Capitol Hill’s design review pipeline has slowed to a trickle but there are still a few important new projects on the board. Wednesday night, a development from Pioneer Human Services part of $101 million in funding for affordable housing projects across Seattle will take its first step in the process.

Pioneer on Belmont will be a seven-story apartment building with 90 units designed for a mix of the lowest income tenants and housing for formerly incarcerated and homeless residents:

Pioneer’s project will represent the first step in their journey to rehabilitate and redevelop their current housing portfolio to create long term stable, efficient, sustainable and dignified housing to better serve their clients and community. This new building will allow them to further develop their services and programming, help engage the street in a positive way and allow them to serve more than twice the number of clients as they do today.

With a design from SMR Architects, the project is lined up to replace Pioneer’s existing 107-year-old apartment building and parking lot in the 1700 block of Belmont. With 89 units for residents, a one-bedroom apartment for the building manager, and 4,000 square feet for community space and offices, the new building will be a major upgrade over the existing three-story, 41-unit structure.

“The off-arterial location, centrally located in Capitol Hill provides a great opportunity for the residents,” the developers write. “This project will meet the greater community’s goals by increasing housing affordability, strengthening and enhancing the existing character and providing a greater range of housing types. The streetscape quality will be improved with the project using open space design and use, residential privacy and reflecting the scale of similar existing buildings on the block.”

CHS first reported on the project in December as part of $101 million in city funding for affordable projects. The project will be also be financed with Low-Income Housing Tax Credits, “and some combination of public and private financing.”

Pioneer says the development will serve a mix of “low (60%AMI), very low (50% AMI) and extremely low income (30% AMI) residents.” “A portion of the project will also provide opportunity for permanent supportive housing to formerly incarcerated and homeless residents,” the Pioneer announcement of the project reads. “Case management services” for those Pioneer residents will be provided at the facility.

In addition to utilizing the first year of funding from the 2016 voter-passed Seattle Housing Levy, the city said the Office of Housing’s investments include funding from incentive zoning payments, proceeds from the sale of surplus properties, and $29 million in bonds approved by the Seattle City Council.

SMR Architects, meanwhile, has provided designs for previous Pioneer projects and affordable projects including Plymouth Housing Group’s recently opened 77-unit development on First Hill.

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