New housing and homelessness partnership asks Auburn to join

New housing and homelessness partnership asks Auburn to join

Kent, other cities interested in participating

They are your neighbors – senior, welder, cook and barista, home health aid, grocery clerk and biologist – engines of the local economy.

But too many average or below-average median income earners today are falling into the clutches of the twin devils of regional growth and rising housing costs.

And too many are joining the ranks of the homeless.

At a recent Auburn City Council work session, Marty Kooistra of the 170-member King County Housing Development Consortium, and John Howell, a founding partner of the Cedar River group, asked city leaders if they want Auburn to join a new county-cities partnership that is ready to take aim at the housing crisis.

“We’re trying to create some staff capacity to help South King County with its work on housing and homelessness issues,” Kooistra explained of the fledgling South King County Housing and Homelessness Partnership, or SKCHHP.

To make that happen, Kooistra said, SKCHHP needs to pool resources of the county and various cities, following in the steps of like successful programs throughout the nation. The partnership looks then to leverage other outside resources to create a capital fund that allows it either to develop new housing stock of mixed-use, mixed income developments, or to work on preserving some of the existing housing stock in South King County.

And, Kooistra said, “to have an impact on the growing need.”

By throwing together the latest total of homeless with households that are paying 30 to 50 percent of their income on housing costs, Kooistra said, citing numbers gathered by the Regional Affordable Housing Task Force in King County, the result is an algorithm that says if homes are built in a certain income strata, the county as a whole would need about 156,000 homes today to house the cost burdened, or extremely cost burdened, people.

In the last three years, according to King County, rent outside of Seattle has increased most sharply on the south end, and with 38 percent of the households there today up against some degree of cost burden, the number of houses that would have to be built to meet the need is 54,700.

“That’s a staggering number, compared to what we are producing right now. But it’s indicative of realizing the reality of what’s happening to us in terms of cost. … It’s important to remember we’re not talking about units, or housing, or whatever, we’re talking about people,” Kooistra said. “These are the people we rely on, day-to-day, to run the economy. … And all these are the folks who are trying to figure out how to make it work.”

One of the reasons it is such a challenge, Kooistra continued, is that in the last three years, rent increases have been highest in South King County cities.

Howell said SKCHHP, launched in 2016, is at the end of its three- year pilot term, so its participants are approaching the cities. In the last six months, members have created a working group that has developed a draft interlocal agreement, a work plan and a budget to create the collaboration.

To date, the cities of Auburn, Burien, Kent, Renton and Tukwila, and King County have indicated that they are interested in participating, but their participation requires council review and approval. Another six cities – Covington, Des Moines, Federal Way, Maple Valley, Normandy Park and SeaTac – have indicated interest, but have not yet said to SKCHHP that they’d put the proposal in their budgets.

Entities wishing to join have to sign the ILA, and participation is voluntary. Howell said the partnership’s ask of Auburn would be an annual $29,000.

Councilman Claude DaCorsi liked what he was hearing.

“Originally, I thought this was something that was limited to South King County, but the more you look at the process, the more you look at the issues we have, a tremendous amount of need for housing has been identified. … Having this group of cities come together is really important. And the most important thing you’ve mentioned is coming together with one voice,” DaCorsi said.


Talk to us

Please share your story tips by emailing editor@kentreporter.com.

To share your opinion for publication, submit a letter through our website https://www.kentreporter.com/submit-letter/. Include your name, address and daytime phone number. (We’ll only publish your name and hometown.) Please keep letters to 300 words or less.

More in News

Crews on the SR 509 Completion Project in south King County install the framework for a new bus stop on SR 516, also known as Kent-Des Moines Road. The SR 509 Completion Project includes new or improved connections to existing transit centers and stops. COURTESY PHOTO, WSDOT
Eastbound SR 516 ramp to I-5 in Kent to close for 4 months

Drivers heading to northbound I-5 will use a temporary left turn lane

Courtesy Photo, King County
Tacoma boy, 17, charged with murder in November 2024 Kent case

Reportedly fired six shots into vehicle that killed 21-year-old SeaTac man on West Hill

t
CW series ‘Police 24/7’ features Kent indecent exposure case

Department also part of future TV episodes after crews responded on calls with police in 2024

t
Kent mobile home park fire displaces 7 people, kills family dog

Cause of accidental fire Feb. 6 in 24400 block of 64th Avenue S. remains under investigation

File Photo
Police arrest man at Kent hotel wanted for Alabama murder

Officers take fugitive into custody Feb. 5 for December 2024 shooting

Courtesy Photo, Kent School District
Seven candidates to interview for Kent School Board vacancy

School Board members scheduled to select replacement at Tuesday night, Feb. 11 special meeting

t
Kent man, 24, identified in city’s first homicide of 2025

Elijah J. Oceguera Bestgen fatally shot Feb. 7 in wooded area along Lake Fenwick Road South

t
Cancer Center is open and ready to serve South King County

Cancer patients can now receive treatment at the Valley Medical Center in Renton.

t
Kent officers part of CW ‘Police 24/7’ episode Thursday night, Feb. 6

Department also part of future episodes after CW crews responded on calls with police in 2024

An Amtrak train in Kent. FILE PHOTO, STEVE HUNTER, Kent Reporter
Pedestrian, 30, dies in Kent collision with Amtrak train | Update

Medical examiner identifies Kent man struck Wednesday evening, Feb. 5 near East Titus Street

t
NTSB rules pilot lost control in 2023 Kent small plane crash

Pilot and passenger were injured; pilot flew without receiving training in plane model’s operation

Courtesy Photo, King County
Man receives 35-year sentence for 2021 Kent killing of mother

Duane Bates borrowed pipe wrench from neighbor in beating death and later returned it