Six-story housing projects to transform MLK Way near People’s Park
A temporary homeless shelter and a vacant building make up the block between Eighth Street and Ninth Street along Martin Luther King Jr. Way in Tacoma’s Hilltop.
In a few years, that land will be transformed into something else.
More than 200 units of housing are going in on the block across the street from People’s Park as part of two six-story projects.
On Eighth Street and MLK, Mercy Housing Northwest is expected to start construction this fall for a 60-unit senior housing development.
Next door at Ninth Street and MLK, Koz Development is constructing a 156-unit apartment and mixed housing project. Demolition of the vacant building on the property is anticipated to start sometime in March.
The projects highlight the delicate balance in Hilltop to provide needed housing units while keeping the area affordable for the people who already live there.
Market-rate apartments
Koz Development has been in the news previously for changing up the way apartment projects are delivered.
Two previous projects, Koz on Market, 1554 Market St., and Koz at the Dome, 304 Puyallup Ave., not only have emphasized development without onsite parking to encourage mass transit use, but also have offered a portion of the apartments as subsidized housing catering to homeless students attending Tacoma Community College or University of Washington Tacoma.
Koz on MLK Way will have 30 onsite parking spaces, but that’s not to encourage people to bring their gas guzzlers.
According to feasibility information on the project’s website, “To encourage car-free living, the project will house electric cars, scooters and bikes parked in the secured garage that will be available to our residents.”
The site will have 156 units total: 75 studios, 51 one bedrooms, 25 two bedrooms, five three bedrooms and ground-floor retail.
Cathy Reines, president and CEO of Koz Development, told The News Tribune via email: “We are continuing discussions with the city and neighborhood businesses regarding a retail tenant that creates the vibrant, active streetscape that we are all striving for.”
As for the project’s time line: “We are planning demolition of the current structure toward the end of March with construction of the mixed-use, multi-family project to immediately follow.”
The rents, as presented to the City Council to gain a 12-year multifamily tax exemption, showed the market rate apartment rents as studios at 350 square feet going for $950; one-bedroom, one-bath units at 470 square feet at $1,100; two-bedroom, one-bath units at 735 square feet at $1,450; and three-bedroom, one-bath units at 960 square feet going for $1,700.
Three live/work units in the project also are listed in the project’s details.
According to a City Council action memo explaining the rents: “Although at this time, the market-rate expected rents and the affordable rents are nearly the same and are deemed ‘affordable’, over the 12-year exemption as market-rate rents increase, the affordable unit will have to continue to comply with the allowable rental rates tied to the 80 percent of the Pierce County area median income as published annually by HUD.”
Tacoma City Council approved the MFTE proposal Tuesday night.
Currently, a building that was formerly used as a church sits vacant at Ninth Street and MLK Jr. Way. It’s been vacant for at least three and a half years, estimates Jeff Robinson, director of the city’s community and economic development department. The building has been an attractive nuisance in the past few years, Debbie Bingham, project manager for the city, said at Tuesday’s council meeting.
Affordable senior living
Mercy Housing Northwest will be adding its fifth project in the area with its MLK Senior Housing project.
The six-story, 43,000-square-foot building costs about $18.5 million and will feature 60 one-bedroom units for people over the age of 62. The units are about 450 square feet each.
Half of the units will be reserved for those earning below 30 percent area median income (AMI), the other half for those earning below 50 percent AMI. A fifth of the units will be set aside for seniors with disabilities.
“This is a way to help seniors in particular stay in the neighborhood (and) stay connected,” said Marcia Wright-Soika, director of philanthropy and strategic partnerships for Mercy Housing.
The project also will have space for community events, health and wellness activities and other programs.
Expected completion date is fall 2021.
Mercy Housing facilities in Tacoma include Eliza McCade town homes and Catalina Apartments, both on South Yakima Avenue.
In February, the U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development (HUD) awarded $2.5 million to Mercy Housing Northwest as a subsidy for the project.
“We are looking forward to bringing more affordable homes, particularly for seniors to age in place in their community,” said Bill Rumpf, Mercy Housing Northwest president. “We have a long history of providing housing in the Hilltop neighborhood, and we’re excited to continue our commitment to equitable development by locating the project near the light rail expansion.”
Rep. Derek Kilmer wrote to HUD Secretary Ben Carson in support of Mercy Housing Northwest’s application.
“Communities in our region and across the state are facing an unprecedented shortage of affordable housing. As a consequence, people are feeling squeezed financially. This is impacting the ability of people – young and old – to be able to live with dignity. But we’re working to change that,” Kilmer said in a press release.
Mercy Housing Northwest and Koz Development have kept in touch regarding their projects.
“We would be completing at around the same time,” said Obinna Amobi, project manager at Mercy Housing Northwest. “They would be a little later than us because it’s a larger building.”
In December, the city of Tacoma authorized development of a temporary micro shelter at the Eighth and MLK Way site for those experiencing homelessness at People’s Park. The 8-month contract is expected to end in August.
Bingham said Tuesday that the two projects would not impact the shelter.
This story was originally published March 7, 2020 at 7:30 AM.
