Securing Affordable Housing for the YWCA
It has always been a challenge for Washington residents to find stable, affordable, long-term housing. This problem of finding and keeping safe, affordable housing can be exacerbated by the varying financial income levels for many Washington women. Family Income Study data shows that over a two-year period, one fifth of the women who were initially poor earned out of poverty one fifth of the women initially over the federal poverty level fell below it.
In addition to the trouble individual women have in securing safe housing, organizations who serve these women also have a tough time acquiring the real estate that could provide these much-needed homes.
How Washington Appleseed is Helping
To help low-income women gain affordable housing, Washington Appleseed assembled a team of Foster Pepper and Davis Wright Tremaine attorneys to serve as bond counsel in issuing mezzanine financing by the King County Housing Authority. The financing enabled 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 was 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.
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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 spotlighted 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.
Pro Bono and Community Partners
YWCA of King and Sonomish Counties
A special thank you to our pro bono volunteers: Marc Greenough, Deborah Winter, Alicia Danielson, Laura Karassik and Alice Ostdiek.