250 Squire Park units, all affordable, draw into focus

As the DJC first reported three years ago, the owner of the Bryant Manor affordable housing complex plans to scrape and redevelop that corner property at 1801 E. Yesler Way. First A.M.E. Housing Association now has 58 units in six old three-story buildings. Its phased plan, by Environmental Works Community Design Center, is for six- and seven-story buildings with 250 units.

FAME doesn’t yet have a master use permit. Nor is the funding entirely clear. But it recently filed detailed plans to help secure a MUP. Its goal is to start Phase I, the north building on the corner of 18th Avenue South, in 2024. After that’s completed, Phase II would start to the south — closer to Pratt Park, which occupies the bulk of that block. Bryant Manor is on the northwest corner. Demolition will also be phased.

The team now includes Compass Construction, general contractor; Swenson Say Faget, structural engineer; Coterra, civil engieer; Sider + Byers, MEP; CT Engineering, shoring; Ashe Preparatory Academy (daycare center in the north building); and Lotus Development Partners, which will arrange the financing.

Those financial backers will include the city Office of Housing, state Housing Trust Fund, Raymond James, Umpqua Bank and the Washington State Housing Finance Commission. The latter is weighing a bond issue of up to $33.8 million to help support Phase I.

FAME is a separate offshoot of First A.M.E. Church. Bryant Manor is named for one of its bishops, Harrison J. Bryant. The complex was developed on 1.8 acres in the early 1970s by the U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development. Boeing was the developer. HUD deeded the property over to FAME soon after completion in 1972.

Catholic Housing Services has evidently dropped from the redevelopment plan. FAME now says on its website, “The project aims to provide affordable housing for families earning between 30% and 80% of the area median income, with a cultural orientation toward the Black community. [And] 85% of the units will be family size, creating added capacity for at least 550 family members, fulfilling a critical shortage of family-sized units.”
Sizes look to run from about 940 square feet for a three-bedroom to 228 square feet for a SEDU (small efficiency dwelling unit).

The new Bryant Manor will also include one level of underground parking in the south building, with 62 stalls; 13 of those will have EV charging potential. The childcare center will have about 1,900 square feet, and FAME will have around 1,366 square feet of offices. With additional tenant amenities, that all contributes to a total project size of some 241,940 square feet.
Rooftop solar panels are indicated for both buildings.

DJC Update 11.8.22 – Ground broken on 249 affordable units at Squire Park