Apr 11, 2022 | News
April 11, 2022
On February 5th, Crescent Collaborative partners Africatown Community Land Trust and Community Roots Housing gathered together the community, grassroots organizers, nonprofit leaders, elected officials, and representative of the organizations involved in the development to mark the start of construction for Africatown Plaza.
When complete, this seven-story building at 23rd Avenue & East Spring, the historic hub of the Black community in Seattle, will provide 126 affordable apartments, a public plaza and community room, as well as new headquarters for ACLT and a diverse collection of visual art by Black artists. The curated art collection will exemplify “the spirit of Africatown Plaza — a space for healing, restoring, and celebrating Black and Pan-African communities in the Central District.”
Current drawing of Africatown Plaza by design team GGLO, DREAM Collaborative and David Baker Architects
The building’s location in this formerly red-lined neighborhood which now has a median home price of $840,000 makes it an especially valuable community-created resource to counter decades of gentrification and displacement.
The event was a celebration of Black culture, featuring DJ Zeta Barber, Javoeon Byrd of Awodi Drumming, Adefua Dance, and Creole food from Po’Boy & Tings. Following several performances, a libation to the ancestors and the singing of the Black National Anthem, Lift Every Voice and Sing, K. Wyking Garrett, CEO of ACLT noted, “It’s 140 years since 1882 when William Grose bought 12 acres from Henry Yesler and made this a Black community. Fourteen decades later and we are still here, continuing on that legacy in making space for the Black community to grow and thrive.”
Photo credit: Outside Thinc
City of Seattle Mayor Bruce Harrell commented on the significance of Africatown Plaza to sustaining the Black community in the city, “As someone who grew up in the Central District, I know how important it is to protect livability and combat displacement in our neighborhoods. The new Africatown Plaza will bring vitally needed community-led affordable housing, commercial, and cultural space to Seattle.”
Photo credit: Outside Thinc
The project will also support the Black community economically. ACLT has hired a joint venture between Absher Construction and Black-owned general contractor, MAD Construction, to build the building. Black subcontractors will provide a significant portion of the mechanical, electrical and plumbing work.
Sources for this article:
- ACLT Press Release, February 9, 2022, media contact: johane@africatownlandtrust.org
- King5.com, February 5, 2022 story by Erica Zucco
- Seattle Medium, February 16, 2022 article by Aaron Allen
- Capitol Hill Seattle Blog, February 3, 2022 article by jseattle
- South Seattle Emerald, February 8, 2022 article by Elizabeth Turnbull
- Seattle Times, February 5 updated 18, 2022 article by Heidi Groover
- The Urbanist, February 8, 2022 article by Natalie Bicknell Argerious
Mar 30, 2022 | News
After three years as the Chinatown/International District representative on Crescent Collaborative’s Board of Directors and its President, Maiko Winkler-Chin has accepted an appointment as Director of the City of Seattle’s Office of Housing and therefore can no longer serve. Maiko thanked the Collaborative for including her, “I believe that my association with this work is one of the major reasons why I was asked to step into my role at the Office of Housing.” In-coming Board President, Andrea Caupain Sanderson noted, “While we will miss Maiko’s presence, wisdom and humor on the board, we know that she will bring her passion for equitable community development, as well as her first-hand experience, to her new role at the City.”
Andrea Caupain Sanderson, Chief Executive Officer of Byrd Barr Place and Central District representative for the Board now assumes the role of Board President. Doug Holtom, First Hill representative and Executive Director of First Hill Improvement Association, has been elected Vice President.
At its March meeting, the Board voted in Quynh Pham, Executive Director of Friends of Little Sài Gòn, to fill the Chinatown/International District seat on the Board. Quynh accepted this appointment noting, “I am honored to be part of this board with all of its amazing leadership.” Quynh’s first meeting will be in April.
Other board members include Chris Persons, Chief Executive Officer of Community Roots Housing, representing Capitol Hill; Sue Taoka, Bill Block and Michael Brown, at large members; and Kent Koth, Director of Seattle University Center for Community Engagement, and Rachael Steward, Community Services Administrator, Seattle Housing Authority, non-voting ex officio members representing their respective institutions.
