Construction is expected to start later this year on a 261-unit affordable housing apartment complex in Kent along Veterans Drive on the West Hill.
DevCo Inc., a Bellevue-based developer, plans to build the GrandView apartments on the former Kent Highlands property it bought for $5 million last year from the city of Kent and Seattle Public Utilities. The site is 11.4 acres at 3900 Veterans Drive, just east of Military Road South. DevCo paid the city $2 million for its 3.9 acres of the property.
DevCo is a private for-profit company led by president Jack Hunden, who has specialized in building affordable multifamily rental housing for nearly two decades. The company has built 15 low-income housing developments across the state.
“I just received an email a few days ago from Jack Hutton of DevCo, who is developing the project, indicating that they are beginning to move forward with seeking their final (city) permits on that project to set it up for start of construction this year,” said Ben Wolters, city economic and community development director, in a Feb. 3 report to the City Council.
DevCo plans to build a 308-unit complex in Federal Way.
“They have a number of projects under construction and it was more of a decision on their part not to grow their team too big and build them all at once but take them in sequential order so as they are completing their other projects he’s letting me know it’s time to move forward with this one this year,” Wolters said.
The company built the The Seasons Apartment Homes at Lea Hill Village in 2008 in Auburn.
Wolters said the complex is called GrandView because “it has an incredible view of Mount Rainier from up there.”
Just as with previous projects, DevCo applied to the Washington State Housing Finance Commission (WSHFC) to secure funding for the Kent apartments. The commission last year approved issuing $45 million in tax-exempt bonds to help fund the project.
Because of the funding from the WSHFC, the units will be required to be made available to households earning no more than 60 percent of the median household income in King County, which is about $71,000 for a two-person household, according to county documents.
According to county income figures for 2014, a one-bedroom unit for one person could rent for up to about $927 per month and a two-bedroom unit for about $1,059.
Hunden told the commission the apartments will include 15 five-bedroom units and 51 four-bedroom units because of the popularity of the larger apartments at other complexes the company has built, according to commission meeting documents. He also told the commission that Kent has very high design standards so the apartments will have metal siding and a substantial amount of brick in the structure.
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