Affordable Housing Project for the YWCA of Seattle, King County & Snohomish County
By
Jul 16, 2007
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To help low-income women gain affordable housing, a team of Foster Pepper attorneys, led by Washington Appleseed Board Member Marc Greenough, and including Deborah Winter, Alicia Danielson, Laura Karassik and Alice Ostdiek, served as bond counsel in issuing mezzanine financing by the King County Housing Authority. The financing is for the benefit of the YWCA of Seattle, King County & Snohomish County to buy three low-income housing complexes to support homeless women, in collaboration with Washington Appleseed.
This project is the first time such mezzanine financing has been attempted to benefit a nonprofit housing operator. It also promotes a long-term solution to a continuing problem rather than simply a temporary stop-gap measure. Specifically, the tax-exempt bonds are expected to be sold at a slight discount to market to socially responsible mutual funds. The taxable bonds are expected to be sold at a high discount (yielding roughly one percent) to individuals with whom the YWCA has an existing or prospective donor relationship.
Attorneys at Davis Wright Tremaine have also dedicated hundreds of hours, pro bono, towards this effort.
The innovative, complex structure for this project enabled the YWCA to overcome obstacles created by the typical sources of financing in a "hot" real estate market, like the Puget Sound region. The project, which successfully closed in mid-July 2007, was highlighted in the Everett Daily Herald. The article highlighted that this work resulted in, at $25.6 million, the largest affordable housing purchase in Snohomish County history.
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