SNOHOMISH — At a time when “demand is huge and supply is slim” for affordable housing, says realtor Ray Cook, the homegrown effort to create affordable housing just nailed down its latest acquisition.
On Jan. 31, the nonprofit Snohomish Affordable Housing Group (SAHG) closed on purchasing a 0.79-acre chunk on the northernmost side of the county’s former public works yard.
Soon it will start mocking up ideas for at least 21 units, and up to 30, for a building here that could potentially be four-stories tall, the group’s president Bill Raser said. It could arrive later this decade and the driveway would go to Bonneville Avenue.
Following SAHG’s model, all will have rents priced at half the market price to house residents who earn less than under 50% of the regional average median income. There will not be commercial spaces.
In SAHG’s more immediate focus, it is preparing to construct an eight-unit apartment building at the corner of 14th Street and Bonneville Avenue. Pending permits, it could open this summer, Raser said.
Adding these eight and the future 21 to 30 units at the public works yard will push SAHG’s portfolio above 125 units.
Its long-range goal is to get to 200, Cook said.
Finding land is the biggest challenge, board members said, and “land’s at a premium,” Cook said.
The Avenue D site “is a really exciting project for us because we’ve been looking for land for a while,” Cook said.
Like every affordable housing nonprofit, they’re competing with one arm behind their backs against private builders and developers to buy land on the open market. Before lenders will give money, they want assurance a project’s rental tenants will be paying enough in rent to cumulatively cover the loan payments -- which can make it a hard sell for any affordable housing developer.
The Avenue D site went through a county request for proposals for buyers. The sale “included a covenant that all residential units constructed on the property be rented to households at or below 50 percent of the local area median income,” county public works spokesman Matt Phelps said. It fits SAHG’s model.
SAHG was able to obtain the site at a reasonable price, Raser said.
Its last completed project opened in 2009 with its blue-and-yellow 21-unit apartment complex near the senior center and tucked behind the Maple Avenue Fire Station.
Snohomish business leaders founded the all-volunteer group in 1992, and it has slowly but surely been building its portfolio.
SAHG’s model is unlike any other affordable housing entity. It is private and self-sufficient. It rents its apartments at just under half the market price, but does not take Section 8 or other government rent assistance programs, Raser said. It finances its construction through commercial lenders. Rent income primarily pays for maintenance and operations, and donations help a bit, Raser said.
Personal self-improvement is baked into SAHG’s tenancy requirements. Non-senior residents are asked to demonstrate a plan to move out of SAHG properties and into market-rate housing within 24 months.
Cook estimates about half its tenants are seniors.
The board is all experts who know how to execute projects: A banker, a construction builder, a realtor, a developer, a CPA, a lawyer and more.
Raser is the retired banker. He worked as a lending specialist for commercial construction and development. Cook is the Realtor.
SAHG would be happy to welcome new board members, especially younger professionals, and always is open for donations. Its
website is www.snoahg.org
Larger parcel in negotiations
The county confirmed it is in negotiations with Bothell-based West Ridge Land Corp. to sell the larger section of the former public works yard.
The larger section has 8.6 acres of developable land and 9.4 acres overall, and happens to be one of the largest redevelopable properties available in town.
Yard site history
The site was the county’s road maintenance and shop facility from the 1930s until 2008 when these operations relocated to Cathcart. The site went through years of ground contamination cleanup work to be ready for sale.
The longstanding plan has been to use the sale money to go toward redeveloping the county’s road maintenance site in Arlington.
