Commerce joined Island County and the U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development to fund the construction of 14 new homes.
Island Roots Housing broke ground on Generations Place in September, a big deal in Langley where affordable housing has not been developed in 35 years.
Generations Place will be Island Roots Housing’s inaugural project, aiming to provide affordable homes for Langley’s local workers and avoid displacement common for towns with rising rental costs.
As a new organization with strong community ties, Island Roots is keenly aware of local needs. Island Roots launched this effort as a direct response to Langley’s 2022 Housing Needs Assessment, which found that Langley renters are disproportionately cost-burdened compared to Island County renters. Langley residents spend more than 30% of their income on rent and most live more than 30 minutes from their workplace.
Generations Place will be accessible to Langley residents earning 60-80% of the area median income.
Rose Hughes, managing director of Island Roots Housing, said, “The goal of this project is to prevent homelessness for those working in Langley, who most often cannot afford the housing market, and to provide housing for families with children, who are an endangered population in the city with a median age of 70.”
Island Roots worked tirelessly to gather funding and support for this project:
- State Senator Ron Muzzall and Representatives Dave Paul and Clyde Shavers approved direct appropriation via the Housing Trust Fund.
- Island County deployed federal American Rescue Plan Spending dollars for the benefit of those most affected by the COVID shutdown.
- The City of Langley received a Connecting Housing to Infrastructure Program (CHIP) grant from Commerce.
- Skagit County administered federal HOME funding for the area.
- Langley neighbors established a community fund – contributing to a 27% community match.
Though Island Roots is a new grassroots organization, the founding board members had extensive experience in difficult development projects. They were able to secure American Rescue Plan Act (ARPA) grant funding from the federal government. This allowed Fred Safstrom, the outgoing CEO of Housing Hope, to come on board as development consultant to coordinate the funding efforts.
Island Roots selected Environmental Works Community Design Center to ensure the design was responsive to the community’s needs, and Safstrom brought on GenCap Construction Company early in the process to ensure cost-efficient constructability. The combined team got to its permitting stage in two years.
“One of our goals with Generations Place was to prove we could do it. Small-scale rural projects can have tremendous impact on local economies but have a very hard time competing for funding because of their high per-unit costs,” Hughes reflected. “However, they have assets that metro-area organizations don’t – a very-connected population that is willing to get behind projects that are led by people they know and trust. That is why we were able to get this project started in a record three years from original site identification”.
Moving forward, Island Roots Housing wants to create a hub of technical expertise that supports future projects across Island County, as well as efforts by local organizations serving other segments of need. Hughes identified three to five properties they may develop into affordable housing communities in the future.
Thanks to public funders such as the Washington State Department of Commerce, the tight-knit community of Langley, and Island Roots Housing for making Generations Place a reality.
You can learn more about Island Roots Housing on their website.