(The Center Square) – King County’s sixth “Health Through Housing” building has opened in South King County, providing 81 units of supportive housing for people who were formerly homeless.
Don’s Place – located in the city of Auburn – will be operated by the nonprofit organization Compass Housing Alliance in partnership with the city.
The supportive housing complex originally had a soft opening in December 2022, with more than 50 new people expected to move into the upper floors, joining the 28 residents currently living at Don’s Place. The building’s residents are a mix of individual residents, adult couples, and self-identified domestic partners.
“As with all our locations, Don’s Place comprehensively meets the diverse housing needs of our neighbors exiting chronic homelessness with dignity and compassion,” King County Executive Dow Constantine said in a statement. “With growing income inequality, eviction cases on the rise, and an urgent need for more affordable housing, we must do all that we can to eliminate barriers to housing, including supportive housing.”
According to the 2022 Health Through Housing annual report, the total cost of the Don’s Place project was $1.65 million, including the costs associated with the acquisition of the building, program operations, facility maintenance and bond financing costs. This translates to $20,322 per unit of supportive housing.
The Health Through Housing Initiative receives one-tenth of a cent of sales tax revenue for the purchase and operation of hotels to convert into emergency and permanent supportive housing.
With the latest opening of Don’s Place, the initiative has secured 1,273 units for supportive housing. The initiative’s goal is to open 1,600 units for chronically homeless people in King County.
The county previously anticipated it would meet the 1,600 unit goal by the end of 2022, but fell short with 1,366 units of housing being ready to use, or under construction at the end of the year, as previously reported by The Center Square.
The initiative’s next building, located in Federal Way, is expected to open later this year.
