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Bellwether Housing broke ground on Flourish on Rainier, its latest affordable housing project, in mid-July. With an anticipated opening in summer 2023, it will encompass 182 family-centered homes, many with 3 or 4 bedrooms. It is not yet leasing.
At the groundbreaking, Lisa Hawkins, a construction project manager at Bellwether, noted the site near Rainier Beach Community Center has been “a place of belonging, care, and home.” For nearly a century, it served as a home to several churches and a Buddhist Monastery.
The future apartments are expected to be home to households recovering from homelessness, seniors, immigrants, preschool teachers, social workers, and young, newly formed households. It will be integrated with the adjacent Rose Street apartment homes.
Among amenities are a spacious outdoor recreation and gardening area, ground floor retail, a community room, and an onsite childcare center to be owned and operated by Empowering Youth and Family Outreach. It offers easy access to rapid transit, grade schools, grocery stores, parks, and a public library.
Rents were not announced at the groundbreaking, but developers say the apartments will be affordable for households making between $42,150 for a single person to $60,200 for a family of four.
Around two dozen partners have a role in the Flourish on Rainier project, including SMR Architects, known for designing, preserving, and advocating for affordable housing, and Rafn Company, a leading contractor in the sustainable building industry whose multi-housing group has built more than 10,000 units.
Bellwether Housing is the Pacific Northwest’s largest nonprofit affordable housing provider. It was founded in 1980 to create safe, affordable housing close to workplaces for lower wage workers. Bellwether currently serves more than 3,500 residents in 2,100 homes with another 1,000 homes in development. The 501(c)(3) nonprofit plans to develop or acquire 2,500 new homes for low- and moderate-income residents of urban King County by 2025.