202 Federal Way units, all affordable, break ground

Work began last Wednesday at Redondo Heights, an affordable housing project in Federal Way with two components.

GenCap Construction broke ground on 202 new units at 7614 Pacific Hwy. S.

Bumgardner is the architect for developers Shelter Resources and Multi-Service Center.

Those eight buildings, with three to five stories, are also to include offices for the nonprofit MSC, plus a food bank. They’ll rise east and west of the existing old Silver Shadow apartments, at 27634 Pacific Hwy. S. That 132-unit complex is owned by a Shelter-related partnership, and operates as de facto affordable housing. The old name will be retired in favor of Redondo Heights.

There, a full renovation effort is also underway by SRI-Rochlin Construction, also related to Shelter, which acquired that 1980s complex in 2019 for a little under $25.7 million. The land deals for the east and west sites came last year, for almost $4.1 million.

King County Executive Dow Constantine attended the ceremonial groundbreaking, and said in a statement, “The Redondo Heights project is a great example of how we can work together to grow the affordable housing supply that is so clearly needed, and ensure a more connected and inclusive region moving forward.”

MSC’s Robin Corak said, “MSC is excited to be bringing more affordable workforce housing to South King County.”

Shelter’s Len Brannen added, “The Redondo Heights affordable project resulted from a coalition of financing parties, including King County and the State of Washington, working in unison with the Washington State Housing Finance Commission, plus significant contributions from the Amazon Housing Fund. All of whom are committed to solving the pressing need for affordable rentals in greater King County.”

Including the Silver Shadow renovations, Brannen told the DJC last year that the entire budget would be around $140 million to $150 million.

Other financial backers include the Enterprise Community Loan Fund (and its related arms), Fannie Mae, Freddie Mac, JLL Real Estate Capital, JPMorgan Chase and US Bank.

Construction and renovation are expected to take 18 to 20 months. The team also includes KPFF, surveyor and civil engineer; Shelterwood Consulting, environmental; Swenson Say Faget, structural engineer; Building Envelope Engineering; Emerald City Engineers, MEP; GeoEngineers, geotechnical; and Communita Atelier, landscape architect.

Amenities will include a community room and playground.

The entire 334-unit project is a few steps south of the Redondo Heights Park & Ride, also with a convenient RapidRide A Line stop on Pacific Highway. And it’s about a half-mile walk east to the future South 272nd Street Station, on the coming light-rail extension to Federal Way. Residents and MSC staff will also have about 500 parking stalls, old and new.

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