Sep 14, 2021 | News
Earl’s Cuts and Styles had been an important cultural center and meeting place for the African American community in the Central Area at 23rd and Union since 1992. With the planned redevelopment of Midtown Plaza, many in the community worried that the barbershop would not survive. It was hard to imagine the Central Area retaining its identity without Earl’s. The surrounding community made a commitment to saving, and therefore, moving, Earl’s business.
Construction of the Liberty Bank Building across the street presented a not-to-be-missed opportunity. It had available commercial space and a developer, in Community Roots Housing, that takes advantage of its affordable housing developments to also address broader community development needs. Community Roots Housing had made a commitment to honoring the legacy of Liberty Bank, the first African-American owned bank in the Pacific Northwest, in its new building on that historic site. Leasing the commercial spaces to Earl’s Cuts and Styles, an African-American-owned business serving that community, was an ideal way to carry out that commitment.
One of the keys to Earl’s successful relocation was the assistance of Seattle University Innovation and Entrepreneurship Center’s RAMP-up program, Randy Massengale and Amelia Marckworth from RAMP-up worked with business owner Earl Lancaster to help him make the transition not only to a new space but also to new ways of managing his business.
On December 19, at the Crescent Collaborative’s monthly policy group meeting, the story of this transition provided a powerful example of small business survival in gentrifying neighborhoods. Massengale and Marckworth discussed their work with Lancaster and shared lessons learned from their experience. The move required about three years of planning, including small business technical support, putting together the necessary funding from many sources and managing the design and construction of the new space. Financing for the relocation came from grants and loans from Craft3, Community Roots Housing, the City of Seattle Offices of Economic Development and Arts and Culture, and the Central Area Collaborative.
About 30 collaborative partners from community-based organizations, financial intermediaries, city government and subject matter experts contributed to the discussion. Many policy group members, including Ken Takahashi (Seattle Office of Economic Development), Che Wong (Craft3), Inye Wokoma (Wa Na Wari), Jill Fleming (Community Roots Housing) and Dennis Comer (Central Area Collaborative) also had a part in helping Lancaster move his shop. They each shared their perspectives on the experience with the group.
Ellen Kissman (Crescent Collaborative Consultant Team member) Massengale and Marckworth, have prepared a case study of Lancaster’s story that will inform the Collaborative’s policy and systems change agenda, as well as being a resource for others working to help small businesses in changing neighborhoods.
The case study can be can be seen and downloaded here.
Updated Sept 15, 2021, Originally published Jan 10, 2020
Dec 30, 2019 | News
Four board members representing their neighborhoods and two ex officio members have recently joined the Crescent Collaborative board. The neighborhood representatives are:
- Maiko Winkler-Chin (top left), Executive Director of the Seattle Chinatown-International District Preservation and Development Authority, will represent the Chinatown-International District and Little Saigon.
- Andrea Caupain Sanderson (top middle), Executive Director, Byrd Barr Place, will represent the Central Area.
- Anne McCullough (top right), Executive Director of the First Hill Improvement Association, will represent First Hill.
- Chris Persons (bottom left), Executive Director of Capitol Hill Housing, will represent Capitol Hill.
AyeNay Abye, Deputy Director, Seattle University Center for Community Engagement, and Rachael Steward, Community Services Administrator, Seattle Housing Authority, will participate on the board as non-voting, ex officio members representing their respective institutions.
At the December meeting, the board elected officers for 2020. Maiko Winkler-Chin was elected President, and Andrea Caupain Sanderson was elected Vice President. Michael Brown was re-elected Secretary-Treasurer.
Dec 10, 2019 | News
Four Crescent Collaborative organizational partners received notice of funding yesterday when Mayor Jenny A. Durkan announced that the City of Seattle will invest $110 million to create 1,944 new affordable homes in neighborhoods across Seattle. This is the largest one-year investment for affordable housing in Seattle’s history.
