WASHINGTON, DC – Wednesday, U.S. Senator Maria Cantwell (D-WA) was pleased to present two awards to low-income housing tax credit properties in Seattle that were recognized by the Affordable Housing Tax Credit Coalition (AHTCC). The AHTCC is a nonprofit corporation of developers, lenders, nonprofit groups, public agencies, and others working to promote affordable housing efforts and bring attention to the importance of the low-income housing tax credit. Cantwell is a lead sponsor of the Affordable Housing Investment Act that would make the needed improvements to the tax rules that oversee this program. Seola Crossing at Greenbridge in Seattle was the winner of the award for Public Housing Revitalization and Evans House in Seattle received honorable mention recognition for Special Needs Housing.

 

“Our homes are the foundation of our families and the anchors of our communities,” said Cantwell. “With the rising costs of housing and other necessities an affordable place to live is still out of reach for many of our neighbors.  Thanks to the coordinated efforts of our governor, the Washington State Housing Finance Agency and many organizations, we can point to success stories like Seola Crossing and Evans House.  I congratulate these award winners and thank them, and all those who are working to address the challenge of homelessness in our state.”

Seola Crossing at Greenbridge,  located in the White Center unincorporated area of King County, was originally a World War  I Boeing worker housing complex and was converted into a 187-unit affordable housing property through the efforts of the King County Housing Authority and MMA Financial, Inc.  The property was 100 percent leased less than three months after opening its doors in June 2007. Seola Crossing garnered the highest, 3-star rating in the County’s BuiltGreen program for environmental sustainability through features such as drought-tolerant native landscaping, salvaging materials from demolished buildings, and recycling of cement, asphalt, and soil from the old infrastructure.

 

Evans House is a 75-unit supportive living housing program designed for chronically homeless single adults with severe and persistent mental illness.  Evans opened October 1, 2007 and provides safe, affordable, and clinically appropriate housing for the most disabled and poorest of this community’s homeless adults.   One hundred percent of the units at Evans House are occupied by individuals earning less than 30 percent of area median income.  Four apartments are reserved for individuals who are both mentally ill and developmentally disabled.  Thirty-five apartments are reserved for individuals who have just been released from state psychiatric hospitals and might otherwise have no where else to go.  Evans House is designed to help residents maintain their housing, improve their lives, stabilize clinically, and live as independently as possible. 

 

Cantwell’sAffordable Housing Investment Act (S. 2666) currently has 18 cosponsors, and most of its provisions were included in the housing stimulus legislation that passed the House.  The House and Senate are still working on compromise housing legislation. Cantwell is leading a bipartisan letter to Senate Finance Committee Chairman Max Baucus (D-MT) and Ranking Member Chuck Grassley (R-IA) to have these provisions included in any final housing bill.

 

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