300 Bellingham residents almost lost their homes. Then Mercy Housing stepped in
More than 300 people living in rent-restricted housing in Bellingham are no longer at risk of losing their homes after the equal housing nonprofit Mercy Housing Northwest stepped in and purchased the property.
Evergreen Ridge, at 3451 Woburn St., is a 145-unit affordable housing complex that has housed people with very low incomes for decades. Its 30-year affordability period was expiring and it was placed on the market to sell in early 2022 at the market rate — putting it at risk of becoming much more expensive housing.
“This would have been an extreme detriment to the residents because their rents could go up anywhere from $500 to $800 per unit per month,” said Mercy Housing Northwest President Joe Thompson in a video interview with The Bellingham Herald.
“A lot of those families who have lived there for a long time would have had literally no place to go,” said Thompson.
With the support of the city of Bellingham, Whatcom County and other state and local organizations, Mercy purchased the property in July 2022 for $32 million and extended its life as affordable housing for at least another 50 years.
Mercy Housing typically builds projects from the ground up, so it was unusual for the nonprofit to purchase an already existing building, Thompson told The Herald.
“The impact of losing that affordable housing stock for the Bellingham community would be really detrimental and the ripple effect that would cause across all systems in Bellingham would be dramatic,” Thompson said.
Now that Mercy owns the property, the organization is working on updating it over the next several years without displacing any residents, according to Thompson.
“Almost as important as preserving the affordability was to enhance the livability of the units,” Thompson said.
The organization plans to make a number of improvements in the complex including:
▪ Replace the windows to increase ventilation.
▪ Install whole-house fans to improve indoor air quality.
▪ Replace flooring.
▪ Remove indoor mold.
Mercy also plans to provide services to residents such as:
▪ Rental assistance.
▪ Educational/behavioral health support.
▪ Food bank assistance to address food insecurity.
This story was originally published December 24, 2022 at 5:00 AM.