The funds invested through the City’s Office of Housing will support the construction of thirteen new buildings in Seattle for a range of communities, including seniors, low-wage workers, families and people experiencing homelessness. Crescent Collaborative partners will build 493 of the planned units in four buildings, two in Crescent Collaborative neighborhoods and two in other areas.
Mayor Jenny Durkan with Africatown’s Wyking Garrett at the funding announcement.
A partnership of Africatown Community Land Trust and Capitol Hill Housing will build Africatown Plaza, at the corner of 23rd Ave E and E Union, with 132 affordable apartments serving residents with incomes of 60 percent of Area Median Income or below.
The Seattle-Chinatown International District PDA received funding for an apartment house on Beacon Hill serving residents at 60 percent AMI. This project will create 154 units for people at risk of displacement from North Beacon Hill and the Chinatown International District. Seattle Housing Authority received funding for the 82-unit Lambow Apartments in Delridge, for low-income families and individuals.
Capitol Hill
Housing received funding for The Eldridge, a 125-unit apartment house serving LGBTQ seniors with incomes below 60 percent AMI and below 30 percent AMI.
In addition, three of the thirteen new buildings will be built in First Hill by other nonprofit housing providers.
Office of Housing Director Emily Alvarado introduced the funding announcements with these words: “Today we make an historic investment in our values to create a more affordable and equitable city, to foster inclusion, to address homelessness, to advance sustainability and to further fair housing. Today we invest in the basic human needs of our neighbors and the basic infrastructure of our city. Additional information is available on the City of Seattle Office of Housing blog.
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Nov 22, 2019 | News
On Nov. 21, Crescent Collaborative introduced a series of five short videos that document the history of its predecessor organization, Yesler Community Collaborative (YCC).
The videos trace the history of this community collaborative from its beginnings in 2014 to the present, as it expands its board and looks ahead to ongoing neighborhood collaboration among the neighborhoods adjacent to downtown Seattle.
In order to produce the videos, YCC consultants interviewed more than 20 community members who have been involved in the work of the collaborative. These videos were then edited and condensed into five videos,each of which is approximately five minutes long. Vi Lynk was the videographer for the project. She worked with YCC consultants to shoot and edit the videos. All five videos are available in the History section of this website.
In addition to the videos, YCC also produce an eight-page final report documenting its activities. That report can be downloaded here.
Both the videos and the Final Report were introduced at the final YCC Partners Meeting, held at Washington Hall in Seattle’s Yesler neighborhood and attended by about 60 people. A panel discussion at the meeting considered the lessons learned about community collaboration over the past five years and discussed the organization’s transition to Crescent Collaborative.
Nov 20, 2019 | News
At it’s November meeting the Yesler Community Collaborative Board of Directors completed the formal changes needed to continue operating as a nonprofit organization past the time that it was originally slated to sunset.
By amending its bylaws, the board changed the organizations name to Crescent Collaborative and expanded the board from three members to nine. The current at-large members–Sue Taoka, Bill Block and Michael Brown–will continue to serve. They will be joined on the board by four neighborhood representatives and two ex officio members.
The four neighborhoods represented will be Capitol Hill, First Hill, the Central Area and the Chinatown-International District-Little Saigon neighborhood. Andrea Caupain Sanderson will represent the Central Area and Maiko-Winkler Chin will represent the Chinatown-International District-Little Saigon. Chris Persons and Anne McCullough have been nominated to represent Capitol Hill and First Hill respectively. Their confirmation is expected at the December board meeting.
In addition, Rachael Steward has been designated an ex officio member representing the Seattle Housing Authority. AyeNay Abye hs been designated as the ex offico representative from Seattle University. Ex officio members will participate fully in board meetings, but will not vote.
When YCC formed in 2014 the board expected that it would sunset in 2019 as work on the redevelopment of Yesler Terrace neared completion. However, YCC partners have appreciated the opportunity to collaborate and worked with the board to come up with a plan to transition into ongoing operation. The expanded board will assume a more active role in policy formation, and the organization will continue to operate with consultant help.
