It was known for being a crime-ridden blight. What’s next for the old Aloha site?
Four years after the city took over and tore down the Aloha Motel for being a crime-ridden blight on the surrounding neighborhoods, construction will start on a new housing project that will rise in its place.
Groundbreaking for what’s being called the Samish Commons is set for Thursday, Oct. 31.
But the actual construction on the 1.5-acre parcel that was once home to the Aloha Motel, 301 and 315 N. Samish Way in Bellingham, will start the week of Nov. 11, according to Brien Thane, executive director/CEO of the Bellingham Housing Authority.
In 2017, the city of Bellingham selected the Bellingham Housing Authority to redevelop the former Aloha property into a mix of affordable housing, offices, commercial space and parking garage.
That was the year the housing authority bought the property from the city of Bellingham for $1.83 million, using a loan obtained from the city’s low-income housing fund.
Construction in November will be for the first of the project’s two phases.
▪ Phase 1: Build a four-story, $16 million building with 69 units, including studios, one- and two-bedroom apartments, and three-bedroom townhouses. Commercial space also will be built to serve as the housing authority’s new offices.
The living spaces will be for people with a variety of incomes. “We’re trying to have as broad a mix as possible,” Thane said.
“We’re trying to, in addition to very low-income folks, also create some opportunities for folks who in the past probably could have managed market-rate rentals OK,” Thane said, “but now are just completely getting priced out of the market.”
The rental spaces are expected to be ready for occupancy in spring 2021, he said.
▪ Phase 2: Build two more residential buildings, one for seniors and one for families.
The building for seniors will be made up of about 58 apartments with one or two bedrooms set aside for those 55 years and older.
The building designated for families will have about 55 units that are one, two and three bedrooms.
This phase will include ground-level commercial space.
Construction is expected to start in fall 2020, according to the housing authority.
The redevelopment is being done through Samish Way Redevelopment Partners, which the housing authority described as a public/private partnership between itself and the Royal Bank of Canada, which is investing equity funds through the federal Low-Income Housing Tax Credit, and others.
Samish Commons also will have amenities that include a technology lab, a fitness room and community meeting spaces.
The entire project is expected to be done by spring 2022.
The housing authority has about 1,700 rental units in Whatcom County, with the bulk of them in Bellingham.
The estimated 180 new rental units for Samish Commons will bump up the number of its units by nearly 11%, according to Thane.
The former Aloha Motel property is part of the Samish Way Urban Village. City officials have said the development — with its design, pedestrian orientation and site layout — fulfills the community goals for the urban village.
Though it’s the housing authority that is working to redevelop the property, Thane thanked the surrounding neighborhoods for their efforts to grapple with the problems at the Aloha.
“We’re looking forward to celebrating this groundbreaking with our friends from the York and Sehome neighborhood associations. They’re the ones who initiated the vision for the Samish Way Urban Village and worked hard with the city police and fire department to address the deteriorating conditions at the Aloha,” Thane said.
“So, really, none of this would have been possible without the good work and support of those two neighborhood associations,” he said.
Aloha Motel history
The motel opened in 1960 along Samish Way, which was known then as a busy car-oriented strip with numerous motels, eateries and gas stations.
In recent years, the Aloha’s reputation was as a place to avoid if you could help it. It was one of the few places where people with little income and bad background checks could find a place to live.
The city started the process of closing the Aloha in fall 2014 after spending nearly a year building up a case, documenting criminal activity through police reports and taking testimony from surrounding property owners.
Residents from the York and Sehome neighborhood associations pushed the city to do something about the motel because of drug use and other crimes, including the beating death of a man in one of its rooms in December 2013.
Criminal activity also bled into surrounding neighborhoods.
Nearby business owners reported regularly finding used needles and condoms on their properties, and at least 11 of the motel’s rooms, out of a total of 28, were condemned because of methamphetamine contamination.
The city of Bellingham obtained the property through condemnation proceedings in 2015.
This story was originally published October 31, 2019 at 5:00 AM.
