Twinned Madison/Boylston building will create 365 affordable homes for families, workforce households and formerly homeless seniors
SEATTLE (December 18, 2020) – Enterprise Housing Credit Investments, LLC (Enterprise) today announced a $57,556,768 investment to create Seattle’s first high-rise development designated as affordable housing, in the First Hill neighborhood. The 365 apartments will be constructed as one 17-story building with separate entrances for tenants at 1400 Madison Street and 1014 Boylston Avenue, as well as shared spaces. The investment is the largest single Low-Income Housing Tax Credit (LIHTC, or Housing Credit) equity deal in Enterprise’s history.
“The Madison/Boylston development is a breakthrough as rents in high-cost cities like Seattle continue to soar out of reach for working families and those on fixed incomes—a crisis that has only been exacerbated by the Covid-19 pandemic,” said Scott Hoekman, president of Enterprise Housing Credit Investments, Enterprise’s Housing Credit syndication business. “Enterprise is excited to partner with Bellwether Housing and Plymouth Housing, both experienced developers, in making this unique development a possibility for the hundreds of families who will call it home.”
The Boylston supportive housing development (Boylston), located on floors 2-5, will include more than 100 studio apartments and will be developed by Plymouth Housing (Plymouth). It will serve homeless seniors who earn up to 30% of the area median income (AMI) and will offer supportive services to all residents. Service staff will provide individualized case management, daily living support, encouraging social engagement and outings and coordination of psychiatric care when needed. Plymouth will benefit from operating subsidy from the City of Seattle and King County; residents will pay 30% of their income.
“We’re inspired by our community’s support and commitment to both permanent supportive housing and affordable workforce housing,” said Paul Lambros, CEO of Plymouth Housing. “When Plymouth first began discussions with Sound Transit about the possibility of using this surplus site for such a crucial need, we only dreamed of a project like this. We’re thankful to Bellwether for teaming up with us to maximize the public benefit of this land, to Sound Transit for their generosity, to Enterprise for their vision and support, and to everyone who has contributed to bring these homes to life.”
Rise on Madison, built on top of the Boylston development on floors 6-17 by Bellwether Housing (Bellwether), Seattle’s largest nonprofit affordable housing developer, will include 250 apartments for workforce and family households earning up to 60% AMI: 91 studios, 111 one-bedrooms, 22 two-bedrooms and 26 three-bedrooms. Rents will range from $1,015 for a studio to $1,783 for a three-bedroom. Bellwether will provide resident service coordinators to assist residents and address barriers to housing, including disabilities, mental health, financial, employment and health issues. The coordinators can connect residents to financial resources, public assistance, health & wellness, educational employment and other opportunities within the community through formal partnerships and direct referrals.
“This development represents so much of what is great about Seattle—support for an innovative development that will serve a broad range of needs, collaboration among committed partners, and a deep commitment to ensure that lower income people have a place in this city,” Bellwether CEO Susan Boyd said. “I am grateful for our state and local government leaders who made this development a priority, to neighborhood leaders who were active proponents of the project, and to the brilliant and committed staff at Plymouth and Bellwether Housing who worked so hard to make this happen.”
The development is structured as a “twinned” Housing Credit deal, with Boylston receiving a 9% Housing Credit allocation and Rise on Madison being eligible for 4% Housing Credits through its tax-exempt bond financing.
Enterprise’s investor for its $58 million investment in the combined deal is Bank of America. Bank of America is also providing a $67 million construction loan for Rise on Madison and a $16 million construction loan for the Boylston development. The City of Seattle, King County, State of Washington and Sound Transit are providing a combined $37 million in soft financing to both projects, with Rise on Madison receiving $17 million and the Boylston development receiving $20 million.
As Seattle’s first affordable high-rise development, the project has significant local political backing. The design process was informed by an energy efficiency and systems performance study, funded by a grant from Enterprise Community Partners, and will meet the WA State Evergreen Standards.
“Bank of America Community Development Banking was pleased to provide $84 million in construction financing and $58 million indirect equity through Enterprise to help build much-needed workforce and affordable housing for families in Seattle,” said Maurice Coleman, Community Development Banking Market Executive at Bank of America. “This development demonstrates our continued commitment to creating safe, affordable housing and supporting the communities in which we work and live.”
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About Enterprise
Enterprise is a national nonprofit on a mission to make home and community places of pride, power and belonging for all. To make that possible, we operate the only organization designed to address America’s affordable housing crisis from every angle: we develop and deploy programs and support community organizations on the ground; we advocate for policy on a nonpartisan basis at every level of government; we invest capital to build and preserve rental homes people can afford; and we own, operate and provide resident services for affordable communities. All so that people not only make rent, they build futures. With this end-to-end approach, 40 years of experience and thousands of local partners, Enterprise has built and preserved 662,000 affordable homes, invested $53 billion in communities and changed millions of lives.
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