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Beacon Projects Recognized for Excellence

Posted by beacon on Thu, Sep 15, 2022 at 11:23 AM
Awards & Recognition, Beacon, Construction, Special Needs, Urban/Mixed Use, Washington

Beacon Development Group is proud to be the recent recipient of two different awards for exemplary service to the community: the Award of Excellence from the Urban Land Institute (ULI) and the Award of Merit from the National Association of Housing and Redevelopment Officials (NAHRO).

Beacon and Hopeworks Social Enterprises are proud to be the recipients of ULI’s “Award of Excellence 2022” for Hopeworks Station North. Hopeworks Station North provides 65 units of housing for homeless and low-income individuals, with 57 dedicated to those facing homelessness. On the ground floor, multiple job-training programs provide pathways to employment and economic stability. Hopeworks additionally offers an internship program for 75 low-income individuals annually. Internships include their culinary food service program called FoodWorks, a retail training center, and a youth career center.

Additionally, Beacon and the Yakima Housing Authority are proud to be the recipients of the “Award of Merit 2022” for Community Revitalization from NAHRO for Chuck Austin Place (CAP). CAP provides 41 supportive housing units focused on ending veteran homelessness in Yakima through affordable housing and multi-faceted social services. These services include a full-time Resident Services Coordinator which works closely with residents to establish goals and connect resident to their goals, a weekly food pantry, and Veterans’ Benefit Coordinators who work with veterans to secure their VA benefits. CAP’s holistic model is unique to Yakima, to veterans, and to service collaboration.

Beacon Development Group is proud to be recognized for their service to those facing homelessness and housing instability in our communities.


Chuck Austin Place Grand Opening

Posted by beacon on Tue, Feb 1, 2022 at 8:01 PM
Beacon, Family Housing, Special Needs, Washington

Photo by Edison Creative Group (Valleyford, WA)

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

On the 246th birthday of the US Marine Corps, Beacon joined more than 100 veterans and elected officials to celebrate the opening of Yakima Housing Authority’s (YHA) Chuck Austin Place.  The project is located on the former Yakima Armory which was donated to YHA through a federal property disposition program.  It provides 14 studios of permanent housing, 17 one-bedroom units, and 10 two-bedroom units for homeless singles and families.

Photo by Edison Creative Group (Valleyford, WA)

The 12,000 SF of social services space will provide comprehensive services in one location for homeless veterans in the Yakima community. Yakima Neighborhood Health Services will operate a primary care clinic and additional social service office space will be occupied by Veterans Administration Supportive Housing (VASH) case managers and Supportive Services for Veteran Families (SSVF) case managers. This project addresses the need in Yakima for housing and services for homeless veterans in the community.

 

 

 

 


YWCA Pierce County Ground Breaking Ceremony

Posted by beacon on Wed, Jul 24, 2019 at 5:56 PM
Beacon, Construction, Family Housing, Special Needs, Washington

Home at Last, YWCA Pierce County (Rendering: SMR Architects)

 

YWCA Pierce County CEO Miriam Barnett, Tacoma City Council Member Ryan Mello, Mayor of Tacoma Victoria Woodards, Tacoma Housing Authority CEO Michael Mirra, Washington State Senator Laurie Jinkins and U.S. Representative Denny Heck.

On July 20th, YWCA hosted a ceremonial groundbreaking for their Tacoma project Home at Last that is scheduled to start construction next month.  The project will provide 54 units serving individuals and families whose income are at or below 30% or 50% of the area median income, plus one manager’s unit.  There will be a range of unit sizes from studios to three-bedroom units to accommodate these families, with 42 units set aside for homeless households and 12 units designated for families with special needs.  The ground floor of the building will contain 4,000 square feet of space that will house support services.  The YWCA’s counseling and housing programs will occupy this space.  Residents will have access to a full range of programming provided by the YWCA in the adjacent building, including legal services, therapeutic children’s programming, youth services and support groups.  

YWCA Pierce County CEO Miriam Barnett, Mayor of Tacoma Victoria Woodards and Washington State Representative Laurie Jinkins were among the speakers who shared their appreciation for the project. The $23 million construction is scheduled to be completed in Spring of 2021.  

For more information on the project you can visit: https://www.homeatlastywca.org/.

