‘I’m so grateful’: Leaders, planners, future tenants unite to celebrate new Bellingham senior housing
Whatcom County and Washington state leaders gathered Wednesday afternoon to celebrate the near completion of a four-story affordable senior housing complex and child care center opening in Bellingham.
Laurel Forest is an Opportunity Council project located in downtown Bellingham at 1000 N. Forest Street. It will offer 56 one-bedroom housing units for adults age 55 and older with dedicated units for individuals directly exiting homelessness.
“What I can say is heartfelt gratitude to live and be part of a community that makes these kinds of investments. The voters of Bellingham passed the Home Fund and we tax ourselves so that we can do work like this,” Bellingham Mayor Kim Lund said at the event Wednesday. “This is exactly the kind of project we need to be doing.”
The housing complex features community spaces, air conditioning units, a resident library and reading room, laundry facilities, exercise areas, an outdoor patio and a parking garage.
Monthly rent for half of the units starts at $540 for people currently earning 30% or less of the local median income. The other half will rent for $900 per month and are reserved for individuals earning up to 50% of the median income.
Colin Neale, who will be moving into Laurel Forest on May 28, said the opportunity to move into this affordable housing came just at the right time for him.
“I’m so grateful for everything that’s going on here,” Neale said.
Due to rising rent costs and living on a fixed income, Neale’s daughter has been helping him pay his rent. He said moving into Laurel Forest will help alleviate a lot of that financial burden.
“Unfortunately rents are skyrocketing and I feel so bad because once again, my lease is coming up, and it’s going up another $100 a month, which I can’t afford,” Neale said.
Laurel Forest will also be home to an attached child care facility separate from the housing.
Opportunity Council’s Director of Early Learning and Family Services David Webster said the center will provide before- and after-school care as well as facilitate inter-generational activities. Webster spoke Wednesday about the importance of the added facility given that Bellingham is in a “child care desert.”
“It’s a great boom to Bellingham and to Whatcom County. We look forward to adding to this inventory elsewhere in the county and the region. But we couldn’t have a happier day. We have a beautiful facility for some very beautiful children,” Webster said.
This project was built using Low Income Housing Tax Credit (LIHTC) funding, which covered 58% of the construction costs.
The LIHTC is a federal program that provides states and local agencies with about $9 million annually to issue tax credits for the acquisition, rehabilitation or new construction of rental housing targeted to lower-income households.
U.S. Sen. Maria Cantwell (D-WA) spoke at the event Wednesday, calling on her colleagues in the Senate to pass a proposed tax bill that would extend and enhance the LIHTC to fund an additional 1,700 units of affordable housing across Washington state in 2024.
“We have to — right now — think about how fast we need to expand this credit and celebrate today as a perfect example of how this could work,” Sen. Cantwell said. “So hats off to Bellingham.”
Sen. Cantwell said building more projects like Laurel Forest “has to be our nation’s priority.”
Since 1986, the Housing Credit has paid for 90% of the federally-funded affordable housing construction across the country and has financed over 3.8 million affordable homes, according to the Affordable Housing Tax Credit Coalition. That includes more than 100,000 in Washington state, according to Sen. Cantwell’s office.
