Also in this issue: a new Zillow-powered housing app, GSBA Business and Humanitarian Awards

Durkan Digest Standard Header



Since taking office, my administration has been focused on addressing our regions crisis of affordability by creating more affordable housing in every part of our City - and were doing it faster than ever before.

In the past three years, we have invested nearly $1.5 billion with our partners and created 4,000 affordable homes. And earlier this week, we took another important step on our efforts to build more affordable housing in every part of our region.

On Monday, Seattle Housing Authority Director Andrew Lofton and I announced a partnership between the City of Seattle and the Seattle Housing Authority (SHA) to transform the Northgate apartments into a diverse, mixed-income community.

Rendering of future improvements to the Northgate area, including mall redevelopment, Northgate commons, and Light Rail Station

Its incredibly rare that the City has the opportunity to be a partner in a property acquisition like this. Northgate is on the leading edge of equitable growth for ourCity and this new partnership will ensure we will not lose ground on affordable housing in this high opportunity and high displacement community. Over the coming year, the City and SHA will work together while engaging residents to plan for a more dense, connected neighborhood with community-serving spaces.

This new development is just one more piece of a truly transformative plan for our Northgate neighborhood. Just last week, we broke ground on a new bike and pedestrian bridge that will connect neighborhoods on both sides of I-5 to retail, medical, and social services. And, in the next few years, we will see a reimagined Northgate Mall and a world-class NHL practice facility that will usher in a new generation of hockey fans in Seattle.

The Northgate Commons is an exciting new development for the North Seattle community and it builds on several key actions that we have taken to increase housing options for low- and middle-income households. Last year, we committed funds from the sale of the Mercer Street properties to support strategic acquisition and visionary investments in housing, community and cultural spaces in locations facing displacement. And just last month, my Affordable Middle-Income Housing Advisory Council delivered a suite of strategies that we can act on toincrease housing options available tomiddle-income familiesand individuals.

As always, please continue to write me [email protected], reach out viaTwitter [ [link removed] ]andFacebook [ [link removed] ], and stay up-to-date on the work were doing for the people of Seattle onmyblog. [ [link removed] ]

Mayor Jenny A. Durkan's SignatureSpacer
Mayor Durkan Joins Zillow to Launch First-of-its-Kind Search Tool to Help Connect People to Affordable Housing
Mayor Durkan and King County Executive pose with Chauncey Williams, Raquel Russell (Zillow), Shkelkim Khelmendi, and others

This week, Mayor Durkan and King County Executive Dow Constantine unveiled a new Zillow-powered search tool [ [link removed] ]to help match local nonprofit service providers and their clients experiencing homelessness with owners of affordable vacant rental units. The best part is, its already changing liveslearn about Chauncey Williamss story here [ [link removed] ].

Through Zillow's search tool, Housing Connector partner landlords will be able to quickly upload housing inventory, and local non-profit service providers will be able to find housing inventory in real time for tenants who need affordable housing. Housing Connector landlords have adjusted or waived criteria that would normally prevent those most in need from qualifying for the home. Thirty-five landlords throughout Seattle and King County and 42 nonprofit service providers are active on the platform as it launches, with more partners expected to be added. Zillow's search tool does not require or knowingly collect the personal information of tenants and no user information through Housing Connector is sold to third parties.

Screenshot of the Zillow app showing affordable housing for rent

A project born of Mayor Durkan'sInnovation Advisory Council [ [link removed] ] and launched in 2018, the new search tool was developed by a team of Zillow employees in close partnership with the Seattle Office of Housing, local nonprofit organization Housing Connector and its network of service providers and property owners. The Innovation Advisory Council whose members come from the corporate, academic, and nonprofit sectors collaborates with the City of Seattle to use data and technology to solve Seattle's most urgent challenges in the areas of homelessness, affordability, mobility, delivery of essential services, and more.

