PRM Reaches Important Construction Milestone

Posted by beacon on Tue, May 19, 2015 at 12:18 PM

Construction, Family Housing, Sustainable Buildings, Urban/Mixed Use, Washington

Concrete Footings on the East Building of PRM

As of today, all of the concrete footings for El Centro de la Raza’s Plaza Roberto Maestas (PRM) are poured! The Walsh Construction team has been fortunate to have only a few days of wet weather since work began on April 10^th. This has allowed for quick movement through demolition, excavation and concrete work. It also means we are through the dirt portion of the project with relatively few surprises – a great place to be early on in a large development like PRM!

PRM is an exciting new mixed-use transit oriented community featuring 112 units of affordable housing, a seven classroom expansion for El Centro’s Jose Marti Child Development Center, a multi-cultural community center, neighborhood retail/restaurant space, office space and a central plaza for micro-business, events and enjoyment of the surrounding campus and community. Most of the apartments at PRM will be two- or three-bedrooms to address the critical shortage of affordable family-sized rental housing in the City of Seattle.

Plaza Roberto Maestas will be complete in July 2016. Please visit the project website here for more information.

West Building Festival St Facade Web Edit

West Building Festival Street Facade – Future Neighborhood Retail/Restaurant Space(s)

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 & 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!

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.

News at Beacon

Posted by beacon on Fri, Dec 19, 2014 at 9:53 AM

Beacon, California, Washington

Beacon is excited to share that it recently formed a new strategic alliance with American Baptist Homes of the West (ABHOW). ABHOW has been a client and partner of Beacon for many years, and has provided senior affordable housing in Washington since 1997. They are a large, mission-driven nonprofit housing provider dedicated to housing seniors and the disabled, based in California.

Our alliance is founded on shared values and a common mission to grow affordable housing. ABHOW is acquiring Beacon to draw on our expertise in developing diverse types of affordable housing and Beacon will benefit from the stability that a larger organization provides. Together, we’ll work to continue our core work of affordable housing consulting and expand affordable housing opportunities up and down the West Coast.

We will continue to be Beacon Development Group with the same mission, same leadership, same staff, and same diverse set of services. Our core business will remain affordable housing development in Washington and the Northwest. In addition, we will work with ABHOW to enhance its development opportunities in California, Arizona, Oregon and Idaho.

As always, we will continue to provide the highest level of service and professionalism you know and expect of us.

Answers to Questions You May Have

Why is ABHOW interested in Beacon?

ABHOW saw a shared set of values and an aligned mission to develop affordable housing for low-income households. Looking to expand affordable housing for seniors in California and the West, they see Beacon’s development expertise as an opportunity to assist in this goal.

Why is Beacon interested in affiliating with ABHOW? Why are you doing this?

Established in 1949, ABHOW is a large, well-respected 65 year-old nonprofit housing provider that shares our values of providing affordable housing. At the same time they provide a broader market for our services and a more stable funding base for the long-term operations of Beacon. By having a broader footprint, Beacon can provide more stability to our staff and clients, expand our services, and provide an organizational base for the long-term leadership and financial strength of the organization.

Will Paul Purcell remain the leader of Beacon?

Yes. Paul will remain as President.

Does this mean Beacon will move to California?

No. We will continue at our same location, based here in Seattle, Washington.

Will your services change?

No. All our services will stay the same. Down the road, we hope to be able to utilize the health care experience of ABHOW in their Continuum of Care Residential Communities to expand our integration of health care and affordable housing.

Will Beacon’s staff change?

No. All of our staff will remain in their current positions. We will be hiring additional staff in California to assist with a pipeline of projects that ABHOW has in development there.

What will change?

Beacon Development Group will become a nonprofit LLC and remain a separate but affiliated organization within ABHOW.

What will not Change?

Our commitment to our clients, to excellence, to collaboration, to professionalism, to advocacy and to the low income communities we are honored to serve.

Casa Kino Featured in Affordable Housing Finance Magazine

Posted by beacon on Fri, Nov 14, 2014 at 1:52 PM

Agricultural Workers, Family Housing, Press, Sustainable Buildings, Washington

Washington Developer Continues to Serve Farmworkers

By, Christine Serlin

Central Washington state has a robust agriculture industry, accounting for 20 percent to 25 percent of the region’s total economy.

Farmworkers are a critical part of that economy, handpicking crops, such as asparagus, cherries, and apples. But affordable housing can be scarce in rural areas, and these needed laborers are forced to live in overcrowded or unsafe conditions.

But Yakima, Wash.–based Catholic Charities Housing Services (CCHS) is helping to provide more safe, affordable housing opportunities for farmworkers one project at a time in the seven-county area where it works.

