PORT TOWNSEND — Olympic Community Action Programs will host an open house Wednesday to provide details on its proposed 44-unit affordable housing complex.
The meeting will be from 5 p.m. to 6:30 p.m. at the Olympic Community Action Programs (OlyCAP) conference room, 803 Commerce Loop in Port Townsend.
Representatives from the architectural cooperative Third Place Design, Ally Community Development and OlyCAP will present initial building plans and elevations developed with the help of the community preferences identified during a meeting last month.
The $16 million project is proposed to be at Seventh and Hendricks streets in an area that serves the QFC supermarket and such Jefferson County services as the Department of Community Development and the Public Health Department.
It’s also close to Jefferson Healthcare hospital and other services, including Jefferson Transit.
“It’s a tight spot, but it’s an ideal spot,” OlyCAP Executive Director Dale Wilson said during the meeting last month.
The mixed-use building would include two floors of apartments with 44 total units that would sit above ground-floor classrooms for early childhood education.
Funding is expected to come from a number of sources, with the largest hurdle coming in September, when OlyCAP must meet a deadline to apply for the state Housing Trust Fund, said Kathy Morgan, the organization’s director of housing and community development.
That application is expected to be for $3 million, and if they’re successful, Morgan said she is confident they would be able to receive an additional $10.2 million from private investments via tax credits through a national IRS program.
Morgan said OlyCAP should know by December if the state application is approved.
The remainder of OlyCAP’s funding would come from various sources, including a bank loan for about $1.2 million plus $163,661 from the organization.
A fact sheet presented last month showed an additional $500,000 from Federal Home Loan Bank, about $491,000 from the state Early Childhood Facilities and nearly $400,000 from local donations, contributions and grants.
Development is expected to cost about $2.3 million and construction nearly $12.5 million.
The complex is projected to have six studio apartments, 19 one-bedroom units, 15 two-bedroom units and four three-bedroom units.
Construction could begin as early as next spring, Morgan said.
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Jefferson County Managing Editor Brian McLean can be reached at 360-385-2335, ext. 6, or at bmclean@peninsuladailynews.com.
