Selection marks key milestone in City’s plan to transform former military base into community with up to 50 units of affordable housing and 22 acres of public parkland
The City of Seattle has selected Chief Seattle Club to develop 85-100 units of permanent supportive housing at Fort Lawton, a former military base in Magnolia. These affordable units will provide stable homes and wraparound services for previously homeless veterans and seniors as part of Mayor Bruce Harrell’s redevelopment plan that will create up to 500 affordable housing units and add almost 22 acres of parkland.
“Chief Seattle Club has a proven record of creating affordable housing that reflects and supports the communities they serve, and we’re proud to partner with them on this historically significant project,” Mayor Harrell said. “This work is an important piece of the broader Fort Lawton Redevelopment Plan, which will help address homelessness and create generational impact by expanding affordable housing and homeownership opportunities.”
Chief Seattle Club brings over 50 years of expertise in culturally competent care and has created over 350 new units of permanent supportive housing in the last three years.
At Fort Lawton, Chief Seattle Club will transform the site into thoughtfully designed low-profile structures with housing units situated above ground-floor case management services to help residents access healthcare, counseling, and financial assistance.
“This is a unique opportunity to bring safe and healthy housing to a neighborhood that has been a hub for Urban Native people since the 1960s, and for our Coast Salish relatives since time immemorial,” said James Lovell, Interim Co-Executive Director of Chief Seattle Club. “We are grateful that all layers of government share our vision to build sacred spaces for our chronically homeless Native relatives. Generations of Native people and allies have fought to open Fort Lawton for redevelopment, and along with our partners, we look forward to delivering on this long-awaited victory for these communities.”
Chief Seattle Club joins three previously selected partners that will develop two additional types of affordable housing outlined in the Fort Lawton Redevelopment Plan:
- Up to 200 affordable rental apartments will be developed and operated by Catholic Housing Services of Western Washington in partnership with United Indians of all Tribes
- Up to 200 homes for homeownership will be developed in partnership with Habitat for Humanity Seattle-King and Kittitas Counties
As a next step, the City will hold an in-person public comment session at Daybreak Star Indian Cultural Center on May 21 from 6-8 p.m. regarding the Draft Supplemental Environmental Impact Statement that was published on April 21.
For more information on the City of Seattle’s redevelopment of Fort Lawton, please visit Seattle.gov/housing/programs-and-initiatives/fort-lawton-redevelopment.
What people are saying:
Maiko Winkler-Chin, Director, Office of Housing
“Chief Seattle Club has been serving our Native communities with care that honors their culture and history for over 50 years. Their work addresses not just immediate needs but also deep-rooted inequities. Their proposal addressed Fort Lawton’s history and highlighted the unique benefits of being in this particular place. We look forward to working with Chief Seattle Club in creating a place where residents can feel connected to the land, their neighbors, and their communities.”
Councilmember Dan Strauss, District 6
“We are lucky to have Chief Seattle Club for this project. They build upon Bernie Whitebear’s vision to give Native peoples a place to gather when redevelopment of Fort Lawton began in the 1970s. Chief Seattle Club has some of the best outcomes of any human services provider and our neighborhood will be better with them here.”
Councilmember Bob Kettle, District 7
“I applaud the partnership between the City of Seattle and Chief Seattle Club to create up to 100 units of much-needed affordable housing at the Fort Lawton redevelopment site. Not only does the project take advantage of underutilized land, it also manages to create the largest addition of park lands to the City in decades. I commend the Mayor and his team for the work they’ve put in on this project – it’s innovative, thoughtful, and forward-thinking, and is an important step forward in ensuring that Seattle has more housing as we look to create complete communities.”