Seattle– The King County Housing Authority submitted an application for a $35 million HOPE VI grant to the U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development Friday. If awarded, the grant would allow the housing authority to replace 569 units of deteriorating low-income housing at Park Lake Homes in White Center with a vital, attractive mixed-income community with expanded community services and facilities.

"We’ve submitted a plan that provides the groundwork for the successful redevelopment of Park Lake Homes," said Stephen Norman, executive director of the King County Housing Authority. "Working with an array of community partners –including Park Lake Homes residents, the greater White Center community, the Highline School District, the County and neighborhood service providers -- we have created a redevelopment plan that reflects stakeholder concerns and is supported by the community. "

Park Lake Homes, located just south of the Seattle city line, is King County Housing Authority’s largest and oldest public housing community. King County Housing Authority is applying for funding to redevelop Site I, which was built in the early 1940s as temporary housing for wartime workers.

That housing, which has undergone several rehabilitation efforts over the years, is nearing the end of its useful life span. The property has begun to deteriorate and the costs of completing needed maintenance and repairs would exceed the costs of tearing the buildings down and starting anew.

King County Housing Authority has worked with a broad locally-based partnership to put together the master plan that was submitted in the grant application. HOPE VI plans call for the development of a new mixed-income neighborhood focused around a village green at the corner of 8th Avenue Southwest and Southwest 100th Street. The village green would be surrounded on three sides by an expanded community center, a new library and across 100th, a new community school.

Pending approval of a bond in September, a community school, to replace the former White Center Heights Elementary School, would be built. The new school would serve as a hub, incorporating a variety of community services, including a family resource center, along with excellent educational opportunities. In addition, the new school would be combined with a Boys & Girls Club youth support center, Head Start day care, and a King County library. The youth support center would be built as part of the school or near it and share some spaces.

"We are excited about partnering with King County, the Boys & Girls Club, Head Start, and other community organizations to establish a learning center for all residents of the White Center community," said Dr. Joseph McGeehan, Superintendent of Highline School District.

To eliminate the social and physical distinction between the Park Lake community and the surrounding neighborhood, the new Park Lake will link the development’s internal streets with the surrounding White Center neighborhood and commercial area. It will also offer an improved network of parks, open spaces and pedestrian paths.

The plan calls for the demolition of the existing public housing, to be replaced with 300 units of new public housing, 200 units of market-rate rental housing and 400 for-sale homes and townhouses. King County Housing Authority has committed to a one-to-one replacement plan for the 269 units of low-income housing that would not be replaced at the site. Housing units in complexes located in the county’s more affluent suburban cities have been identified as replacement housing. The housing component will reduce the concentration of very low-income families in White Center and create an attractive mixed-income community. King County Housing Authority hopes to make the homeownership opportunities at the new Park Lake accessible to qualified people who currently live here.

If funded, the $35 million grant is expected to leverage an additional $175 million for a total project cost of approximately $210 million.

Winning a HOPE VI grant is highly competitive. Last year, 78 requests for HOPE VI redevelopment grants were made to HUD; only 20 were funded. HUD is expected to decide which public housing communities will receive the grant in September.

KCHA administers a range of quality affordable rental and homeownership programs for residents of King County. The Authority serves more than 13,000 households, including families, the elderly and disabled.