“The need for farmworker housing is acute throughout central Washington,” says CCHS director Bryan Ketcham.

To read the whole article click here.

HACPFC’s Fourth & Pearl Family Housing Breaks Ground

Posted by beacon on Mon, Nov 3, 2014 at 2:56 PM

Agricultural Workers, Construction, Family Housing, Sustainable Buildings, Washington

Housing Authority of the City of Pasco and Franklin County’s vacant Fourth & Pearl site before construction started

Over the summer the Housing Authority of the City of Pasco and Franklin County (HACPFC) broke ground on their newest community located at the intersection of Fourth Avenue and Pearl Street in Pasco, WA.

According to Andy Anderson, Executive Director of the HACPFC, “We are eager to bring quality affordable housing to Pasco. The new community, Fourth and Pearl Family Housing, is being developed on land owned by the Housing Authority for more than 60 years. It has stood vacant for more than 40 years, since the former World War II Navy housing was demolished. We are pleased to help the City of Pasco improve one of its gateways to downtown Pasco by building this new community.”

The new 40-unit community is designed to accommodate large families with 24 two-bedroom units, 12 three-bedroom units, and two four-bedroom units. Thirteen apartments will be rented to families who earn less than 40% of area median income (AMI) and twenty-five apartments will be rented to families who earn less than 50% of AMI.

The Housing Authority will market the project to agricultural workers employed in the Pasco community and surrounding areas. Far too often these hardworking families live in dilapidated and substandard housing.

ZBA Architects designed the project and Walker Construction is the general contractor. Beacon is providing development services. Cascade Management, Inc. will be the property manager.

Numerous public and private sources provided funding for the project. Wells Fargo is the construction lender. The Washington State Department of Commerce contributed $5 million from the state Housing Trust Fund. The Washington State Housing Finance Commission provided 4% Low Income Housing Tax Credits that the National Equity Fund purchased in exchange for $2.9 million in equity. And the City of Pasco supplied $50,000 of Community Development Block Grant funds to support public infrastructure around the project.

As of September HACPFC was 40% complete on the construction of Fourth and Pearl Family Housing and is looking forward to opening in the spring of 2015!

Fourth & Pearl Family Housing – 40% Complete

Beacon Receives Friend of Housing Award

Posted by beacon on Wed, Oct 15, 2014 at 11:53 AM

Awards & Recognition, Beacon, Washington

Paul Purcell, President of Beacon, and staff, accepting the Friend of Housing award from Gabe Spencer, WSHFC Commissioner

Beacon was honored this year to receive a Friend of Housing award at the annual Housing Washington conference that took place last week in Tacoma, WA. Each year since 1994 the Washington State Housing Finance Commission has bestowed this recognition on individuals or organizations who have demonstrated leadership and an exceptional commitment to affordable housing in Washington State. Beacon was privileged to receive this honor and to share the stage with five other outstanding recipients this year.

Paul Purcell, President of Beacon stated, “We are honored to receive this recognition of our team effort to serve the affordable housing community here in Washington State. We are fortunate to work with terrific clients and to support them in their service to those in need of affordable housing. I am proud of my team and we look forward to working on more great projects in the future with our excellent clients and partners.”

Beacon thanks the Washington State Housing Finance Commission for this esteemed recognition and looks forward to continuing the delivery of high quality affordable housing consulting services to nonprofits and public housing authorities throughout Washington State into the future.

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.
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.

Three Rivers Village Grand Re-Opening Celebration

Posted by beacon on Tue, Aug 26, 2014 at 4:03 PM

Acquisition/Rehab, Project Openings, Senior Housing, Sustainable Buildings, Washington

Beacon is excited to announce the grand re-opening of Three Rivers Village, located in Richland, WA. Three Rivers is an affordable housing community owned by American Baptist Homes of the West (ABHOW) and developed with Beacon for seniors and the disabled earning up to 30%, 40%, and 50% of area median income.

ABHOW purchased Three Rivers in 2010 when the previous owners wanted to exit their HUD program, thus preventing a conversion to market rate and displacement of senior and disabled residents. The renovation included the modernization of apartment kitchens and bathrooms, the common area dining room and significant site upgrades. A new expanded manager’s office and meeting room, administration work offices, a wellness room and reconfigured entries were added as new construction. The building remained occupied during the renovation so rigorous steps were taken to lessen the impact on residents, many of whom were frail and elderly. The building entered into a 20-year HUD Section 8 Housing Assistance Payment Contract extension as part of the acquisition by ABHOW. Capital funding was provided by the National Equity Fund, which purchased Low-Income Housing Tax Credits awarded by the Washington State Housing Finance Commission. Acquisition funding and long term debt was provided by Washington Community Reinvestment Association.

