Low-income housing units to get overhaul

The King County Housing Authority is planning a $12.5 million renovation of the 60-unit, Green River Homes along M Street between 6th and 12th Street Southeast.

It will be the first major overhaul of the low-income housing development just north of Les Gove Park in its 50-year-plus history.

To make it happen, KCHA will apply for federal stimulus capital grant funds through the Department of Housing and Urban Development.

Dan Watson, KCHA assistant director, said that if all goes according to plan, work should start next spring.

“Green River Homes was built in the late 1950s,” Watson said. “And while it has had cosmetic renovations over the years, it has never had a complete face lift. And it needs one, badly.”

The project calls for general upgrades, including new plumbing, new wiring and fixtures, new doors and cabinets, new windows, new insulation, siding replacement and a new water system. New gas lines will enable KCHA to meter each unit. Power will be moved underground. Streets and sidewalks will be repaired to make them safer, given the many children who live there.

Work will center on four to eight units at a time. During the renovation period, KCHA will move occupants out to other public housing in Auburn or to private apartments.

“We’re applying for stimulus money,” Watson said. “It’s a competitive application. We have to compete with other housing agencies around the country for $10 million in Stimulus Capital Grant Funds, which can only be used for public housing. We will be competing with hundreds, maybe thousands of other projects. We have to supply matching funds of about 25 percent of the total $12.5 million budget. Until we get a complete set of planning specs and architectural drawings, that’s just a rough estimate.”

Green River Homes is comprised of single-story duplexes. There are eight one-bedroom units, 30 two-bedrooms, 18 three-bedrooms and four-bedrooms. Most of the residents are families with children, although there are some seniors and disabled people living in the one-bedroom units.

“It’s needed because KCHA has got a good commitment to its housing stock to keep it updated and to keep it livable, and there has never been a major renovation on these units,” said Michael Hursh, human services manager for the City of Auburn. “This is going to address basic layouts and roof lines and infrastructure and some of the traffic concerns. The neighborhood has a whole lot of kids, and just about every unit is a family-occupied unit. This is going to help with safety and quality of life and everything that has to do with housing.”

The project dovetails with recent and future improvements in the Les Gove Park area.

"If you look at everything that is happening around the perimeter of Les Gove, there is a pretty major investment into that area," Hursh said. "It's one of our lowest census tracks as far as income. There's a planned $40 to 50 million investment over the next five years between the Community Center, the Human Services One-Stop Center, this project, investments to Save our Streets and more."

Contact Auburn Reporter News reporter Robert Whale at rwhale@auburn-reporter.com or 253-833-0218, ext. 5052.

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