For more information contact: Rhonda Rosenberg, KCHA, Communications Director, (206) 574-1185 or Colleen Haggerty, Fannie Mae, Western Region Director of Communications, (626) 396-5225

December 10, 2001

NEW AFFORDABLE HOUSING COMPLEX LINKED TO MASS TRANSIT AND DAY CARE IS THREE GIFTS IN ONE FOR WORKING FAMILIES: The Village at Overlake Station in Redmond will be “unwrapped” in time for the holidays at a grand opening.

REDMOND - Working families on the Eastside will find a precious gift under the evergreen trees in Redmond this Christmas, a new 308-unit affordable housing complex combined with a day-care facility and a bus transit center. The Village at Overlake Station will be “unwrapped” tomorrow at the grand opening of the first building. The event will be at 10:30 a.m. in the community room at Overlake, 2650 152nd Ave. Northeast. Participants will include Redmond Mayor Rosemarie Ives, King County Executive Ron Sims and King County Councilwoman Cynthia Sullivan.

The City of Redmond, King County, KCHA and Fannie Mae will jointly host the open house. Tours of the property and apartment units will be offered following the program.

The Village at Overlake Station

The first bus transit-oriented development in the nation, Overlake is opening three months ahead of schedule. People looking for housing have not waited for the ribbons and bows to come off this present – about a third of the units are already rented. The complex consists of three residential buildings with studio, one-, two- and three-bedroom apartments, some with territorial views, starting at $660 per month. All units at the complex are targeted to tenants whose incomes are at or below 60 percent of the area’s median income, approximately $43,000 for a family of four.

“The design of this lovely property fosters a sense of community within the community, as a neighborhood within a larger dynamic neighborhood,” Mayor Ives said.

The Housing Authority financed the construction of Overlake with the help of public and private partners, including King County, the City of Redmond, Columbia Housing and Fannie Mae. The complex represents the emerging trend in “smart growth” with the conscious siting of housing near employment centers and public transit. Such developments reduce urban sprawl, parking requirements and traffic congestion.

The Village at Overlake Station is an ideal development for working families who want to live near their jobs on the Eastside.

The Village at Overlake Station is located near Microsoft, Nintendo and other major Eastside businesses. The complex is being built over a county-owned park-and-ride lot, with the Overlake Transit Station right in front. Parking will be shared between residents and daytime park-and-ride commuters. New residents will get free bus passes for up to two years to encourage transit use at the property. Flexcars will be available on-site for tenant use 24-hours-a-day seven-day-a-week. Additionally, tenants will have access to an on-site, 4,500-square-foot day-care facility, to be operated by Hopelink, a local nonprofit human-services agency.

“The creation of 308 units of high-quality, workforce housing near major Eastside employers makes intelligent use of government resources, especially in light of serious affordable housing shortages and growing gridlock on our highways and arterials,” said King County Executive Sims. “The Village at Overlake Station is a true win-win-win situation for Redmond, the County and tenants alike.”

The complex is a pilot project for the County’s Transit Oriented Development program, which promotes new home and business construction to coincide with mass-transit routes and provides a blueprint for affordable housing development elsewhere in the County. The Overlake site is not only next to a transit station, but is also within walking and biking distance of hundreds of jobs and services in Redmond and Bellevue.

“The Village at Overlake Station represents the new face of affordable housing, providing high-quality rental homes while encouraging the use of public transportation,” said Stephen Norman, executive director of the King County Housing Authority. “It provides critical housing for lower wage workers who are being priced out of the Eastside.”

A kitchen at Overlake

It also provides a boon to area employers. “Having such wonderful rental housing available to our employees is an important employment stabilizer. When staff live close to work they are more apt to remain with us for the long term,” said Tina Thompson, human resources manager at Eurest Dining Services.

The Village at Overlake Station was developed and financed through a partnership between private investors and public partners. The Housing Authority issued $21.5 million in tax-exempt bonds underwritten by Bank of America for the project. King County provided credit enhancement that helped lower interest rates, leased the land to the Housing Authority and provided $1.3 million in financing. The City of Redmond waived $1.7 million in development fees. Fannie Mae, the nation’s largest source of multifamily financing, provided $13.5 million in Equity in exchange for Low Income Housing Tax Credits, working with Columbia Housing as the tax credit equity syndicator. Development was overseen by Lorig Associates and Langly Properties, experienced local developers.

“We hope that the model created at Overlake will be replicated around the country,” said Heyward Watson, director of the Fannie Mae Washington State Partnership Office.

KCHA, an independent municipal corporation, administers a range of quality affordable rental housing programs for residents of King County, as well as providing homeownership opportunities to those for whom it would otherwise be out of reach. The Authority serves more than 14,000 households, including families, the elderly, disabled persons, and other households with special needs.