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August 12, 2011

Seola Gardens adds 25 new apartments in White Center

By JOURNAL STAFF

Photo by William Wright Photography [enlarge]

The first 25 low-income apartments at King County Housing Authority's Seola Gardens development in White Center have opened.

Zephyr apartments was designed by GGLO. Other team members were KPFF Consulting Engineers, Goldsmith, Nakano Associates, Glumac, GeoEngineers and Walsh Construction Co.

Seola Gardens replaces a 46-year-old public housing complex on the same site that was operated by the housing authority.

The authority said the community is being redeveloped to serve a mix of incomes. When completed in 2018, it will have 177 units of subsidized rental housing and up to 107 homes for sale.

Seola Gardens will include Providence Joseph House, a 65-unit mid-rise apartment complex for seniors and people with disabilities. Providence Health & Services will operate the complex, which is expected to open next year.

Seola Gardens has sustainable elements such as rain gardens and a pond to clean surface water before it leaves the site. Units in Zephyr take advantage of natural light, are energy-efficient and wired for solar.

“Seola Gardens is about the renaissance of a community,” King County Executive Dow Constantine said in a press release. “Between our King County Department Development and Environmental Services and the Housing Authority, we have designed sustainable housing that costs less to operate and creates healthier living environments for families. The contrast between the old public housing ‘project' and the new community of Seola Gardens is striking.”

The authority said Seola Gardens is part of its plan to help revitalize White Center, one of the poorest areas in King County. In the last decade, the authority has invested about $300 million in private and public funds for housing and community services in White Center.



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Reader comments

Re: Seola Gardens adds 25 new apartments in White Center
This is outstanding rebuiding the old public housing into such a beautiful building where low income people can live and in a nice remolded area that does not look all broke down. I just would lkie to know how I could apply. I am a single mother of 2 girls and I am really in need a bedroom for my 6 year old daughter also would like to move out of where I'm at due to mold (black mold build up that seems to get worse even after cleaning it over and over again .
Tanisha Scott
Wed Aug 17, 2011 12:48 pm

Re: Seola Gardens adds 25 new apartments in White Center
You can start the application process online. Here is the website for King County Housing Authority:
 
http://www.kcha.org/lookingforhousing/applicationprocess.aspx
MAUDE SCOTT
Wed Aug 17, 2011 3:09 pm

Re: Seola Gardens adds 25 new apartments in White Center
What is the waiting list for tis complex
marian omar
Thu Oct 6, 2011 10:24 am

Re: Seola Gardens adds 25 new apartments in White Center
Here is King County Housing Authority's response to the wait list question:
 

 
The answer is complicated.
 

 
First, people who are on a list to be transferred to Seola Gardens (because they are already somewhere else in the public housing system) get housed before applicants on the waiting list. Add to this the fact that we house folks on a rotating basis from three different waiting lists (one for the specific development – site-based, one for the region, and one for graduates of transitional housing programs).
 

 
Then, I would direct your reader to the waiting list look up tool on the web site at http://www.kcha.org/lookingforhousing/applicationdatequery.aspx.
 

 
You can see from this tool that the applicant at the top of the waiting list for a two- bedroom unit at that site has been waiting since 2007. Keep in mind this is the Park Lake II list (the name of the community Seola Gardens is replacing – so the community has been vacant and then under construction, only opening with the first 25 units this past summer) with a new name. Your reader can also see that the person at the top of the SW regional list for a two-bedroom unit has been waiting since 2006. At that point, he or she should be able to make a decision about whether to choose site or region or perhaps expand their research to other properties/regions using the look up tool. This is not a very exact tool, but it’s the only way I know how to answer the question. Sorry it isn’t more straight-forward. Anyway, I hope this helps.
MAUDE SCOTT
Thu Oct 6, 2011 11:44 am


 

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