Summary

King County announced purchase agreements for three additional properties for Health Through Housing, bringing the total acquisitions for the initiative to eight properties. Once purchased, the buildings located in Federal Way, Pioneer Square, and North Seattle, will provide 313 safe, affordable homes for King County’s chronically homeless residents.

Story

King County Executive Dow Constantine announced the county’s plans to purchase its sixth, seventh, and eighth Health Through Housing properties for a total of $96 million today at a press conference in Seattle. Together the properties now under purchase and sale agreements will soon provide housing for up to 313 people experiencing homelessness.

The agreements announced today are for the purchase of the former Extended Stay America in Federal Way for $23 million, a brand-new apartment building, Canton Lofts, in Pioneer Square for $32 million, and the former Extended Stay America in North Seattle for $41 million. With other purchases already announced, King County is positioned to welcome almost 850 chronically homeless people off the streets and into their new homes before this winter.

"For too long, we’ve let process stand in the way of progress, and with our regional partners across King County we have acted swiftly to purchase the first eight Health Through Housing properties, a substantial step forward in our regional solution to chronic homelessness," said Executive Constantine. "Two months ago I announced the first purchase for Health through Housing, and with today’s announcement we’ll soon have 850 new supportive housing units ready to serve our community before this winter, and up to 1600 by the end of next year."

"Our unsheltered neighbors are experiencing a humanitarian crisis which has worsened measurably during the COVID-19 pandemic. Solving one of the most challenging issues of our time requires true collaboration because Seattle cannot solve homelessness alone. Executive Constantine has been a true partner to understand homelessness is a regional crisis that demands regional solutions like Health Through Housing. With Health Through Housing and Seattle's 1300 homes for individuals experiencing homelessness, we are on the verge of opening a transformational number of new homes to make progress on this crisis," said Seattle Mayor Jenny A. Durkan. "Moving unsheltered residents to safer and healthier spaces, and ensuring those resources are available throughout the county wherever individuals experience housing instability, is one of the important ways we are working to stabilize and support our most vulnerable neighbors in their journey to permanent housing."

Canton Lofts in Pioneer Square

The Canton Lofts in Seattle’s Pioneer Square are located at 204 3rd Ave South, and is a new development with 80 units. 

"The sale of Canton Lofts to King County is a great example of how the public and private sectors can work together to address a pressing challenge - the chronic shortage of attainable housing," said Peter Nitze, CEO of Nitze-Stagen.  "Nitze-Stagen has been investing in Pioneer Square for decades, and we remain confident in its future and believe this transaction takes advantage of a singular confluence of factors to make a positive impact."

North Seattle – Stone Avenue

The former Extended Stay America in North Seattle is located at 13300 Stone Ave North and contains 131 units. King County previously announced another acquisition of a former Holiday Inn Express on Aurora Ave N earlier this month.

“King County and the City of Seattle’s joint emphasis on quickly scaling our housing options and bringing our homeless neighbors indoors is more important than ever, especially as our unhoused community is more exposed to deathly heatwaves, choking wildfire smoke and rapidly-spreading COVID-19 variants,” said Seattle City Councilmember Teresa Mosqueda. “The Health through Housing model is a shared commitment by the City and the County, and ensures safe spaces for our homeless neighbors while returning public spaces to the larger community. This is just one of many efforts I am proud to have supported with the County in the last year. I know that there is much more needed and - with the near $45 million the City Council has allocated - much more to come."

Federal Way

The former Extended Stay America in Federal Way is located at 1400 S 320th St. It was constructed in 1999 and contains 101 units.

The Health Through Housing program provides supportive housing to people experiencing, and at risk of, chronic homelessness. 
In addition to a room to call their own, the hotels and apartment units will offer 24/7 staffing and onsite supports to help very vulnerable residents regain health and stability. A competitive process will determine the onsite service providers before the facilities are operational later this year.

As with all Health Through Housing initiative purchases, King County worked closely with local leaders to complete the agreements, coordinating with leaders from the City of Federal Way and the City of Seattle.

In addition to today’s purchase agreement announcements, King County has purchased five other properties since May, including the former Silver Cloud Inn in Redmond with 144 units, the former Holiday Inn Express & Suites in North Seattle with 99 units, the former Extended Stay America hotel in Renton with 110 units, the former Inn at Queen Anne in Seattle with 80 units, and the former Clarion Inn in Auburn with 102 units. King County is on track to purchase 847 total units for this effort thus far, and between today’s purchase agreement announcements and previous acquisitions will invest $198 million in since May 2021.

Health Through Housing is an initiative introduced by Executive Constantine in his 2020 Budget Speech that dedicates one tenth of a cent of sales tax revenues for the purchase of hotels, motels, and other single room settings for use as emergency and permanent supportive housing for people experiencing chronic homelessness in King County. The King County Council approved the initiative and the implementation of the funding. The sales tax was made possible by the Washington State Legislature, to create a dedicated fund source to help in addressing the crisis of homelessness.

Relevant links

• Health Through Housing

Quotes

For too long, we’ve let process stand in the way of progress, and with our regional partners across King County we have acted swiftly to purchase the first eight Health Through Housing properties, a substantial step forward in our regional solution to chronic homelessness. Two months ago I announced the first purchase for Health through Housing, and with today’s announcement we’ll soon have 850 new supportive housing units ready to serve our community before this winter, and up to 1600 by the end of next year.

Our unsheltered neighbors are experiencing a humanitarian crisis which has worsened measurably during the COVID-19 pandemic. Solving one of the most challenging issues of our time requires true collaboration because Seattle cannot solve homelessness alone. Executive Constantine has been a true partner to understand homelessness is a regional crisis that demands regional solutions like Health Through Housing. With Health Through Housing and Seattle's 1300 homes for individuals experiencing homelessness, we are on the verge of opening a transformational number of new homes to make progress on this crisis. Moving unsheltered residents to safer and healthier spaces, and ensuring those resources are available throughout the county wherever individuals experience housing instability, is one of the important ways we are working to stabilize and support our most vulnerable neighbors in their journey to permanent housing.

The sale of Canton Lofts to King County is a great example of how the public and private sectors can work together to address a pressing challenge - the chronic shortage of attainable housing. Nitze-Stagen has been investing in Pioneer Square for decades, and we remain confident in its future and believe this transaction takes advantage of a singular confluence of factors to make a positive impact.

King County and the City of Seattle’s joint emphasis on quickly scaling our housing options and bringing our homeless neighbors indoors is more important than ever, especially as our unhoused community is more exposed to deathly heatwaves, choking wildfire smoke and rapidly-spreading COVID-19 variants. The Health through Housing model is a shared commitment by the City and the County, and ensures safe spaces for our homeless neighbors while returning public spaces to the larger community. This is just one of many efforts I am proud to have supported with the County in the last year. I know that there is much more needed and - with the near $45 million the City Council has allocated - much more to come.

For more information, contact:

Chase Gallagher, Executive Office, 206-263-8537