Even as highly touted affordable-housing projects are set to be constructed here, groups that work to provide such housing are struggling to meet a growing demand for units.


Projects under construction hereor soon to beinclude the Walnut Corners development, The Pearl on Adams (formerly the Helena Apartments), and the Bel Franklin Apartments, which will provide a combined 114 low-income housing units.


By themselves, however, theyll hardly make up for last years loss of low-income housing, such as the New Madison Apartments and the Commercial Building downtown, which displaced about 200 people, says Ray Rieckers, director of housing and economic development for Spokane Neighborhood Action Programs (SNAP). Both of those buildings are being redeveloped for fair market uses, Rieckers says.


SNAP, a nonprofit provider of services to Spokanes poor, owns 300 low-income residential units and has a waiting list of about 300 people seeking such housing.


New people are added to the list daily, even though some come off when they find housing on their own, he says, adding, Demand has not slackened.


Rieckers says it takes two to three years to line up sources of public funding and to get an affordable housing project completed and open. Part of the reason for such a drawn-out process is that various sources of funding are only available once or twice a year.


Someone might have a great project in mind, but it might not get funded until it takes a couple of runs through the application process, he says.


This month, Spokane County received two responses to its request for proposals for the $1.1 million it expects will be available this year from the U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development (HUD) for affordable housing projects.


In one proposal, Salem Arms, of Spokane, is requesting $470,000 to acquire the nine-unit Elm Apartments building, where it intends to provide housing for chronically mentally ill homeless people.


In the other proposal, Spokane United Methodist Homes, doing business as Rockwood Retirement Community, is seeking $500,000 to go toward construction of a 50-unit facility to house low-income seniors at the southeast corner of Appleway Boulevard and Farr Road, in Spokane Valley. The total estimated cost for that project is $9 million and would be funded through several sources, says Christine Barada, the countys director of community services, housing, and community development.


Barada says the countys Housing and Community Development Advisory Committee will review the proposals and make recommendations on them next month to the county commissioners.


The county is always in need of low-income affordable housing, especially for those with special needs, the elderly, and children of very-low income families, Barada says.


She says its unusual that the requests for funds total less than the available money, and any leftover funds might be added to whats available next year.


A survey by the Spokane Low Income Housing Consortium (SLIHC) found that as of July 1, only 51 of 2,093 housing units its members provide, or 2.4 percent, were vacant. The year-earlier survey indicated a vacancy rate of 1.5 percent.


While this years survey findings would appear to be an improvement, any vacancy rate below 5 percent is tight, says Cindy Algeo, SLIHCs director.


Its not getting easier to add to the stock of low-income housing, because sources of funding for such housing are diminishing, says Linda Hugo, executive director of Community Frameworks, a Spokane-based nonprofit.


Community Frameworks is attempting to secure $6 million in funding from at least six sources for Pioneer Park Place, a 29-unit low-income housing project planned at a former nursing home at Seventh Avenue and Washington Street.


One major funding source for the project would be tax credits through which investors would provide money for the project in exchange for credits deducted from their income taxes. In the past, most investors in tax credits have been financial institutions. Now, some of those institutions are struggling financially and others dont even exist anymore.


Its difficult to find investors, Hugo says. Theyre not putting in as much money for the same amount of tax credits.


Other related market conditions likely will only add to a shortage in affordable rental housing, says Steve Cervantes, director of the Spokane Housing Authority.


Any increase in the foreclosure rate will force more folks into the already tight rental market, he says.


The housing authority, doing business as Northeastern Washington Housing Solutions (NEWHS), administers rental assistance under a HUD voucher program through which participating landlords charge renters amounts equal to 30 percent of their incomes. The program pays the building owners the difference between what the renters pay and the normal market rent.


Last year, more than 2,500 families applied for the vouchers. Of those, 800 remain on the nonprofits waiting list.


The housing authority hopes to open up the waiting list again later this year and expects a record number of applicants when it does, he says.


Cervantes says the average assistance to recipients provided through the voucher program is $400 a month.


For some, the program provides long-term assistance, although the goal of the program is to help recipients work toward self-sufficiency, he says.


NEWHS is developing The Pearl on Adams, at 173 S. Adams, at an estimated cost of about $7 million. The project, which will provide 31 units of low-income housing, is expected to be ready for occupants in early 2009.


The nonprofit also bought the Martindale Apartments, at 5313 N. Regal in the Hillyard neighborhood, and plans to rehabilitate it to provide 50 units of low-income housing at a cost of about $12 million, NEWHS says.


Thats still no significant gain in affordable housing units, Cervantes says. About 45 residents of the Martindale were displaced when the building closed for financial reasons last spring.


Also in Hillyard, Inland Empire Residential Resources, another Spokane-based nonprofit provider of affordable housing, plans to build a $4.7 million, 33-unit apartment building, to be called Market Street Station, for older low-income residents. That project, which the nonprofit hopes to fund through a combination of tax credits, tax-exempt bonds, low-interest loans, and grants, would be completed at the end of 2009.


Spokane Housing Ventures is renovating the upper three floors of the Bel Franklin building, at 225 N. Division downtown. The $4.8 million project, which will provide 36 units of low-income housing, is expected to be completed late this year. Rents will range from $302 to $544 per month, depending on the type of unit and the tenants income, Spokane Housing Ventures says.


Spokane Urban Ministries, a nonprofit founded by four Spokane-area Lutheran churches, is developing Walnut Corners, a $9 million project that will consist of two buildings with a total of 47 low-income housing units. Both buildings will be on the east side of Walnut Street. One will be at 1403 W. Mallon and the other will be at 1425 W. Broadway. The project is scheduled to be completed next July.


James Kashork, Spokane Urban Ministries board president, says the nonprofit, which is less than two years old, put together funding from its member churches, tax credits, the city, and the county in less than a years time.


Thats not typical, but the shortage of affordable housing stock was on everybodys priority list, Kashork says. Were working with social-service organizations, including Catholic Charities Spokane and Spokane Mental Health, to provide permanent housing for folks they provide transitional housing for.


One building that changed hands this year, but will continue to be used for affordable housing, is the Parkview Apartments, in Spokanes East Central Neighborhood. Seattle-based Allied Pacific bought the 63-unit structure at 1413 E. Seventh and plans to renovate it at a total cost of $4.7 million.


Cervantes says much of the affordable housing that was lost last year was substandard.


The average rent was $200 to $300 per month, he says. It wasnt top of the line. Realistically, it was due for rehabilitation. The new affordable housing will have longer-range sustainability.


New federal fundsThe federal Housing Stimulus Act, which became law in July, contains a few incentives to encourage affordable housing. The new act allows up to $12 billion in tax credits nationwide for affordable housing projects, says SNAPs Rieckers.


Our piece of the pie will be small, but helpful, although theres still a question of whether tax credits will be in demand, he says.


The act also authorizes a federal housing trust fund that likely will bring some resources into the community, he says. Those resources, however, Wont be available until the fall of 2009, and HUD has yet to publish rules on how to access them, Rieckers says


SLIHC conducted another survey intended to gauge how people perceive the need for affordable housing. Algeo says the survey results indicate Spokane residents believe local entities should continue to play a role in providing housing, but arent willing to approve a property-tax measure to fund it. Voters narrowly rejected such a levy in 1994, she says.


Contact Mike McLean at (509) 344-1266 or via e-mail at mikem@spokanejournal.com.