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Dec. 14, 2018
OLYMPIA, WA – The Washington State Department of Commerce today announced $22.8 million in grants and loans for nine affordable housing projects in communities throughout the state. See the complete list here.
These funds will help provide an estimated 301 multi-family rental units/beds, and 80 seasonal farmworker beds. Funding comes from the state’s Housing Trust Fund, and federal HOME and National Housing Trust Fund programs.
“Our state Housing Trust Fund provides affordable housing for thousands of the most vulnerable Washingtonians,” Gov. Jay Inslee said. “The programs are extremely effective at connecting numerous other private, local, federal and nonprofit resources.”
“Building and preserving an adequate inventory of subsidized affordable housing units is one of our critical strategies to make housing available for everyone,” said Commerce Director Brian Bonlender. “We also continue to work to support housing markets with prices that are affordable. That strengthens communities by making us more competitive for job growth and enabling more Washingtonians to participate in our prosperity.”
Commerce received 17 applications in September 2018, requesting over $35 million for 994 multifamily units, including 37 shelter and/or group home beds and 80 seasonal farmworker beds. In selecting the successful projects, the Housing Trust Fund staff worked to align, to the greatest degree possible, with local community priorities, other public funders and with the Washington State Housing Finance Commission’s Low Income Housing Tax Credit program.
Next Funding Round Opens January 2019
A call for Stage 1 applications will be released in January 2019. The purpose of the first stage in the process is to understand developers’ pipelines and assess statewide demand for funds. In addition to new projects, any project that did not receive an award in the 2018 round is eligible and encouraged to re-apply. The final Stage 2 Notice of Funding Availability is expected to publish in summer 2019, contingent on adoption of the biennial capital budget.
Commerce will publish funding round information as it becomes available on its website and distribute via email. Subscribe to the Housing Trust Fund mailing list to stay up to date.
Since 1986, the Washington State Housing Trust Fund has awarded almost $1 billion to help build or preserve nearly 50,000 units of affordable housing statewide. Learn more.
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Contact: Penny Thomas | penny.thomas@commerce.wa.gov | 206.256.6106
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