Latest news with #LIHI
Yahoo
4 days ago
- General
- Yahoo
60-unit tiny home village for the homeless is coming to Tacoma this July
This summer, a new 60-unit, tiny-home village for the homeless will be opening near Tacoma's South Hosmer Street. The project being called Kingfisher Village, 1824 S. 84th St., is a partnership between Pierce County and the Low-Income Housing Institute (LIHI) and is expected to open on July 21, according to LIHI. According to a blog post on LIHI's website, the homes at the village will serve about 70 to 75 people at a time. John Brown, a program manager for LIHI, told The News Tribune the tiny houses are 8-feet by 12-feet wide, are insulated and contain heat and air-conditioning units. The homes will include beds and furnishings. According to Brown, the village will include case-management offices, a common kitchen, community space, security fencing, plumbed showers, laundry facilities, 24/7 staff offices, storage and parking. According to LIHI, the village will serve individuals and couples that are experiencing homelessness in the Tacoma area. People are referred to Kingfisher Village as part of the state's Encampment Resolution program in cooperation with Pierce County and City of Tacoma. LIHI has operated other tiny-home villages under the same model. While most of LIHI's villages are in the Seattle area, a few are in Tacoma, including one at 6th Avenue and Orchard Street. Brown told The News Tribune the site cost $2 million to construct, and the tiny homes were built with help from volunteers, including high school students. According to Pierce County Human Services spokesperson Kari Moore, the county contributed more than $1.9 million to fund the property acquisition and some initial capital costs for the site development — which includes infrastructure, grading and utility installation. Some of the funding was made available to Pierce County through the Washington State Department of Commerce's Right of Way Encampment Resolution Program. The program, previously called the Rights-of-Way Safety Initiative, provides funding to local governments to support programs aimed at reducing encampments in public areas. According to LIHI, the long-term vision for the site is to develop the property into affordable housing, which it has done with other villages in the Seattle area. When asked why the Kingfisher Village was sited near South Hosmer Street, Brown told The News Tribune LIHI wanted to be a part of the growth in Tacoma's Hosmer area — a street that has long been associated with crime and homeless encampments. 'Our long-term goal for the site is to build multifamily workforce housing that will help contribute to the positive growth that is happening in the community,' Brown told The News Tribune. The project is opening at a time where Tacoma is anticipated to lose more than 300 of its homeless shelter beds after June due to a funding shortfall. City officials have maintained optimism they will be able to get state funding made available in the budget to support local homeless programs, but the timeline and process for getting the funding remains unclear.
Yahoo
4 days ago
- General
- Yahoo
60-unit tiny home village for the homeless is coming to Tacoma this July
This summer, a new 60-unit, tiny-home village for the homeless will be opening near Tacoma's South Hosmer Street. The project being called Kingfisher Village, 1824 S. 84th St., is a partnership between Pierce County and the Low-Income Housing Institute (LIHI) and is expected to open on July 21, according to LIHI. According to a blog post on LIHI's website, the homes at the village will serve about 70 to 75 people at a time. John Brown, a program manager for LIHI, told The News Tribune the tiny houses are 8-feet by 12-feet wide, are insulated and contain heat and air-conditioning units. The homes will include beds and furnishings. According to Brown, the village will include case-management offices, a common kitchen, community space, security fencing, plumbed showers, laundry facilities, 24/7 staff offices, storage and parking. According to LIHI, the village will serve individuals and couples that are experiencing homelessness in the Tacoma area. People are referred to Kingfisher Village as part of the state's Encampment Resolution program in cooperation with Pierce County and City of Tacoma. LIHI has operated other tiny-home villages under the same model. While most of LIHI's villages are in the Seattle area, a few are in Tacoma, including one at 6th Avenue and Orchard Street. Brown told The News Tribune the site cost $2 million to construct, and the tiny homes were built with help from volunteers, including high school students. According to Pierce County Human Services spokesperson Kari Moore, the county contributed more than $1.9 million to fund the property acquisition and some initial capital costs for the site development — which includes infrastructure, grading and utility installation. Some of the funding was made available to Pierce County through the Washington State Department of Commerce's Right of Way Encampment Resolution Program. The program, previously called the Rights-of-Way Safety Initiative, provides funding to local governments to support programs aimed at reducing encampments in public areas. According to LIHI, the long-term vision for the site is to develop the property into affordable housing, which it has done with other villages in the Seattle area. When asked why the Kingfisher Village was sited near South Hosmer Street, Brown told The News Tribune LIHI wanted to be a part of the growth in Tacoma's Hosmer area — a street that has long been associated with crime and homeless encampments. 'Our long-term goal for the site is to build multifamily workforce housing that will help contribute to the positive growth that is happening in the community,' Brown told The News Tribune. The project is opening at a time where Tacoma is anticipated to lose more than 300 of its homeless shelter beds after June due to a funding shortfall. City officials have maintained optimism they will be able to get state funding made available in the budget to support local homeless programs, but the timeline and process for getting the funding remains unclear.
