A new round of financing from Nationwide will help support the construction of a seven-story building located at 2201 S. Grand St. within the 3.2-acre Grand Street Commons development in Seattle’s Judkins Park neighborhood. The building, which will cost almost $99 million to complete and will be home to 206 affordable housing units, is being funded in part through Nationwide’s Affordable Housing Tax Credit program.

In addition to affordable housing, tenant services will be provided by the developer, Mt. Baker Housing Association, and will focus on financial assistance, access to health resources, life skills and education, family and youth services, and community and cultural events. The property’s on-site amenities will include a community room, exercise room, business center, community courtyard, roof deck and bicycle storage.

The larger Grand Street Commons development will include two additional seven-story buildings that are expected to contain approximately 400 units of market-rate rental housing. Construction and clean-up of this former environmental brownfield site is being completed in conjunction with the Washington State Department of Ecology; the work started in September of this year and is expected to be completed in September 2024.

“The availability of affordable and safe housing is at a critical point right now, and Seattle is not immune to it. The Grand Street Commons project aligns with one of Nationwide’s primary corporate sustainability goals: promoting stable and affordable housing in neighborhoods, cities, and states where it operates,” said Joel Coleman, Nationwide’s Chief Investment Officer. “Nationwide’s ongoing commitment to invest in underserved communities through our robust Affordable Housing Tax Credit platform helps make projects like Grand Street Commons possible and improves the lives of many deserving people.”

Housing affordability in the U.S. is down 29 percent from a year ago, according to the National Association of Realtors¹, with Seattle being the thirty-first least-affordable housing market in the country². This isn’t the first time Nationwide has provided tax credit financing to affordable housing projects. Last year the company contributed funding to provide housing for homeless people in L.A.’s Central City East neighborhood.

¹ Daily Mail, October 26, 2022
²Seattle Agent Magazine, February 18, 2022