VHA looks to add affordable housing to midtown area
It’s seeking ideas from developers for one-block site
By Patty Hastings, Columbian
Social Services, Demographics, Faith
Published: February 26, 2016, 6:08am
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Vancouver Housing Authority is seeking ideas from developers for a block just north of Mill Plain Boulevard, where the nonprofit plans to build affordable housing. The site, a nearly empty block at 16th and D streets, lies in Vancouver’s midtown, the transitional area between the commercial downtown and the residential Arnada neighborhood.
“We’re looking at what would be the most beneficial to the community,” said Steve Towell, housing authority spokesman.
He said VHA wants the development to blend into the mixed neighborhood, which is bordered by businesses and single-family homes. One idea is for an apartment complex on the south end and owner-occupied townhouses on the north.
VHA purchased the land a few years ago. It has been left vacant aside from a boarded-up house and a community garden.
On Thursday, VHA’s board of directors approved a resolution allowing the nonprofit’s executive director, Roy Johnson, to solicit proposals from developers. The goal is to have the development plan done in a couple of months. Construction would likely get started in 2017, around the same time as two other low-income housing projects planned for Fourth Plain Boulevard in central Vancouver.
VHA already owns subsidized apartment complexes in the downtown and uptown areas, including Vista Court and Van Vista Senior Apartments, Anthem Park, Columbia House and Esther Short Commons. All of the agency’s subsidized properties are full and have waiting lists. Its non-subsidized workforce housing complexes are full as well.
Other affordable units
Besides the efforts of Vancouver Housing Authority and its partner nonprofits, private developers are also adding affordable multifamily projects to the downtown area.
All 120 units at the soon-to-open 15 West Apartments are restricted to those earning 60 percent or less of the area’s median income. More than 300 people are on a waiting list for 15 West, which was developed by Walter “Skip” Grodahl, doing business as DBG Properties. His neighboring 13 West is under construction and scheduled to open around this time next year; it will add another 92 affordable units.
So far, DGB Properties is the only private developer constructing 100 percent affordable, income-restricted housing in the downtown area.
The city of Vancouver is offering development incentives in the form of 12-year tax exemptions. To qualify, builders must make at least 20 percent of their units affordable to households earning less than 115 percent of the area median income. That figure would amount to $59,225 annually for a single person, or $84,525 for a family of four. Through the program, rent cannot exceed 30 percent of a tenant’s income.
For instance, the developer of the South Tower at Vancouvercenter, Vandevco, applied for the 12-year exemption. With 113 total units, 23 would have to be affordable. (The number of units is rounded up.)
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