Learn more about new board members here: About Us
Learn more about YCC’s history here: History
Feb 23, 2018 | News
On September 29 Seattle Housing Authority celebrated the opening of its third new low-income housing building at Yesler Terrace.
The seven-story building with adjacent townhomes features 111 apartments in a mix of one-, two-, there- and four-bedroom units.
The new building, easily visible on the Yesler hillside from the I-5 freeway, is a mix of lively colors and gracious public spaces. It features a solar hot water system and advanced ventilation systems for energy conservation and improved air quality. Beneath the apartment building is a garage with 52 parking spaces available at no charge to residents.
The interior of the building showcases original artwork by Thanh Tran, an artist who lives at Yesler Terrace. In the building’s artwork, Tran depicts the traditional Vietnamese Hoa Mai flowers, symbolizing good luck and prosperity, that usually bloom during Tet, the Vietnamese Lunar New Year.
With the completion of Hoa Mai Gardens, its third new residential building to open as part of Yesler redevelopment, SHA is well underway toward replacing all 561 older Yesler housing units with new apartments for low-income residents.
Yesler Terrace was the city’s first public housing, built in 1940 by the then newly established Seattle Housing Authority. The redevelopment of Yesler Terrace began in 2013 after SHA, with the help of a Citizens Review Committee comprised of Yesler residents, surrounding neighbors, city officials, nonprofit service partners and citizens at large, shaped a plan for replacing Yesler Terrace’s aging housing and deteriorated infrastructure with a new community for Yesler residents and adding a significant amount of new housing for people across a spectrum of income levels. Beyond replacing all of the older units, this plan will result in 1,000 additional affordable homes, along with more than 2,500 market-rate rental apartments developed by private partners.
More information on the Seattle Housing Authority Website
Feb 23, 2018 | News
Bill Block has joined the Yesler Community Collaborative board of directors as board vice president, replacing Tom Tierney who recently retired from the board.
“This is an exciting opportunity to link and empower community groups that too often get pushed to the sidelines when major events and developments are occurring,” said Block. “The best wisdom on what communities need is in those communities themselves. I am delighted to support the voices and projects that come from the groups that make up the Yesler Community Collaborative.”
Block brings wide experience to the board. He has practiced law in Washington since 1977 and has served as board president of both AIDS Housing of Washington and Seattle Housing Authority.
In 2005, he become Director of the Committee to End Homelessness, the public/private partnership implementing the 10 Year Plan to End Homelessness in Seattle/King County. In 2012 Bill became the HUD Regional Administrator for Region X (Alaska, Idaho, Oregon and Washington) and later a Special Consultant on Homelessness to HUD, returning to civil liberties law practice in 2017. His other civic involvements include service as a board member for DESC and the Mount Baker Housing Alliance and Chair, Seattle Center Advisory Commission.
“We are fortunate that Bill Block will step in to this board position. I am confident that he will bring valuable experience and commitment,” said Sue Taoka, YCC Board President.
Tierney, who served as executive director of Seattle Housing Authority for eight years, brought his extensive knowledge of Yesler Terrace, and housing issues in general, to the YCC board. He was one of its founding directors, serving since 2014.
Aug 6, 2017 | News
Innovation, optimism, hope and persistence. These were the four qualities cited by the participants in the Midtown Center real estate deal that made headlines earlier this summer for its unique vision of preserving neighborhood culture through new development.
At the July 13 Yesler Community Collaborative quarterly meeting, Midtown Center partners, K. Wyking Garrett (Africatown Community Land Trust), Chris Persons (Capitol Hill Housing), Joe Ferguson (Lake Union Partners) and Michelle Connor (Forterra), discussed how the deal came together and the behind-the-scenes steps it took to make this innovative partnership and exciting new development work. Doris Koo, lead consultant for Yesler Community Collaborative, moderated the panel.
