EDITOR’S NOTE: This has been corrected. Corrections include the source of the $12 million grant, some of the plans for the development and the source of city funding.
PORT ANGELES — Peninsula Housing Authority has been awarded a $12 million allocation of 9 percent low income housing tax credits through the state Housing Finance Commission to replace 33 low-income units built in 1942 with 63 new town homes and apartments at Mount Angeles View Family Housing complex.
The award will fund the first phase of the Mount Angeles View redevelopment replacing a portion of the buildings originally constructed as war-time housing.
It is the first of three phases to replace aging and poorly laid out housing units in an eventual complete redevelopment of the 18-acre, 100-unit low-income housing complex, said Kay Kassinger, executive director of Peninsula Housing Authority.
After the three phases are completed, the development will have 232 units.
The project eventually will include two roundabouts on South Francis Street.
“We want it to be a showcase. We want it to look good,” Kassinger said.
Demolition of 33 housing units is expected to begin in January, and construction will begin early summer 2017.
“We hope to have the units ready to move in by June 2018,” she said.
The first phase will construct 63 replacement units — 33 public housing and 30 tax credit units in a combination of town homes and flats — in the development bounded by Lauridsen Boulevard to the north, East Park Avenue to the south, Peabody Creek to the east and South Eunice Street to the west.
Rental vouchers
Long-standing current residents will be offered rental vouchers, which will allow them to rent homes in Port Angeles until the new apartments are ready, Kassinger said.
When the new housing is available, they will be given first rights to move into those new units, she said.
Kassinger said residents who are relatively new to the complex were notified when they moved in that the lodging would be temporary and they do not get a voucher. U.S. Housing and Urban Development sets the timeline for relocation eligibility at about two years of occupancy.
All eligible residents will be given assistance in finding a new apartment or house, and assistance with the physical moving process, she said.
Phase 1 of the master plan also includes realigning Lopez Street and Whidby Avenue and adding one traffic circle. A second one will be added in Phase 3.
During Phase 2, two-story buildings near the center of the property, which were built in the 1950s, will be replaced with housing units.
Phase 3 will replace the 1970s one-story duplexes and four-plexes near Park Avenue.
A portion of the property bordering Lauridsen Boulevard will be turned over during Phase 1 to the Boys & Girls Clubs of the Olympic Peninsula to replace its current building at 2620 S. Francis St., Kassinger said. The replacement of the Boys & Girls Clubs unit’s clubhouse will be funded by the clubs.
The current unit will be torn down in Phase 3.
That will give the unit plenty of time to build a new clubhouse, Kassinger said.
A senior housing complex is part of the plan, but no time line has been determined for that project.
Kassinger said the housing authority completed the master plan for the redevelopment in July 2011, after extensive community meetings to gather input.
For the last five years, the project has awaited funding.
Other funding
In addition to the $12 million allocation, the housing authority has also received a $3 million housing trust fund award from the state Department of Commerce, and $834,000 from the city of Port Angeles.
Of the city funds, $750,000 is a new community development block grant from the state Department of Commerce.
It is to be used for infrastructure such as sewer and water systems.
The rest of the city’s funds — $84,000 — has been recaptured from previous community block grant awards, Kassinger said.
It was unclear when Phase 2 and Phase 3 will be funded.
“Everything we do is competitive,” she said of the funding options.
Self-help homes
Some of the housing that replaces Phase 2 housing will be mutual self-help home building, in which homes are built by teams of selected home buyers who work together in a community effort, Kassinger said.
A section of the property adjacent to East Park Avenue will feature two- and three-bedroom homes to be sold at market prices, she said.
Kassinger said the mix of rentals, self-help homes, and private sale homes will provide a more mixed neighborhood, rather than an all-low income section of town.
By the end of Phase 3, South Francis Street will have two roundabouts, and will open to both East Park Avenue and Lauridsen Boulevard.
The development will eventually include a new home for the Head Start currently located on the property, which would be relocated to Lauridsen, adjacent to the Port Angeles unit of the Boys & Girls Club, Kassinger said.
Trees and a park, with community gardens, will remain in the current park location and a tie-in to Peabody Creek Trail will be added on the east side of the property, she said.
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Reporter Arwyn Rice can be reached at 360-452-2345, ext. 56250, or at arice@peninsuladailynews.com.
