State announces important stepping stone for Bellingham affordable housing project
A planned affordable housing and childcare facility in downtown Bellingham is one step closer to becoming a reality, with the state Department of Commerce announcing on Monday, Dec. 20, that the project will receive $5 million through Washington’s Housing Trust Fund.
The estimated $23 million project, developed by local nonprofit Opportunity Council, is at the intersection of East Laurel and North Forest streets. It will provide 56 one-bedroom apartments for low-income residents 55 years and older, as well as a childcare facility with the capacity to serve up to 65 children. Six of the affordable housing units will be set aside for individuals currently experiencing homelessness, according to the Department of Commerce.
This funding allocation is part of a “historic” round of grants and loans for affordable housing efforts across the state, totaling nearly $131 million and supporting 40 projects across 16 counties, according to the Department of Commerce’s Dec. 20 news release.
“The need for housing is among the most urgent priorities we hear about from our local partners in every part of the state,” said Lisa Brown, director of the Department of Commerce, in the news release.
The Bellingham project is expected to achieve full funding by spring 2022, and residents will likely be welcomed in 2023, according to the Opportunity Council.
“While this is just one of the many housing projects we hope to see blossom, we still acknowledge that it will take many more projects like this one to meet the increasing housing demand in our communities,” said Adrienne Solenberger, housing developer at the Opportunity Council, in an email to The Bellingham Herald.
The Department of Commerce received more applications for affordable housing projects this year than it could fund, and nine projects were placed on a waitlist, according to the news release. One of the waitlisted projects is the Whatcom County Housing Authority’s Everson Meadows Rehabilitation project, which the organization requested about $3 million in funding for.
There were two housing projects in Whatcom that were denied state funding: A project in Blaine developed by the Foundation for the Challenged and another in Bellingham developed by the Kulshan Community Land Trust.
“Unfortunately, the pipeline of affordable housing projects and local needs continues to grow, meaning many projects are being waitlisted or have been declined,” Commerce Director Brown said in the news release.