K. Wyking Garrett
Garrett represented Africatown and the interests of the neighborhood during negotiations. Persons represented Capitol Hill Housing, a working partner providing capital and management expertise. Ferguson, of Lake Union Partners, brought most of the capital and the interests of this real estate developer to the table. Connor negotiated on behalf of Forterra, contributing capital to help make the community’s participation possible. Koo served as an intermediary and advisor throughout the negotiations.
Michelle Connor
Connor outlined Forterra’s reasons for putting its real estate and financing expertise toward Midtown Center. “As a region, we will undermine our long-term sustainability if we keep turning agricultural and resource lands over to development. Preserving these lands is key to our survival. This leads to a role is supporting vital urban communities and social infrastructure as well.” She pointed out that the Midtown Center block is a keystone property in the Central Area. “Investing in this block represents an investment in keeping this important community—including its economy and culture—healthy and sustainable.”
Ferguson described Lake Union Partners, formed in 2009, as a real estate development company willing to take an unconventional approach to the marketplace. The company chooses to work in core neighborhoods such as the Central Area, and is committed to bringing projects that contribute to community needs and aspirations. This includes attention to the ground floor retail to bring in appropriate neighborhood services. He stressed that Midtown Center will provide opportunities for African-American owned businesses.
Panelists described the twists and turns of the history of the property: when the Bangasser family that owned property announced its intention to sell, this generated intense interest in the community and catalyzed the formation of the Africatown Community Land Trust. Before the current sale, two prior buyers executed purchase and sale agreements with the family.
Joe Ferguson
Ferguson noted that, in real estate transactions, the third buyer often gets the deal: the first buyer educates the seller, then the second buyer negotiates the terms. In this case Lake Union Partners was that fortunate the third buyer.
When the prior buyers were unable to meet the Bangasser’s dates for closing (after a year of due diligence) their deal fell apart, and Forterra and Africatown submitted an offer. When they learned the property was again under contract, they proposed a similar deal to the new buyers, Lake Union Partners, who, after consideration, bought into the concept and agreed to enter into partnership with them.
When Lake Union Partners entered the picture, the sellers were anxious to sell quickly, so Ferguson offered a 60-day due diligence period with closing seven days later. This was the riskiest part of the purchase for them. Could they get all the necessary work done in time? “It took real determination to hammer through those 60 days,” he said, “Thanks to everyone’s dedication, we managed to get it done.”
He also revealed that midway through this process, he learned that the City’s Mandatory Housing Affordability percentage of units set aside for low-income residents was ten percent, not the six percent he had been assuming in the pro forma. The calculations had to be redone to see if the deal would still pencil at the higher rate. There were two factors that made it work, he said: “the dimensions of the site enabled efficient site design that minimized parking costs; and we were willing to take a slightly lower-than-industry-standard return on our investment in order to bring in and support the community ownership component.”
Ferguson also noted that HAL Real Estate Investors, the company backing Lake Union Partners in the deal, is a local real estate investor with a long-standing presence in the community. “Their president actually lives in the neighborhood,” he said. “They are not a Wall Street firm just trying to check a box and do business in Seattle.” He also noted that the impending re-zone of the property was key to making the deal pencil.
Chris Persons
Koo asked Chris Person about how Capitol Hill Housing is helping Africatown, an entirely volunteer organization with no balance sheet and no ownership experience, to leap this gap to become a community anchor. Persons described their involvement with Africatown at the nearby Liberty Bank Building.
He also noted that, “The deal itself is complicated and challenging. There are lots of cooks in the kitchen. Africatown may not have a balance sheet, but the organization has lots of capacity in the vision and energy of its board and volunteers. CHH is intent on helping Africatown build the financial capacity over time to be long-term stewards of these properties.”
Koo observed in closing that the Midtown Center partnership is disrupting the regular development process in a very positive way. Patient capital on the part of investors such as Forterra and Lake Union Partners, along with the experience of an established community development agencies such as Capitol Hill Housing, is crucial. Willingness to deliberately partner with community-based organizations and build local capacity for long-term ownership and stewardship makes deals like this possible. Koo noted, “It is a model that can, indeed, be applied in other neighborhoods.”
