Many people think of the Pike Place Market only as a wonderful place to shop locally or as a tourist destination. While these attributes are certainly core to its identity, the iconic Seattle institution, governed by the Pike Place Market Public Development Authority (PPMPDA), is also a developer and manager of rental housing at the Market, most of which is reserved for low-income seniors in the Seattle community.
Western facade of MarketFront (housing on right)
In May the PPMPDA broke ground on their latest $73 million redevelopment project called MarketFront. The Market-centric project will convert a .75-acre surface parking lot on Western Avenue into a dynamic public plaza with fantastic views of Puget Sound and Olympic Mountains, table space for farmers, craftspeople and artisan purveyors, commercial space, low-income housing, a neighborhood center, and 300 public parking spaces. The 40 low-income housing apartments in this project will serve seniors making up to 30% and 50% of Seattle’s area median income, or $18,840 and $31,400 respectively.
Western Avenue Senior Housing – Image credit Miller Hull Partnership
Beacon is privileged to serve as a consultant to the PPMPDAon the $9 million low-income housing portion of MarketFront. Beacon has assisted the PPMPDA in assembling financing for this exciting project including securing an award from the City of Seattle Housing Levy, and is currently working with them to identify a Low-Income Housing Tax Credit investor for the project. Working with the Miller Hull Partnership throughout design development, we have provided feedback on the design of the senior apartments based on our deep experience with this type of housing. Once in construction, Beacon’s Construction Manager will attend weekly construction meetings to ensure adherence to the Evergreen Sustainable Development Standard criteria and to monitor overall construction progress.
Aerial photo of MarkeFront site work – Sept. 2015
As of this month, mass excavation on the MarketFront project is nearly complete. Construction on the senior housing is slated to start in April 2016 and wrap-up by the end of the year, with the entire project coming online in 2017. Sign up for detailed construction updates on Sellen Construction’s project website and consider donating to the MarketFront’s Pike Up! capital campaign, to ensure the long term success of this wonderful project.
During a time of unprecedented lack of affordable housing in Seattle, it is bold new projects like MarketFront that will continue to ensure a sustainable lifestyle without a car for downtown residents, and a City that is affordable to everyone.