Section 202 and 811 Redevelopment Underway in King County

Providence Health & Services of Washington has been awarded $9.065 million in capital and operating funds to construct new housing for low-income seniors and persons with disabilities in the King County Housing Authority’s (KCHA) Seola Gardens community. The funds are part of more than $550 million in grants announced in July through HUD’s Section 202 and Section 811 supportive housing programs for elderly and disabled households. The funds will be used for 169 projects in 46 states.

The KCHA is providing a construction-ready site for the new complex, to be called Providence Joseph House. Initial work on Seola Gardens has been jump-started by the American Recovery and Reinvestment Act.

Providence Health & Services will lease the site long-term and work with the authority to construct a new five-story elevated building comprised of 54 one-bedroom and 10 two-bedroom rental apartment homes for very low-income households, plus one unit for a resident manager. Six of the units will be fully accessible and one unit is designed for individuals with sensory impairments. The remainder of the units will be accessible to individuals in wheelchairs and can be fully adapted for disabled households.

The complex will also contain underground parking and 6,500-square-feet of community space that will serve the community and surrounding neighborhood. Service providers will offer case management and youth tutoring, and a computer lab.

Formerly a public housing complex, Seola Gardens is being redeveloped to serve a broader mix of income levels, but will retain the same number of federally subsidized units for extremely low-income households on-site. When completed, the community will include 177 affordable, energy-efficient rental units and 107 for-sale homes. The 30-acre site will include a mix of open space, trails, and rain gardens.

Construction on Providence Joseph House, which is scheduled to start in spring 2011, is expected to be completed by the end of 2012.