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Many communities in Washington are facing a housing crunch, but one Ecology program is helping to ease the shortage. Our Affordable Housing Cleanup Grant Program provides grants to developers to help clean up contaminated sites. In return, the developers redevelop the property, with at least 40% of the square footage slated for affordable housing for at least 30 years.
Several of our earliest grant recipients have already opened their doors to residents in Seattle and Bellingham. Now we’re entering into a legal agreement with the Downtown Emergency Service Center (DESC) to redevelop the Stewart House cleanup site in Seattle, and we’d like your input.
The Stewart House cleanup site
The Stewart House site includes properties at 1727, 1733, and 1737 Belmont Ave, all currently owned by DESC, a nonprofit that provides affordable housing and other services. DESC’s plan is to redevelop these properties into a single building, DESC Belmont, which will provide 120 units of affordable housing along with on-site supportive services.
The properties have historically been the site of apartment buildings heated by oil furnaces. Soil at the cleanup site has been contaminated by petroleum products that leaked out of underground storage tanks. The extent of the contamination will be studied during the future remedial investigation phase.
Public comment period
We’re accepting public comments on the legal agreement (called an Agreed Order) between us and DESC as well as the public participation plan. The comment period started at midnight on April 7 and runs until 11:59 p.m. on May 6.
We’ll host a hybrid open house on April 15, from 5 – 7 p.m., to provide project information and answer questions. Drop in anytime during those hours to learn more. The in-person meeting will be at Seattle Public Library – Capitol Hill, 425 Harvard Ave E, Seattle and will have light refreshments. Phone interpretation in Spanish and Chinese will be available for in-person attendees.
To attend virtually, register for the Zoom meeting.