Yahoo
22-05-2025
- Business
- Yahoo
77 units of affordable housing for seniors now open in Tacoma. Details here
On May 21, elected officials, leaders from the Asia Pacific Cultural Center, and project partners gathered in Tacoma's Lincoln District to celebrate the opening of an affordable project aimed at providing a dignified way of living for the community's elders. Patsy Surh Place, in the heart of Tacoma's Lincoln District at 3740 S. G St., offers 77 units of housing for Asian Pacific Islander elders and other low-income seniors. The project, which will be co-owned and managed by the Low-Income Housing Institute (LIHI) and Asia Pacific Cultural Center, is named after community leader and artist Patsy Surh O'Connell. O'Connell immigrated to America as a student from Korea in 1963. She established the Asia Pacific Cultural Center in 1996 and was instrumental in creating the Korean American Artists Association of Washington State. The new six-story building features 47 studio apartments and 30 one-bedroom units, all designated for seniors earning up to 30% and 50% of the Area Median Income (AMI). According to recent U.S. Census Bureau data from 2023, Tacoma's household AMI is $83,857. As of the grand opening, all but 11 units had been leased. During the grand opening ceremony, Sharon Lee, the executive director of LIHI, said 20 of the units would be reserved for homeless veterans who could be eligible for vouchers through the Tacoma Housing Authority. Its amenities include a community lounge, multipurpose room, gallery space, outdoor courtyard, and on-site laundry facilities. The building includes commercial space for small businesses along South 38th Street. Executive director of the Asia Pacific Cultural Center, Faaluaina Pritchard, said there are plans to incorporate cross-generational programs that encourage senior residents to visit and engage with younger generations in the community to share stories and cultural knowledge. 'This project, you can mark my words, will be a model for senior housing,' Pritchard said. 'Because it is our culture to take care of our elders.' During the ceremony Tacoma Mayor Victoria Woodards said the project is part of a larger investment in Tacoma's Lincoln District and marks a 'remarkable transition' for the neighborhood. 'Seniors deserve to age with dignity in the community they love,' she said. 'This is what equity in housing looks like.' She noted the city has invested roughly $10 million into the infrastructure and modernization investments into Lincoln District as part of an effort to revitalize the historic international business community. 'We believe in this neighborhood,' Woodards told the crowd. Pritchard said the Asia Pacific Cultural Center hopes to secure funding to build a second affordable housing complex directly adjacent to Patsy Surh Place in the near future. The $36 million project was made possible by multiple public funding contributions, including $18.5 million from the National Equity Fund through Low Income Housing Tax Credits, $5.4 million from the Washington State Department of Commerce, and $7 million from Pierce County made available through the Maureen Howard Affordable Housing Act. The Maureen Howard Affordable Housing Sales Tax, named after a prominent advocate for the homeless in Tacoma who died in January 2023, has made available millions in funding for affordable housing projects across the region. Patsy Surh Place is the latest project to be funded by the county as part of push to create affordable housing stock. 'To fully meet the housing needs of current and future residents, the county needs to produce, on average, over 2,300 units per year of housing affordable at or below 50% of area median income (AMI) through the year 2044,' the county's Housing Action Strategy of 2022 found. 'Over half of these units are needed for households at 30% of AMI or below.' Since its implementation in 2023, the affordable housing fund has contributed to the creation of more than 1,000 units that are either built or in the pipeline, according to Pierce County Executive Ryan Mello.
