Big Seattle housing investment, but city 3rd nationally in homelessness

Seattle Mayor Jenny Durkan delivers her first State of the City address at Rainier Beach High School, Tuesday, Feb. 20, 2018. She has just announced creation and preservation of 1,400 affordable housing units. less Seattle Mayor Jenny Durkan delivers her first State of the City address at Rainier Beach High School, Tuesday, Feb. 20, 2018. She has just announced creation and preservation of 1,400 affordable housing ... more Photo: GENNA MARTIN, SEATTLEPI.COM Photo: GENNA MARTIN, SEATTLEPI.COM Image 1 of / 12 Caption Close Big Seattle housing investment, but city 3rd nationally in homelessness 1 / 12 Back to Gallery

Seattle will invest $75 million-plus to construct and preserve 1,400 affordable housing units, positive news on a day that Seattle received unwelcome word in a federal report on national homelessness.

Seattle has the nation's third highest population of homeless outside of New York and Los Angeles, a count that rose to more than 12,000 in King County last year, 6,000 in Seattle, with more than half without shelter. The county wide figure for 2014 was fewer than 9,000.

Mayor Jenny Durkan announced Monday that the city will build 10 new buildings with 1,197 apartments and preserve nine buildings, which house 238 affordable housing units. It is the largest number of affordable homes the city has created in a single year.

"Today's investments enable us to create and preserve the single largest number of affordable units ever -- over 1,400 units in a single year," Durkan said in a Tweet.

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"The incredible work of the Seattle Office of Housing has leveraged over $380 million to create 10 new buildings and preserve nine others."

A bit more formally, the city explained in a release: "The funds invested through the city's Office of Housing will provide affordable homes through a broad range of housing types to meet the unique needs of low-income residents."

The $75 million will support and leverage an additional $300 million in investments from both the private and public sectors.

The city is aiming to have 4,000 affordable housing units in place by 2022.

The national study, by the U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development, found 552,000 people without homes across America. Of those, 194,000 were "unsheltered," meaning they live in tents and on the streets."

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Los Angeles saw a slight decline, after voting in 2017 to spend $1.2 billion to create 10,000 affordable housing units during the coming decade. A January count, however, found 50,000 homeless in the city, 37,000 of them unsheltered.

San Diego, likewise, saw a slight decline.

Seattle has, however, seen a steady increase in homelessness even as the city's spending has steadily increased.

The strive to keep housing affordable is "one of the most moral challenges of our time," Durkan said in announcing the city's investment.

"Too many people are getting pushed out of Seattle and can't afford to live here."