Community Roots Housing and GenPride will celebrate the grand opening of Pride Place on October 25, 2023. Pride Place, which broke ground in September 2021, is the Pacific Northwest’s first affordable and affirming housing and community center designed for LGBTQIA+ older adults. It brings 7 stories of new affordable housing to the heart of Capitol Hill, situated directly over retail space and a 4,400-square-foot senior community center operated by GenPride.
Pride Place welcomed its first residents home last month. The building features 118 apartment homes affordable to households that earn between 30% and 60% of the area median income. For a two-person household, that translates to a household income range between $32,880 and $65,750.
Capitol Hill is the historic home and cultural center for LGBTQIA+ life in Seattle. Pride Place was purposefully designed to provide safe, stable housing for LGBTQIA+ elders and allies ages 55+ to age in community, in a neighborhood whose rising rents are triggering displacement of the communities responsible for its character.
LGBTQIA+ seniors face a unique set of challenges and health disparities as they age: compared to their peers, they are more likely to be in poverty, are at higher risk for illness, are less likely to have the support of children or biological family, and often face discrimination and difficulty finding culturally competent care. The GenPride community center at Pride Place will offer health and support services, programs to reduce social isolation, a wide variety of recreational activities, and a welcoming place for LGBTQIA+ seniors from across the region to gather.
The development and design of Pride Place incorporated extensive feedback from community stakeholders. Located at 1521 Broadway on the site of the historic Eldridge Tire Company building, the building’s façade includes restored stucco huts as well as a porte-cochère with terra cotta roof tiles that reflect the original structure’s architecture. The interior was outfitted with an array of senior friendly design features; all units are ADA accessible, and 14 units have enhanced accessibility features.
Pride Place’s central position in the neighborhood also makes it a convenient and desirable location for seniors to age in place. Just two blocks from the Capitol Hill light rail station, Pride Place puts residents within walking distance of several grocery stores, pharmacies, parks, and the medical centers of First Hill. The transit-friendly project site was acquired in collaboration with Sound Transit and Seattle Central College.
Pride Place is Community Roots Housing’s greenest building to date. Both the interior and exterior boast environmentally friendly features including a green roof and solar panels; triple-paned windows; high-efficiency heat pump hot water heating; a high-performance building envelope with insulation in excess of code requirements; LED lighting; as well as low VOC and formaldehyde-free building materials and paint for a healthy indoor air environment.
The $54,400,000 development of Pride Place was funded through a variety of public and private investments, including low-income state and federal tax credits. The project was made possible through crucial support from the City of Seattle Office of Housing, Washington State Housing Trust Fund, King County Housing Finance Program, Sound Transit, JP Morgan Chase, Hudson Housing Capital, and Fannie Mae. To date, the Rise Together campaign has helped raise $4 million in private funding to support the ground floor senior center toward a $4.7 million goal. Rise Together and GenPride continue to fundraise for the remainder of the goal.
Learn more about Pride Place and RSVP for the grand opening by visiting https://www.prideplaceseattle.org/grand-opening
