Pride Place brings color and community to Broadway

Community Roots Housing last week officially opened Pride Place at 1519 Broadway on Capitol Hill.

The new eight-story mixed-use building brings 118-units of affordable and “LGBTQIA+ affirming” senior housing to the neighborhood, which for many years has been the heart of LGBTQIA+ life in Seattle.

Pride Place is co-developed by Community Roots Housing and GenPride. The latter operates a 4,400-square-foot senior community and health services center on the ground floor of the property, which serves both residents and broader community members.

Community Roots describes Pride Place “as the first LGBTQIA+ affirming senior housing project to be built in Washington.” The project was developed to provide seniors in those groups an affordable place to age in place amidst the rising cost of housing on Capitol Hill.

Ground was broken on Pride Place in fall 2021. Walsh Construction Co. was the general contractor. Environmental Works Community Design Center was the architect. The architect’s design features a rich blue facade and multi-colored window frames reminiscent of the rainbow colors of the pride flag.

The apartment units are a mix of studios and one-bedrooms and are reserved for seniors aged 55 and older with either 30, 50, or 60% of the area median income. Fourteen of the units are ADA accessible.

Amenities include an outdoor patio and community room. There is also around 3,600 square feet of commercial retail space at the street level. That space is available to lease.

Sustainability features include solar panels; a green roof with bioretention planters; triple-paned windows; LED lighting; energy efficient heat pump hot water heating; non-toxic, low VOC building materials and paint; and a high-performance building envelope with insulation in excess of code requirements.

Prior to Pride Place, the site was used as a parking lot. Before that, in the 1920s, it was home to the old Eldridge Tire building. That building’s Spanish-style landmarked facade remains at the front of Pride Place, offering an attractive and unique entry way to the development.

The project team for Pride Place also includes: Emerald Aire, MEP; and Geotech Consultants, shoring and geotechnical.

SSF is the structural engineer for this project.