The Low Income Housing Institute (LIHI) is pleased to announce the purchase of the Heron Apartments located at 1624 E. 32nd St. in Tacoma. This is a newly constructed apartment building that contains 82 studio and one-bedroom apartments. The apartment building is scheduled to be acquired on October 25, 2022.
“Adding more deeply affordable housing in Tacoma is a priority given the housing crisis. We are thrilled that the City of Tacoma awarded LIHI $3 million. This helped leverage $21.3 million from the State Department of Commerce to purchase the Heron Apartments,” said Sharon Lee, LIHI Executive Director. KeyBank is providing an acquisition bridge loan. 50 apartments will provide supportive housing for formerly homeless people and 32 apartments will provide affordable workforce housing. The building's acquisition cost is $22.5 million.
Governor Inslee and the State Legislature established the Rapid Capital Housing Acquisition Program in 2021 to address the housing and homelessness crisis during the pandemic. The rapid acquisition concept is to add housing units and shelter beds quickly by acquiring buildings that are vacant or newly constructed, or purchasing hotels that could be converted into low income and homeless housing. The budget for this statewide program in 2022 is $144 million.
Last year with financing from the City of Tacoma, City of Lakewood, Pierce County and the State’s Rapid Capital Housing Acquisition program, LIHI acquired Aspen Court (former Comfort Inn), to provide bridge housing for homeless singles and couples.