Meeting set to discuss $29 million low-income housing project for downtown
Friday, October 9, 2009
World staff writer
WENATCHEE — Officials from Seattle-based Intercommunity Mercy Housing will be in town Thursday to present their proposal to build a $29 million apartment building on a city-owned parking lot at South Mission and Kittitas streets.
The four-story building would contain 135 apartments for low-income seniors, retail space at ground level and a parking basement for 127 cars.
The city would retain ownership of the lot and could negotiate a lease arrangement with Mercy, according to Rick Smith, the city’s community development director.
The city is hosting the meeting at 1:30 p.m. Thursday at City Hall to get public feedback on the project.
“The project has to be thoroughly analyzed, but it’s already been demonstrated that there’s a need for affordable housing in the city,” Smith said.
Non-profit Intercommunity Mercy Housing provides housing and services to low-income families, seniors and people with special needs.
According to its Web site, it currently owns 43 properties containing 1,727 rental homes throughout Washington. It’s affiliated with the national nonprofit Mercy Housing.
To view the proposed Wenatchee building on the city’s Web site, visit http://wendowntown.org/content/view/102/1/, then click on the project link.
Christine Pratt: 665-1173
pratt@wenatcheeworld.com
Comments
Want to comment on this story? Registered users can use the form below. Please know that we at wenatcheeworld.com hope our site is useful, entertaining and civil. So we'll delete comments that are obscene, abusive or way off topic. We appreciate it when readers use the "suggest removal" button to flag inappropriate comments. For more about interacting with the site, see our Use Policy.
manngel (Dave Gellatly) says...
The city began to look for a place for affordable (low income) housing only after the Northwest Justice Project took them to task a couple of years ago. Attempting to combine retail and this housing and place it over a long-time existing parking structure makes no sense. It is a half-hearted attempt to satisfy the City's need for low-income housing by putting it on the back of retail. This needs to go back to the drawing board and be placed in a residential setting of some kind, where it belongs.
It would be interesting to know what Mr Smith thinks the rent for the air space above the parking lot would be. If this holds true to other city "deals", that rent is probably next to nothing.
I wonder how much money might be spent in near-by businesses by elderly low-income dwellers?
There were public meetings held about a year ago about this same subject, and the public opinion at that time was a resounding NO. I don't think that's changed.
October 9, 2009 at 4:41 p.m. ( permalink | suggest removal )
g (Fiona Merkle) says...
It's true that the city needs low-income housing, especially for seniors and handicapped low-income people; I have some questions, however. First, given the two articles in this wedition of the World, where does the city get a thin dime to pay even for necessary infrastructure and other changes? What does that location do to already bad traffic problems, safety for the residents, access to emergency vehicles and public transportation? Is a parking garage for 127 cars adequate for the facility, and is there any expectation that it would also have spaces to rent? What about street access for the garage (another new traffic light?)? And above all- if the public has in fact resoundingly rejected such a project at that non-residential location, why is the City considering it again? Too many "deals" are being set in place without regard for the community's input already.
October 10, 2009 at 9:31 a.m. ( permalink | suggest removal )