"We announced Monday [Feb. 25] that the Seattle Housing Authority was selected to be our lead developer," said Linda Cannon, deputy director of the Office of Intergovernmental Relations.
Also selected for the development team were the YMCA, the Archdiocesan Housing Authority, the United Indians of All Tribes Foundation/Alesek Institute, Habitat for Humanity, the Homestead Community Land Trust and the Cascade Land Conservancy, according to city documents.
Missing from the list was the Downtown Emergency Services Center, which originally had proposed using some of the surplus property in Discovery Park to house clients who often suffer from mental illness and addictions to drugs and alcohol.
The city, acting as the federally mandated Local Reuse Authority, had been expected to release a draft plan for reuses of the Army Reserve base properties at a public meeting last April.
But the draft was delayed at the last minute because the Army had expressed concerns about not being able to sell off as much property as possible to private developers, Cannon said at the time.
Selling surplus military property to developers is allowed under the Base Realignment and Closure (BRAC) Act, as is transferring the property for park uses.
But the BRAC Act also mandates that some of the property be transferred to programs for housing the homeless. That was a problem at the meeting last spring for some people who worried about the effect homeless housing would have on local property values.
Other concerns included the "appropriateness" of homeless housing in a Discovery Park area, where access to services, a relative lack of public transportation and the presence of children were issues. The same kinds of concerns about the homeless getting homes in Magnolia were also expressed at the meeting last month, Cannon said.
And like last year, the draft reuse plan still needs to be developed. That will happen, she said, following workshops with stakeholders starting this month.
The stakeholders will include local residents, community organizations such as the Magnolia Community Club, the Heron Habitat Helpers, the Friends of Discovery Park, the Discovery Park Advisory Council and the Magnolia Historical Society, according to city documents.
Workshop comments will be used to help develop a final draft plan next summer, and the final draft will be presented to the Seattle City Council for review next September, according to the city time line.
The reuse plan is expected to be sent to the Army next November.[[In-content Ad]]