Durkan advances plan for low-income housing in Discovery Park

Seattle Mayor Jenny Durkan is moving forward with her about $90 million plan to redevelop Discovery Park’s Fort Lawton into more than 200 affordable homes.

RELATED: Discovery Park could be latest locale for low-income housing

Fort Lawton is a former military base located in Seattle’s Discovery Park and near the Magnolia neighborhood.

The plan includes 85 homes for seniors, approximately 100 homes for low-income individuals and families, and up to 52 homes designated for ownership opportunities.

Senior housing will come equipped with support services. Rentals will be priced for households making up to 60 percent of the median area income. Homes for sale will be reserved for households under 80 percent of median area income.

Sixty percent of the site will be reserved for park and park-related uses.

The Army currently leases the land to Seattle, but avoids tax burdens if it transfers the acreage to the city. One catch: The land must be used for parks or homeless housing to get the tax breaks.

The latest draft updates the 2008 plan to make it consistent with the Fort Lawton Army Reserve Center Environmental Impact Statement issued in March 2018. The city also did community outreach and hosted public hearings to get additional input.

RELATED: Why isn’t Seattle building affordable housing?

Durkan has scheduled a public meeting for Feb. 11 to take comments and said she would send the plan to Seattle City Council in upcoming weeks.

For more information on the development plan, visit this link.

Additional reporting from MyNorthwest staff

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