 


Affordable Housing Design Leadership Institute

Posted by beacon on Fri, Aug 24, 2018 at 10:45 AM
Awards & Recognition, Beacon, Special Needs, Washington


Beacon joined Yakima Housing Authority as participants in Enterprise’s annual AHDLI. The AHDLI is a 3-day in-person training program for the country’s leading affordable housing designers and developers seeking to find creative solutions to design challenges in affordable housing projects. It was a great opportunity to participate in interactive design charrettes to share knowledge and expertise with innovators in our industry. This year, eight developers presented projects from across the country and received design feedback from peers and the panel of design experts gathered in Seattle.

AHDLI partcipants

The YHA and Beacon presented YHA’s Veteran Supportive Housing and Service Center project. The project is the redevelopment of 4.64-acre former United States Marine Corp armory property in Yakima. The project includes rehabilitation of the armory as well as new construction housing to create 41 units of permanent supportive housing for homeless veterans and their families. In addition, the project will include a service center that will be open to homeless veterans in the community. This will include a primary care and dental clinic for homeless veterans. Office space will be created for veteran service providers, including VASH case managers who will provide services for residents onsite.

Our YHA team received insightful feedback on our project design, which we are now integrating into our plans. The knowledge shared at the 3-day workshop has provided us with new ideas and resources, not only for the YHA project, but for our design process on other projects going forward. We are grateful to our team members at YHA, to the other designers and presenters, and to Enterprise for this valuable opportunity.


HopeWorks Station II and Colby Avenue Center Groundbreakings

Posted by beacon on Fri, May 25, 2018 at 9:47 AM
Beacon, Family Housing, Special Needs, Urban/Mixed Use, Washington

 

Beacon Development Group is proud to announce the financial closing and groundbreaking of two new affordable housing projects in Everett, WA: HopeWorks Station II and The Colby Avenue Youth Center.

Conceptual rendering of HopeWorks Station II

HopeWorks Station II is sponsored by Housing Hope and HopeWorks and is located within the Everett Station District neighborhood on the 3300 block of Broadway in downtown Everett.

This new transit oriented, mixed-use development will provide affordable housing dedicated to serving individuals and small families who enter the residential program through homelessness or who are very low income. It will offer a Workforce Development Center comprised of food-focused culinary training programs, career counseling and confidence building, offering sustainable career pathways. The residential portion of the project will consist of 65 apartments: 28 studios, 27 one-bedrooms and 10 two-bedroom units dedicated to empowering disadvantaged veterans, families and youth towards self-sufficiency. For updated project information please click here.

The list of funders is extensive and includes predevelopment funding from Impact Capital, Low Income Housing Tax Credit equity from Enterprise, construction lending from JP Morgan Chase Bank, a Federal Home Loan Bank AHP award, New Markets Tax Credits allocated from Enterprise and Northern Trust, a bridge loan from Enterprise Community Loan Fund, public funding from the State of WA, City of Everett and Snohomish County, social investors and corporate, foundation and private donors from the community.

 

Conceptual Renderings of Cocoon House

The Colby Avenue Youth Center is Cocoon House’s new 31,848 square foot facility that will include a 4,200 SF youth drop-in center, social service and program space, and housing with 40 units for homeless youth and young adults. Cocoon House’s goal in creating this new building is to provide homeless youth in Snohomish County with access to a full array of housing and services in one, safe, secure location. The ground-floor youth day center will include a commercial kitchen, large common room, laundry area, shower rooms, computer room, music room, counseling offices and a visiting nurse primary care office. Cocoon House’s outreach, homeless prevention and administrative offices will also be located on this floor. The 40 units of housing, located on the second and third floors, will include 20 SRO units of transitional housing for 15 – 17 year old youth and 20 units of permanent supportive housing units for 18 – 24 year old young adults. The housing areas include common area kitchens and living rooms for residents to gather, eat and socialize. Twenty-four hour staffing and intensive case management support will also be provided by Cocoon House.

The list of funders includes WA State Dept of Commerce, Snohomish County, City of Everett, City of Marysville, Peoples Bank and Cocoon House.

 

 


King County One Night Count

Posted by beacon on Tue, Feb 2, 2016 at 10:32 AM
Advocacy, Beacon, Special Needs, Washington

Each year in January the Seattle/King County Coalition on Homelessness sponsors the annual One Night Count of homeless people in King County, Washington. Over 1,100 volunteers come together and fan out across the county to count the number of men, women, and children who are homeless and sleeping outdoors without shelter. At the same time, staff at agencies operating shelters and transitional housing account for people staying in their programs. The resulting numbers are critical to understanding the magnitude of homelessness in this region and to crafting strategies and solutions to this problem.

