March 27, 2006

Media advisory: $1 check purchases HUD home, kicks off affordable housing pilot project

A new and innovative pilot for creating affordable housing will be launched at a ceremonial event hosted by King County Executive Ron Sims as he presents a check for $1 to officials of the federal Department of Housing and Urban Development and receives the keys to a single family home in Boulevard Park. The property will immediately be transferred to the Homestead Community Land Trust and Habitat for Humanity, who will work with local volunteers to rehabilitate the home for a deserving local family.

The event will take place:
Wednesday, March 29, 2006
Executive's Conference Room
701 Fifth Avenue, Suite 3210, Seattle
10-10:30 a.m.

Executive Sims will be joined at the celebration by Jo Baylor, Assistant Deputy Secretary for Field Policy and Management, HUD; Sheldon Cooper, Homestead Community Land Trust; and Dorothy Bullitt, Executive Director, Habitat for Humanity of Seattle/South King County.

The demonstration project is unique in that the house will be rehabilitated and sold by Habitat for Humanity but the land will remain with the Land Trust. Should the home be sold later, the owner will realize equity and profits earned through the sale of the house but the Land Trust will retain title for the land on which the house sits, helping to ensure affordability for many years to come.

For more information, call Sherry Hamilton, Communications Manager, King County Department of Community and Human Services at 206-205-1324 or Pam Negri, HUD Region X Public Affairs Officer at 206-220-5356.