Spacer
Mayor Durkan Recommits to Protecting the Upper Skagit Watershed
Photo of Mountain in the Crystal Mountain Range - CC Dru! From Flickr.com-NC 2.0

CC Dru! From Flickr.com-NC 2.0

This week, Mayor Durkan joined the Skagit Environmental Endowment Commission (SEEC) to reinforce the City of Seattles ongoing commitment to protecting the Upper Skagit Watershed and its vital natural resources. A treaty signed by the City of Seattle and British Columbia in 1984 created the Skagit Environmental Endowment Commission (SEEC) to manage an endowment fund to preserve the area, pristine wilderness and fish and wildlife habitat in the Upper Skagit Watershed until 2065.

In 2018, without alerting the SEEC and the City of Seattle, the B.C. government began logging in the Donut Hole and surrounding area. The City of Seattle and SEEC wrote letters opposing this proposed activity. In the meantime, SEEC has been working primarily to stop mining and logging activities permanently in the Donut Hole and acquire the mineral rights from Imperial Metals.

The B.C. government recently announced that logging activities in the Donut Hole would be halted indefinitely, [ [link removed] ] however, the decision on the exploratory mining permit is pending.

Spacer
Mayor Durkan Attends GSBAs 39th Annual Business & Humanitarian Awards
Mayor Durkan poses with Dominque Stephens at the GSBA Business and Humanitarian Awards

This week, Mayor Durkan was invited to speak at the GSBAs 39th annual Business and Humanitarian Awards Dinner. Recipients of the Business and Humanitarian awards are representative of the diversity of Seattles LGBTQ+ community, representing businesses from catering to plumbing, jewelry to accounting , and everything in between. This year was a very special year for the Seattle Mayors Office, as Dominique Stephens, a member of the Mayors External Relations team, was chosen as the recipient of the Community Leader of the year award. This award is an enormous honor for Dominique, and the entire office is proud of her accomplishments.

You can see all of this years winners here. [ [link removed] ]

Spacer
Mayor Durkan and Councilmember Debora Juarez Vote to Urge Faster Progress on More Light Rail

Seattle knows we need more light rail sooner. Its why Mayor Durkan has been pushing to forward more quickly on 130th Street Station to save costs, limit future disruption, and get more people access to transit before the scheduled opening of 2031. Mayor Durkan, Councilmember Debora Juarez, and the System Expansion Committee voted this week to amend the adopted budget for the NE 130th Street Infill Station to allow the project final design phase to begin in 2020. The full Sound Transit Board will vote later this month.

Spacer
Weekend Read: Geekwire: Zillow launches tool to help Seattleites exiting homelessness find affordable housing
Screenshot of Geekwire story featuring a photo of the Zillow housing app

For this weeks edition of the Weekend Read, we encourage you to check out Geekwires coverage of the new Zillow Housing Connector tool. [ [link removed] ]

"Zillow Group launched a new tool Thursday to help people experiencing homelessness in Seattle connect with affordable housing options. The tool is hosted on Zillows website and allows landlords with affordable units and caseworkers seeking housing for their clients to connect in one place."

"Local non-profit Housing Connector and other homeless service providers can browse availability across locations, rather than the traditional process of searching property-by-property. Landlords that use Housing Connector have relaxed criteria that can make it difficult for people to secure housing, like a history of evictions or criminal offenses."

Read more [ [link removed] ]





*Seattle Office of the Mayor*

600 4th Avenue

4th Floor

Seattle, WA 98104

*Phone: 206-684-4000*

facebook [ [link removed] ]twitter [ [link removed] ]front porch [ [link removed] ] [ [link removed] ] [ [link removed] ] [ [link removed] ] seattle dot gov

Manage Preferences [ [link removed] ] | Unsubscribe [ [link removed] ] | Contact Us [ [link removed] ] | Help [ [link removed] ]| Privacy [ [link removed] ]




________________________________________________________________________

This email was sent to [email protected] using GovDelivery Communications Cloud on behalf of: City of Seattle 707 17th St, Suite 4000 Denver, CO 80202 GovDelivery logo [ [link removed] ]