College of Built Environments at the University of Washington.
New light rail clears way for an MLK makeover
Sunday April 2008
Developer Mike Hlastala, CAUP Bachelor's of Construction Management and Arch. Studies, class of 91', in his office with plans for the MLK makeover along the planned light-rail line.
One of CAUP's graduates, Mike Hlastala, has his finger on the pulse of Columbia City, in Rainer Valley, an ethnically diverse and rapidly changing part of town. With light-rail scheduled to begin running by next year, he's banking that many downtown workers, tired of sticker shock at the pump, and exorbitant monthly parking dues will be interested in apartments like he is planning to develop along Martin Luther King Jr. Way, just a few short steps from the Othello Street Station. With light-rail pending, private, for-profit developers have proposed more than 1,500 condo and apartment units within a ten-minute walk of the stations on the MLK corridor. Residents await this makeover with a mixture of excitement and concern, with rising rents and real estate forcing some residents out, threatenting to dilute this ethincally very rich neighborhood. Hlastala says he wants to build "work force" housing, for those who earn 70 to 120 percent of the area's median income - a "population caught in the middle: too wealthy to qualify for government -subsidized housing, too poor to rent or buy most homes in this increasingly expensive city." But, with the price of land and construction costs rising, building work-force housing may become increasingly difficult unless the city expands a program giving developers of work-force housing a property tax-break. With diverstiy slated as the community's greatest business strength, preserving this culturally diverse area remains an integral aspect of the MLK corridor re-development.
For the full story, please visit The Seattle Times online.