It seems certain…Low Barrier Housing is coming to Everett.
Wednesday night the Everett City Council approved an agreement for Everett Mayor Ray Stephanson to begin exclusive negotiations with Catholic Housing Services for construction and operation of a low-barrier supportive housing facility in Everett on city owned land near Pecks and Evergreen Way.
It’s not a go-ahead on the project, just the negotiation of a contract that the city council would still have to approve but it appears the council is in favor of the idea. Next week the city council will hold a public hearing on proposed changes to the zoning code that would allow low barrier housing.
Catholic Housing Services was the only low barrier supportive housing operator to submit a proposal to the city. In their proposal they outlined their team information, development and operations experience, ability to secure funding for the project, understanding of the Everett service area and their development concept. You can click the link below to see their full Statement of Qualifications.
Statement of Qualifications by Catholic Housing Services RFQ 2016-048
This morning MyEverettNews.com made an unannounced trip to one of the facilities owned and operated by Catholic Housing Services. Patrick Place is located at 4251 Aurora Avenue North in Seattle. It is a housing development that serves single adults or couples with no children. It is permanent housing with 71 units so is very similar to what is being proposed for Everett. We wanted to show first hand what one of these developments look like and give you our impressions. After arriving at the facility we asked permission to take photos. That permission was granted by John Hickman who is director of finance and operations for Catholic Housing Services of Western Washington. His only request was that we didn’t take any photos of clients or staff due to privacy concerns. We were happy to comply. As far as first impressions…
- The building was very clean and looked like a modern apartment building on a major street
- The exterior was well kept with plenty of on-site parking
- The building was secure with a receptionist at the front door
- The lobby, computer station, physical fitness room and common meeting areas were clean and neat
- The hallways were neat and well maintained
- It was quiet in the building and living areas, no noisy folks or loud TVs or other signs of disturbance
- The studio apartment was neat, clean and had all of the basics one would need
- The rooftop lounge area was nice with a spectacular view of downtown Seattle and the Space Needle
- The neighborhood was clean and we didn’t spot any people hanging out, crashed out on lawns, etc.
One thing that was stressed is people live here. They aren’t coming and going with shopping carts full of stuff. They have secure housing and a sense of safety. There have counseling and programs for the residents but don’t have people coming and going like you might see from a treatment center. Again we didn’t announce our visit and just dropped in. Here are photos of the inside and outside as we found things today. Click photo to enlarge.
We hope this gives you an idea of what the Everett low-barrier facility may look like.
Under the timeline that is currently being proposed…(if a contract were to be approved by the Everett City Council)
- Design, Financing and Permitting from now to September 2017
- Construction would start in September of 2017
- Construction would be completed in October of 2018
- Occupancy and lease-up between October 2018 – January 2019
The City of Everett has a website dedicated to explaining low-barrier housing.
You can also contact Coordinator Julie Frauenholtz by phone at 425-257-7122
or by Email: JFrauenholtz@everettwa.gov for more information.
June 2, 2016
Everett, Everett Government