Homeless Count Beacon Staff

Beacon staff gather at 2am in Capitol Hill, Seattle to begin One Night Count

Beacon staff gather from 2:00-5:00am each year to participate in the One Night Count. According to the Coalition on Homelessness the number of unsheltered homeless people counted this year totaled “at least 4,505 men, women, and children. This number is an increase of 19% over those found without shelter last year. This number is always assumed to be an undercount, because we do not count everywhere, and because many people take great care not to be visible.” Complete statistics from the count can be found here.

These numbers are sobering news for the Seattle/King County region and underpin the urgent need for aggressive solutions to homelessness. Through its volunteer and professional efforts, Beacon Development Group will continue to advocate for more resources to address the number of unsheltered people in Seattle/King County, such as the renewal of the Seattle Housing Levy later this year, and will continue to partner with clients to build quality, safe, and decent affordable housing to permanently transition people and families off the streets.


Ronald Commons Breaks Ground!

Posted by beacon on Fri, Nov 27, 2015 at 9:41 AM
Family Housing, Special Needs, Sustainable Buildings, Urban/Mixed Use, Washington

Ronald Commons Groundbreaking (2)

Breaking Ground

On October 12th, Compass Housing Alliance’s Compass at Ronald Commons project in Shoreline, WA broke ground and started construction. Ronald Commons is an affordable housing project with an on-site 12,000 square foot Integrated Service Center, including a food bank owned and operated by Hopelink. Slated for completion in late 2016, Ronald Commons will offer services and permanent, affordable housing to sixty formerly homeless and low-income households, including families and veterans. All apartments will be affordable to residents making between 30 percent and 50 percent of area median income.

Beacon is providing development services on the project. Other partners include Ronald United Methodist Church, Walsh Construction Co., SMR Architects, and Third Place Design Co-Operative.

CRC rendering Linden Ave.

View of Compass at Ronald Commons from Linden Ave.

“Compass Housing Alliance is very excited to be developing our first permanent housing facility in Shoreline to meet the need for affordable housing. Ronald Commons will be within a community where residents can access multiple supports on their path to stability as well as the schools, arts, and other amenities that make Shoreline such a wonderful place to live,” said Janet Pope, Compass Housing Alliance Executive Director.

The vision for Ronald Commons began five years ago with the Ronald United Methodist Church. Through a unique partnership between the Church, Compass Housing Alliance and Hopelink, the Ronald Commons project will be built adjacent to the Church, which will also complete a remodel that expands space for community partners and furthers its mission of community outreach.

CRC rendering plaza view 3

Plaza View of Compass at Ronald Commons

To finance Ronald Commons, Compass Housing Alliance received a combination of funds and support from the City of Shoreline, King County Housing Finance Program, King County Veterans and Human Services Levy, WA State Housing Trust Fund, WA State Housing Finance Commission, Impact Capital, National Equity Fund, Bank of America, Home Depot Foundation, LISC/Met Life, McEachern Charitable Trust, WA State Department of Commerce, and the Sambataro Family Foundation.

Beacon is proud to be affiliated with Compass Housing Alliance and this exciting project!


Paul Purcell wins Cyber Choice Mirror Ball Trophy at Plymouth’s Seattle Dances!

Posted by beacon on Fri, May 15, 2015 at 1:24 PM
Awards & Recognition, Beacon, Special Needs, Washington

Paul Dancing

Paul & Deron in Action!

This spring Paul Purcell, President of Beacon, participated in Plymouth Housing Group’s Seattle Dances! Modeled after the national TV sensation Dancing with the Stars, the event matches local leaders with professional dancers to compete and raise funds for Plymouth’s mission of providing permanent homes and services for the homeless in Seattle. Paul trained for 10 weeks with his professional partner, Deron Hayes-Hirschy to prepare for the big night!

Paul Purcell Mirror Ball

Enjoying the Cyber Choice Mirror Ball Trophies!

We are excited to report that Paul and his partner Deron won the Cyber Choice Mirror Ball; for the celebrity dance couple who raises the most money online before the event. Collectively, the eight celebrity dance couples raised over $53,000 in online votes for Plymouth Housing Group. Overall, the 6th annual Seattle Dances gala brought together 460 generous guests who gave an incredible $442,000! Congratulations Plymouth Housing Group on another great event!

