Category Archives: Publicity

Imagine Housing’s Francis Village Receives Accolades

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Imagine Housing has a special reason to celebrate!  We have received some pretty special accolades recently.  One of the leading journals for our industry is Affordable Housing Finance, a national publication. The purpose of these publications is to call attention to new industry developments and to highlight the best and the brightest. Imagine Housing was honored and proud to see our Francis Village project selected as one the publication’s 2012 Projects of Note.

The December 2012 issue of Affordable Housing Finance is dedicated to examining the Low Income Housing Tax Credit program (which is part of how we are able to fund some of our development projects, including Francis Village). The issue provides a history of the program, explains how tax credits work, why the program has been successful, examines the need for affordable housing and highlights 13 notable projects.

The article about Francis Village highlights the diversity of residents that we serve at Francis Village with its 60 affordable homes and supportive services.

We invite you to follow the link below to read the publication and check out the Francis Village article on page 44.

FV Accolades

http://mydigimag.rrd.com/publication/frame.php?i=137500&p=&pn=&ver=swf

~Marchelle Mertens, Housing Development Associate

Celebrating South Kirkland Park & Ride Groundbreaking

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Wednesday, October 24th marked the celebratory groundbreaking of the South Kirkland Park & Ride garage.  The buzz word of the day was “TOD”—Transit-oriented Development—and this particular TOD is truly buzz-worthy.  The project has been ten years in the making and has involved an enormous amount of planning and collaboration between the City of Kirkland, the City of Bellevue, King County Metro Transit, local developers, architects, and other funders.  The project will provide jobs and housing close to public transit and will increase the public transportation capacity along the SR-520 corridor.

The groundbreaking was very well attended and included speakers Gary Young of Polygon Northwest, King County Executive Dow Constantine, King County Councilmember Jane Hague, Mayor Joan McBride of Kirkland, Mayor Conrad Lee of Bellevue, and our own Executive Director, Ann Levine.  In Mayor McBride’s speech, she joked that this project is the inversion of Joni Mitchell’s song about paving paradise and putting up a parking lot.

The 7-acre property, owned by King County Metro Transit, actually spans the divide between Kirkland and Bellevue and required an inter-local agreement for development.

Conrad Lee, Mayor of Bellevue, remarked, “This project is another great example of what can be accomplished when we work together with our regional partners.  The new South Kirkland Park & Ride promotes transit ridership along the SR 520 corridor, supports Bellevue’s policy to pursue affordable housing opportunities, and strengthens the integration of transportation and land use.”

The property will house a 532-car garage (an expansion of 250 stalls over current capacity), 7,000 square feet of retail space, and 242 apartments, of which 58 will be affordable Imagine Housing residences.  Each aspect of the project is being developed with the appropriate green standards for the type of structure.  Polygon’s apartments will meet Build Green 4-star criteria, Imagine Housing apartments will follow the Evergreen Sustainable Development Standard, and the parking garage will be built using the guidelines set forth in the King County Sustainable Infrastructure Score Card.  The Metro Parking Garage, being built by Andersen Construction Company, will soon be underway and is scheduled to be completed by summer 2013.

We here at Imagine Housing are incredibly proud to be a part of such a landmark project.

The City of Kirkland’s website has a great overview of the project with a section explaining more of the history of this project.

For more press coverage on this event see:

Complex project to revitalize South Kirkland Park and Ride, Seattle Daily Journal of Commerce

South Kirkland Park & Ride garage breaks ground, Bellevue KOMO

South Kirkland Park & Ride Transit Oriented Development garage breaks ground, Kirkland Views

Dignitaries Break Ground on S. Kirkland Park & Ride Residential Development, Kirkland Patch

South Kirkland Park & Ride garage breaks ground, Kirkland Reporter

~Marchelle Mertens, Housing Development Associate 

Knights in Shining…Warm-up Suits

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Several weeks ago, the boys’ basketball team at Newport High School served a meal at Andrew’s Glen to get to know the community and engage in service.  They had a wonderful experience and ended up giving Andrew’s Glen residents free tickets to the season’s home basketball games.  The Bellevue Reporter caught wind of the story and wrote a beautiful article last week sharing the impact that serving at Andrew’s Glen had on the students.  You can read the article here:  http://www.bellevuereporter.com/sports/138880849.html.

