly acquire or rehabilitate existing properties that will add or preserve affordable housing units.

“This funding will add and maintain badly needed affordable housing as we address the crisis and give us new options to exit individuals and families from homelessness,” Mayor Nadine Woodward said. “Adequate housing supply gets us to the ultimate outcome of making homelessness rare, brief, and nonrecurring. The City is pleased to be a partner in making that happen.”

Most of the rehabilitation projects are expected to be completed this year, while the acquisition and new construction projects could be completed by next year. All projects must have a minimum operational funding commitment of two years and target individuals and households earning less than 80 percent area median income. For a four-person home, the income threshold is $67,300; a one-person home, $47,150.

Funding that supported the request for proposals came from the federal Community Development Block Grant (CDBG) Program; federal HOME Investment Partnerships Program (HOME); and a local sales tax created by state House Bill 1590 to fund affordable housing and related services. Take Up the Cause’s project is recommended to be funded with HOME dollars; Spokane Housing Authority, sales tax; and the seven others, CDBG.

The recommendations are expected to be presented to the City Council during its Urban Experience Committee meeting on March 13. They are scheduled to be before the Council via resolution for final approval consideration on March 27.