With ZBA Architecture as the architect and Walker Construction, Inc. as the GC on this project, Three Rivers Village was completed this spring. The grand re-opening ceremony took place on site in June and was attended by residents, community leaders, funders and members of the development team. Many people gathered to view and honor the success of the development and the preservation of such an important community asset for the City of Richland. Since many of the seniors at Three Rivers Village love birds, Beacon welcomed guests back into their newly renovated apartments by donating birdhouses and bird-feeders to the property so residents can relax and watch the birds in their newly improved exterior gathering spaces.

Casa Kino Grand Opening

Posted by beacon on Wed, Jul 23, 2014 at 11:50 AM

Agricultural Workers, Family Housing, Project Openings, Sustainable Buildings, Washington

Casa Kino, Quincy, WA

We are proud to announce that Catholic Charities Housing Services recently celebrated the opening of Casa Kino in Quincy, WA. Developed together with Beacon, Casa Kino is an affordable multi-family development consisting of 51 newly constructed 2- and 3-bedroom townhomes for agricultural workers and low-income families earning up to 30%, 40% and 50% percent of the area median income. The development complies with the Evergreen Sustainable Development Standard which emphasizes green building techniques. The apartments will save about 50% of the energy usage typical of standard construction through the use of structural Insulated Panels for exterior walls, increased ceiling/roof insulation, efficient windows and advanced sealing techniques in walls and openings. Water usage will also be greatly reduced by low-flow fixtures throughout the units and extensive “xeriscaping” landscaping in the development.

Beacon and CCHS staff members handing out soccer balls to the children at Casa Kino

It has been our privilege to work with Catholic Charities Housing Services of Yakima on this joint collaboration with designer, ZBA Architecture and general contractor, MC Lundgren Construction, Inc., to develop yet another quality affordable housing project for agricultural workers and their families. With a focus on comfort and safety for children on site, the community includes abundant outdoor recreational areas, a computer lab and multimedia center, classrooms and meeting rooms and a community building with centralized laundry and kitchen facilities. CCHS provides extensive services for families and children in the community building at the property.

The project cost $10.5 million and was financed with a tax credit equity investment from National Equity Fund® through the Washington State Housing Finance Commission’s Low-Income Housing Tax Credit Program, and funding from the Washington State Department of Commerce Housing Trust Fund and the Community Development Block Grant (CDBG) Housing Enhancement Fund, administered through the City of Quincy.

In celebration of the opening of Casa Kino Beacon staff gifted a soccer, basketball or volleyball to each apartment for kids and families to enjoy together. Paul Purcell, President of Beacon, was then quickly challenged to a soccer match after the festivities wrapped up (he lost!)

Watching the joy from the kids as they received the balls was priceless, as it reminded us what our work in affordable housing is all about – creating stable, safe and happy environments for children to grow and thrive in. Congratulations to Catholic Charities Housing Services on creating another great community for families in Central Washington!

Paul Purcell, President of Beacon, playing soccer with children at Casa Kino

Beacon Named one of 100 Best Companies to Work For 2014

Posted by beacon on Wed, Jul 2, 2014 at 3:05 PM

Awards & Recognition, Beacon, Washington

We are proud to announce that on June 17th Beacon was honored with the Seattle Business magazine’s 100 Best Companies to Work For 2014 award. Our team attended a celebratory event at the Westin Hotel in Seattle, which recognized all of the award recipients from 15 different cities across the state of Washington. Beacon ranked 7^th among the 25 small companies honored – not bad for our first showing on this list!

Over the last 15 years Beacon has had the privilege of working with over 30 excellent non-profit and housing authority clients across the state. With the help of trusted funders, consultant partners, attorneys, architects, and general contractors we have assisted our clients in creating or preserving 69 affordable housing communities, serving thousands of low-income Washingtonians along the way.

We work hard to bring our mission-driven culture of caring, collaboration, advocacy, teamwork, high standards, and excellence to every project we undertake with a client. In turn, the Beacon leadership team works diligently to ensure these same qualities are maintained among our staff and sets a tone in our office that is based on respect, integrity, fun, and flexibility. It was exciting to have these values recognized by this award from Seattle Business magazine.

The award also coincides nicely with the launch of our new website, including an updated logo, which will hopefully make access to our services and staff more intuitive. There remains a great deal of work to be done to create the quality housing that low-income households deserve. We are fortunate to be doing this work together, with our great clients and partners. On behalf of the entire Beacon team, thank you for 15 great years! We look forward to working with you for many more into the future.

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Washington Developer Continues to Serve Farmworkers