On Thursday, April 16th, NDC took part in a celebration and ground breaking in Seattle, Washington for one of its latest projects, Solid Ground’s Brettler Family Place. This new 52-unit family housing development is located on what was formerly the Sand Point Naval Air Station. It is part of an extraordinary community building initiative of Solid Ground and Common Ground to provide affordable housing and community facilities in one of Seattle’s most beautiful areas, bordering Magnuson Park and overlooking Lake Washington. NDC supplied $5.5 million in Low-Income Housing Tax Credit financing to the project through NDC Corporate Equity Fund(CEF).
Brettler Family Place is the first newly-constructed affordable housing project built by Solid Ground at the Sand Point site. The new buildings will offer 52 units of housing for families coming out of emergency and transitional shelter, some with incomes below 30% of annual median income (AMI), some with incomes below 40% of AMI, and some with incomes below 60% of AMI.
Cheryl Cobbs, Solid Ground’s executive director, opened the ceremony and thanked the many organizations involved in realizing the project, recognizing NDC for our financing contribution. House Speaker Frank Chopp, Representative Gutiérrez Kenney, and Deputy Mayor Darryl Smith, all noted the importance to the community of housing for low-income individuals and of organizations such as Solid Ground.
The new housing is being named Brettler Family Place in honor of the extraordinary support of the Brettler Family Foundation, which has already set its sights on the next phase of the project. A community center will be built adjacent to Brettler Family Place to house supportive services and community activities and an additional 20 units of family housing and 34 units of singles housing are planned.
Celia Waddell, a former Sand Point Family Housing resident testified to the benefits of the Sand Point community. Waddell, after moving into Sand Point Housing with her family, has received a degree in hospitality management and moved her family out of the housing into market rate housing. “We are grateful that this place and these people were here for us. And we are thankful that even more families who need a home will soon have the opportunity live here.”