Seattle Social Housing Developer is spending roughly $68 million to buy Youngstown Flats, a six-story apartment building in West Seattle with nearly 200 homes, in a deal expected to close in mid-December. The acquisition would protect about 30 current residents from being priced out after the building's affordability program expired, while bringing rent freezes, free transit passes, and the elimination of certain fees to the property.
SSHD announced the deal as its second acquisition, according to Seattle Social Housing Developer, which says it is planning to buy Youngstown Flats for about $68 million and expects to close on the property in mid-December. The agency reports that each apartment averages more than 800 square feet, with nearly 50 two-bedroom units among the mix, and that the building includes 10 ADA-compliant units along with five accessible parking stalls.
Youngstown Flats sits at 4040 26th Ave. SW, across the street from the Longfellow Creek Trail, according to a property report from Kidder Mathews. The building is also near the DragonFly Garden and Pavilion and has access to the RapidRide C and H lines, Westside Seattle reports in its own coverage of the deal.
A Lapsed Tax Break Leaves Tenants Exposed
The acquisition's urgency traces back to an expiring city incentive program. SSHD's new ownership will potentially protect about 30 residents from economic displacement, the agency says, after Youngstown Flats' Multifamily Tax Exemption affordability program lapsed. Under that program, the building offered discounted rents to a share of tenants in exchange for a property tax break.
To soften the transition, SSHD plans sweeping tenant protections at the property. The agency's announcement states that it also plans to get rid of junk fees and freeze rents for existing leases for two years, through December 2028. SSHD additionally intends to offer all Youngstown Flats residents a free one-year ORCA transit pass and to phase out utility billing charges known as RUBS during its first year of ownership, the same announcement notes.
Unit Counts Vary Across Sources
Exactly how many apartments the building contains depends on which source is cited. SSHD's own announcement describes a six-story building with nearly 200 homes, while developer barrientosRYAN's project page for Youngstown Flats puts the figure at 193 residential units. A 2018 report from Kidder Mathews, covering an earlier ownership transfer, described the complex as a six-story structure containing 195 units that was built in 2013. The Urbanist's coverage of the SSHD announcement also cited the 193-unit figure, noting the deal was approved by the SSHD board.
Youngstown Flats was originally developed by barrientosRYAN working alongside Legacy Partners to create a mixed-use building, according to barrientosRYAN. That earlier Kidder Mathews report, filed when the property last changed hands, recorded a $72 million sale price at the time — roughly $369,230 per unit — amid a regional apartment vacancy rate of 3.9 percent in the third quarter of 2017, below the market's 20-year average of 4.9 percent.
Portfolio Growth Toward a 1,000-Unit Goal
Folding in Youngstown Flats would push SSHD's total holdings to almost 350 units, exceeding the agency's housing pipeline goal for this year, per its announcement. SSHD says it expects to own more than 1,000 housing units by the end of 2027, a target built in part on acquisitions like this one alongside new construction.
The agency's first acquisition was Elara at the Market, a 150-unit, eight-story complex in Belltown, according to the same Seattle Social Housing Developer housing page. Rents there are set to range from $665 for a studio to $1,482 for a two-bedroom, with the first 15 vacancies reserved for households at or below 30 percent of median income. SSHD also plans to freeze existing Elara leases for two years through June 2028 and end RUBS charges there, mirroring the approach now planned for Youngstown Flats.
Transit access factored into the pitch for the West Seattle property. The announcement notes the building's proximity to the future West Seattle Link Extension, which is planned to add 3.9 miles of light rail service from SODO to Alaska Junction in 2035 — a long-term addition that would put more transit within reach of residents who already have access to RapidRide service.
SSHD's funding pipeline got a boost earlier this year when the agency was set to receive approximately $115 million in 2026 to acquire and build permanently affordable, publicly owned housing, according to the Office of the Mayor. That funding underpins the agency's broader push to expand its holdings while keeping existing tenants in place as buildings change hands.
