Land Development Today - July/August 2007 - (Page 22)

PROJECT PROFILE Extreme Makeover in Seattle Sustainable facelift of a World War II housing project combines social and environmental needs. By Rob Kundert Rosie the Riveter wouldn’t know the old neighborhood. She’d probably want to move back. The Seattle Housing Authority has taken the deteriorated one-time temporary housing project for factory workers known as High Point and is transforming it into an award winning, mixed-use residential development that is riding the cutting edge of sustainable design. The standards it set for itself and owner/builders like Portland, Oregonbased Devland, Inc., created a sustainable laboratory of integrated design concepts. This includes innovative stormwater system to porous pavements and bioswales to energy efficient building units. “There are a lot of layers to the project,” said Tom Phillips, Senior Development Manager for the housing authority and the project’s developer. “There is the sustainable piece in the housing and in the streetscape and there is affordable housing mixed-in with market-rate housing, which is pretty revolutionary.” Started four years ago and slated to be completed in 2010, the project, which is located ten minutes from downtown Seattle, has already drawn favorable attention beyond that of home buyers who are snapping up properties as they become available. The Pacific Coast Builders recently awarded the project its Gold Nugget for Master Planned Community of the Year and the Urban Land Institute named it one of the ten outstanding projects in the country. “This project will have 15 units per acre when we’re done, but it will perform like a mountain meadow when it rains,” Phillip said. Temporary Beginning The 120-acre, 34-block neighborhood in West Seattle known as High Point was built in 1942 as temporary housing for workers in the city’s shipyards and factories during World War II. “In 1953, it was turned over to the Seattle Housing Authority,” Phillips said. “Over the years, as society got rough, it got rough. Particularly in the 1990s, it was a dangerous place.” The streets, sewer systems, and other infrastructure were breaking down; homes were in bad shape. So, prior to the new millennium, the housing authority decided to make a change. It turned to the federal government and landed a $35 million HOPE VI grant from the Housing the Urban Development department. That money leveraged a $200 million financing package to totally raze the neighborhood and rebuilt its infrastructure, literally from below ground up. “We cleared the whole site. All you see is dirt and the trees that we saved,” Phillips said. Even the sidewalks and streets were torn up, with the cement crushed for new road bed material. “We put in all new water lines and sewer lines. We took the telephone poles down and put in all underground cable.” return were promised a place when the project was done. “We’re the master developer. We created the site plan,” Phillips said. “We are building 600 rental units and we are selling land to builders who are building another 1000 units.” For those who want to buy, there is a range of prices in a market where the median cost of a home is nearly $400,000. A studio flat of 500 square feet will run $180,000. “$630,000 would be a three bedroom, 3 ½ baths, three-story house with a view,” Phillips said. The project sports 35 “Breathe-Easy” houses, special spec homes that were built to address issues faced by children with asthma. “University of Washington medical folks do pre-tests and post-tests, monitoring the health of the children. When they move in and a year late to see how they’re doing,” he said. Also incorporated into the design is a clinic, a library, a four-acre common central park, five neighborhood parks and a neighborhood center to compliment existing athletic fields and a recreation area near by. Multi-Use Dream The project will host a range of housing types from market rate homes and rental units to assisted living and low income housing. It is being built in two phase, in part to accommodate those who lived in the old neighborhood. Some who chose to leave permanently got a voucher to acquire property elsewhere, while those who wished to 22 July/August 2007 Sustainable and Development Today

Table of Contents Feed for the Digital Edition of Land Development Today - July/August 2007

Cover Contents Our Voice: Industry Advocates Your Voice: Reader Response Cover Story: Preparing Your Tax Strategy The Rules of the Game Historical Redevelopment Project Profile: Seattle’s High Point Retention: From Ravine to Road Land Use: Picatinny Arsenal Mixed Use: Florida Offices Industry News Products/Services Showcase Classifieds Recommended Reading Advertiser Index Editorial Board The Last Word: What? Me Plan… Urban Development

Land Development Today - July/August 2007

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