Announcing John Fox Place

The Low Income Housing Institute (LIHI) is pleased to announce the leasing of John Fox Place, a newly constructed 7-story, 104-unit building located at 8700 Aurora Ave. N. in Seattle. The building features affordable studios, 1-, 2-, and 3-bedroom apartments, plus a community room, computer lab, classroom, rooftop deck, courtyard, and children’s play area, John Fox Place will serve families and individuals making 30%, 50% and 60% of the King County Area Median Income (AMI). Click for leasing info. The building’s completion date is in October. “The building is named after John V. Fox, the long-time leader of the Seattle Displacement Coalition. John is a staunch housing advocate who fought against the demolition and for the preservation of low-income housing in downtown Seattle and surrounding neighborhoods. We are pleased to honor John Fox for his tireless advocacy,” said Sharon Lee, LIHI Executive Director.

Fox championed the requirement that the Seattle Housing Authority provide one for one replacement of low-income housing during the redevelopment of Yesler Terrace, Holly Park and other SHA sites. Fox was also a vocal critic of upzoning the University District and other neighborhoods. While he was not popular with market-rate developers, he made a great impact on the city’s housing policy by emphasizing the need to preserve existing housing, fight gentrification, and serve families and individuals most in need. Watch a Seattle Voices interview of John Fox on the Seattle Channel.

When learning that LIHI would be naming its new development after him, John said he was deeply honored and humbled: "Often the work of advocates and organizers goes unrecognized. Usually, that’s by choice because it’s their job to put others out front, build leadership among affected people that’s prerequisite to structural change. I've been privileged to work with and learn from an extraordinary bunch of activists and fighters for housing, racial, and economic justice over decades, quite a few now no longer with us. We’ve made a real difference in peoples’ lives but always any success was only achieved together through collective action. This is its own reward–a high like no other–knowing that together, you played a key role bending that arc towards justice here in your own community (to borrow a phrase from MLK). Receiving this recognition, and while I'm still around to appreciate it, I want it to also serve as recognition for the critical role that homeless and housing organizers have played both in the past and now…we need them more than ever."

John Fox Place includes five apartments for homeless veterans and 12 apartments for homeless families and individuals. Units range in size from a studio at 397 SF to a three-bedroom apartment at 1,145 SF. The building’s transit oriented location is ideal with access to the Rapid Ride E line on Aurora Ave. to downtown and Shoreline, and east-west connections to the U-District and Ballard. The walk-score is 83 and bike-score is 82.

Financing for John Fox Place includes: City of Seattle Office of Housing, Redstone, JP Morgan, Umpqua Bank, State Housing Trust Fund, Washington State Housing Finance Commission.

Contractor: Exxel Pacific Architects: PYATOK Architects & Hewitt Architects

Other consultants include: Latitude 48 Engineers, Quantum Consulting Engineers, Karen Kiest Landscape Architects, 4EA Engineering, O'Brien 360, A3 Acoustics, Geotech Consultants,Endelman & Associates, McKinney Engineering, United Systems Mechanical, Tradesmen Electric, SJS Mechanical, and Patriot Fire Protection.