Africatown Community Land Trust is asking Central District residents to help decide what comes next for a Yesler Way property that currently houses Benu Community Home, a men's shelter. The organization plans to redevelop the site with affordable housing and ground-floor commercial space, though the rest of the project's details are still being worked out.
According to KIRO 7 News Seattle, the land trust has been holding a series of Yesler Design Days to give area residents a direct say in what gets built. Those sessions have surfaced a wish list that includes healthier food access, after-school programming for teens, child care options, additional parking and more housing. Organizers also heard a specific need for family-size units, along with amenities that support families through child care.
A Push for Family-Size Apartments
Wyking Garrett, president and CEO of Africatown Community Land Trust, said the message from the community was clear on the question of unit sizes. He said there was a need for more family-size units, and for amenities to support families in terms of child care, per the station's report. Garrett also framed the stakes in broader terms, saying affordability, particularly with housing, is one of the biggest challenges the city is facing in Seattle.
Garrett has said the project is meant to help ensure Seattle's Black community, which per Garrett has called the city home for more than 140 years, remains part of its future and can preserve its culture. The land trust describes its own approach on its website, saying its community-led development model has provided space for businesses and community events while helping reverse displacement through affordable housing, according to Africatown Community Land Trust. The organization says it is continuing the design process at its property at 1601 Yesler.
Linking a Corridor of Black History and Arts
The Yesler Way project is being positioned as part of a larger proposed Yesler Cultural Corridor. Garrett said an anchor development on Yesler could help better connect existing community assets, and the corridor concept could eventually link more than 30 legacy businesses and landmarks along the street tied to Black history and the arts, the station's report notes. Named anchors in that vision include the Langston Hughes Performing Arts Institute and Carolyn Downs Family Medical Center.
Africatown Community Land Trust says more than 25 Black cultural community spaces already span the area from Yesler Terrace to Martin Luther King Way, a density the organization points to as the foundation for the corridor idea. The land trust's own telling ties this effort to its earlier work nearby: it says the Liberty Bank Building and Africatown Plaza together brought 240 new units of affordable apartments to the Central District.
A Nearby Model: Africatown Plaza
Africatown Plaza offers a concrete example of what the organization's affordable-housing partnerships can look like. The seven-story building, developed on an approximately half-acre site in partnership with Community Roots Housing, was built with 126 units, including 36 one-bedroom apartments and 31 two- and three-bedroom units for households earning up to 60% of area median income, according to a press release from the groundbreaking. The City of Seattle contributed $13.4 million in acquisition and construction financing plus $1.6 million in Equitable Development Initiative funds, while King County's Transit Oriented Development Program added $2 million in construction financing, per the release.
By the time it opened for leasing, Africatown Plaza was serving individuals and families earning 50% to 60% of area median income, according to the South Seattle Emerald. That project's construction was delayed along the way by a concrete strike and difficulties obtaining switchgear and a transformer, the outlet reported.
Budget Backdrop and What Comes Next
The Yesler Way discussions are unfolding as King County grapples with its own housing and shelter funding questions. In September, King County Executive Girmay Zahilay proposed a $746 million supplemental budget to the King County Council that included investments in new affordable housing and shelter, the station's report states. Central District residents will get another chance to weigh in on the Yesler Way project at the next Yesler Design Day, scheduled for October 29.
