To combat King County’s regional housing crisis, the City of Kenmore–in partnership with Plymouth Housing Group–will build an affordable housing development in downtown Kenmore, located at 6532 Bothell Way Northeast. The development will include 100 units of studios and one-bedroom apartments, which will serve seniors, veterans, people with disabilities, and formerly houseless individuals who are at or below 30% Area Median Income (AMI).
Kenmore’s partnership with Plymouth Housing Group was approved at the June 21 Kenmore City Council meeting. During this meeting, Kenmore planned to use $3.2 million of the city’s American Rescue Plan Act (ARPA) funding for the affordable housing development.
The City of Kenmore will donate city-owned property for the project, in addition to partnering with A Regional Coalition for Housing (ARCH), whose Executive Board approved $3 million in ARCH Trust Fund dollars to this effort at the June 9 meeting. The total estimated project cost is $37.5 million.
“Finding affordable housing at 30% AMI aimed at seniors, people with disabilities, and veterans has been something we have been working towards for many years and this work is very near and dear to my heart,” said Councilmember David Baker.
The goal of the affordable housing development consists of providing cost efficient, high quality, and sustainably designed affordable housing units, while increasing the density of housing.
Amenities in place for the development are an outdoor courtyard, a community room and kitchen, a case management office space, and ground floor commercial space that may house a community clinic.
“I am so happy to see the work we put in has paid off,” said Councilmember Baker. “We want to thank Plymouth Housing Group for their partnership with the City of Kenmore on this project.”
The City of Kenmore initially received three strong proposals to develop the property, but ultimately selected the Plymouth Housing Group, who has worked in the region for over 40 years. Plymouth Housing Group works to eliminate homelessness and address the causes through preserving, developing and operating safe, quality, supportive housing.
“It is vital that we make bold investments now to increase affordable housing for our region’s most vulnerable neighbors,” said Karen Peterson of Plymouth Housing Group. “We look forward to partnering with the City of Kenmore and ARCH to provide 100 units of new permanent supportive housing to seniors and veterans in the city’s downtown area, where residents will have easy access to grocery stores, medical facilities, public transportation, and other amenities that contribute to healthy living.”
A group of graduate students at the University of Washington Evans School of Public Policy and Governance, including Bill McQueen, Jenn Rogers, Johnny Wheeler and Michaela Wright Petrik, assisted the City of Kenmore by producing affordable housing reports.
Construction for the affordable housing development is set to begin in mid-2023, with an opening planned for December of 2024. Click here for more information about the project.