When Imagine Housing’s Board Vice President, Linda Bergam, read this article, she was moved.  This article so beautifully captured one of the intangible goals that Imagine Housing strives for – to enrich the community.  Linda was so impressed that she wrote a lovely email to the Newport High School principal.  With Linda’s permission, we are sharing a piece of her email here:

“At Imagine Housing, we believe it’s important to site our housing in good neighborhoods with access to public transportation and good schools.  Andrew’s Glen is a perfect example of that.  We also have made it our strategic plan to create housing in our eastside neighborhoods that will enrich the community – not only in the quality of our construction, and our care in selection of residents, but more importantly in the real, genuine appreciation for diversity that can happen when those who are fortunate are brought into close proximity with those who are less fortunate.   Something magical can happen.

Your boys’ basketball team decided to reach out to the gentlemen of Andrew’s Glen and get to know them personally.  And that experience was meaningful for all of them.  I hope that they continue to deepen that connection.  Your students will find wonderful and not so wonderful stories, and individuals behind stereotypes, real people behind faces, which will continue to enrich their lives.  And I expect they’ll have true fans at their games.  Go Knights!”

 

We love it when the community becomes engaged in our mission in this kind of way, and invite you to join us in our work as well.  For more information about how you can get involved at Imagine Housing, please feel free to contact Hester Winn at hesterw@imaginehousing.org and she will help direct you to the right department.

Francis Village Gets Press!

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Yesterday, the Daily Journal of Commerce printed an article about Francis Village and the groundbreaking ceremony this coming Friday.  The article is included below or can be viewed online here.

October 12, 2010

St. Andrew’s Housing starts Kirkland project
By JOURNAL STAFF


Image courtesy Ankrom Moisan Architects [enlarge]

A ground-breaking ceremony for Francis Village, a 60-unit low-income apartment complex in Kirkland, will be held Friday at 10:30 a.m. at the project site: 12601 N.E. 124th St.

St. Andrew’s Housing Group is developing the 68,500-square-foot building. Ankrom Moisan Architects is the designer and Inland Group is the general contractor.

Forty five units will be for individuals and families transitioning from homelessness, and 15 will be for other people with low incomes.

There will be eight studios, 32 one-bedrooms, 20 two-bedrooms and a two-bedroom manager’s unit. They range in size from 468 to 832 square feet.

Amenities include a roof deck with planters, outdoor exercise stations, community gathering rooms, a craft room and computer lab.

There will be 19 surface and 34 partially below-grade parking stalls.

Evergreen Sustainable Development Standards were used in the design. Here are some of the green elements: a stormwater system that collects rainwater for a rain garden; real-time electricity use and cost displayed in apartments; energy-efficient systems, appliances, fixtures and lighting; construction waste recycling; and systems to support future solar panels.

Financial support is from the state of Washington Department of Commerce, King County, King County Housing Authority and the Eastside Cities of ARCH.

Other project team members are structural engineer CT Engineering; civil engineer Bush, Roed and Hitchings; mechanical/electrical engineer Robison Engineering; landscape architect Glenn Takagi; geotechnical engineer Earth Solutions NW; environmental consultant Associated Earth Sciences; survey Triad Associates; and transportation engineer David Evans and Associates.
Francis Village is named after Jason Francis, a former St. Andrew’s Housing Group staff member who died of cancer this year. He worked for the organization from 2003-2007 as volunteer coordinator, director of fund development and master of ceremonies for SAHG’s annual auction.

St. Andrew’s develops affordable rental housing and provides supportive services in East King County. It has 325 units in 10 properties.