Beacon is proud to have worked with Plymouth on the Pat Williams Apartments and on the recently funded 7th & Cherry project.

 

 


Occupied Rehabs Done Right

Posted by beacon on Tue, Oct 14, 2014 at 5:05 PM
Acquisition/Rehab, Construction, Occupied Rehabs, Senior Housing, Special Needs

Beacon works on various different affordable housing project types with clients. In recent years, we have worked on many occupied rehabilitation projects, preserving important assets for owners, residents and communities across Washington State.

An occupied rehab is typically an older building that undergoes a renovation while residents are still living there. This often involves upgrades to critical life and safety systems such as fire alarms, heating and venting systems and “aging in place” features such as grab bars in showers and bathrooms, and enhanced ADA access to units and common areas. While doing work on the building, occupants are sometimes relocated for short or long periods of time, to allow for construction in their apartments to take place.  At Beacon we pride ourselves on crafting a construction approach to occupied rehabs that is sensitive to resident needs in order to minimize disruption to the daily lives of tenants.

Over the past 10 years, Beacon has completed a dozen occupied rehab projects with clients throughout the State of Washington. We have found that our team approach to projects works well on the complexities of this type of development, with project and construction managers working together to coordinate details with owners and residents. Beacon also leverages the deep knowledge of our construction managers, Jason Manges and Matthew Flickinger, who combined have over 30 years of experience overseeing construction throughout the region.

In order to execute an occupied rehab project, we have found that there are important steps that must be taken into account to ensure success and deliver a project that is high quality and under budget.

  • Conduct a pre-mortem. This is where everyone involved in the project, from project managers to property management, gathers together in a room and lists all the possibilities that may arise during construction, especially any risks related to scope of improvements or hazardous materials.
  • Commission a hazardous materials assessment report. This is when the building is analyzed for hazardous materials such as lead, asbestos or mold that may be harmful during the construction process. In Washington State subcontractors cannot legally perform work on older buildings without this kind of assessment and since remediation of these materials is expensive, we have found it is worth investing in this kind of report up front.
  • Perform deconstructive testing. Since it is often impossible to enter every apartment and look behind every wall before work begins, we have found that it is worth deeply investigating conditions in a limited number of units in order to develop a realistic scope and budget for work throughout the building. This requires a high level of coordination with property management and tenants.
  • Develop a realistic schedule. It is often worth consulting with a general contractor early to develop a realistic schedule for how long improvement within apartments will take. This should take into account a certain amount of “slush” time for unforeseen conditions in each unit.

  • Let your schedule inform your resident relocation plan. Work early and often with property management, and a relocation specialist if necessary, to craft a plan that is both sensible and sensitive to tenant needs. Publicly funded occupied rehabs in Washington often involve senior and special needs residents, and particular care should be paid to minimize disruption to these households if possible.
  • Develop a comprehensive pest management plan. Nobody likes to talk about bedbugs, but it is now a reality in many types of housing in Washington State. As a result, coordination with property management staff must take place to eradicate bedbugs at several junctures during an occupied rehab. Beacon recommends treatment of the building prior to the commencement of work and then again after completion. In addition, treatment of resident belongings may be necessary as part of the relocation process to avoid re-contamination after completion. Bring on a pest control company early to help craft this plan.

    Entrance After

    ABHOW’s Three Rivers Village Entrance – After

  • Know your roles. Within a Beacon occupied rehab development process, the “main players” involved are the architect, the general contractor, the owner, and Beacon. The architect is responsible for documenting and communicating the design effort. The general contractor is responsible for staffing the job, bidding unit prices and maintaining the schedule. The owner is responsible for reaching out to the residents, coordinating the relocation efforts and high level project decisions. Lastly, working with the owner, Beacon is typically responsible for assembling the financing for the project and ensuring effective and efficient team work throughout that will deliver a high quality building that is on schedule and under budget!

Despite their challenges, occupied rehabs often can be the most satisfying kind of development due to the stark changes in the “before” and “after” conditions of a building. At Beacon we work with clients and project teams to deliver beautifully transformed buildings for low-income residents. It is very exciting to see how happy residents can be with improved living conditions once a project is done.

 


 
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