Housing Coming to Haller Lake for People Experiencing Homelessness

This summer the City of Seattle and King County announced three housing projects that are coming to Haller Lake to house people experiencing homelessness:  

1. Construction of the Friendship Heights Tiny House Village at the corner of N 125th and Aurora
2.  Conversion of the Extended Stay America hotel on Stone Ave N behind Sprouts to a shelter
3. Conversion of the Holiday Inn Express at 141st and Aurora to a shelter

The HLCC Board is actively working to learn about the projects and the city/county vision for the area.

In July there was a community meeting to discuss the Tiny House Village.  You can see the recording here, the password is S#MmSW80.  

Additionally, on July 15th three HLCC Board Members had a virtual conversation with Josh Castle, Director of Advocacy & Community Engagement for the Low Income Housing Institute (LIHI) about the Friendship Heights Tiny House Village. We learned the following:
  • Two ways for HLCC to be involved:  Helping to develop the Good Neighbor Agreement and support/outreach to the village.  There is also a Community Advisory Committee (CAC) that neighbors can apply to be a part of. 
  • Friendship Heights will be built simultaneously with the U District Tiny House project
  • Epic Life Church is on 85th and Aurora and is partnering with LIHI for the Friendship Heights village. Three other churches have also come forward and want to co-sponsor it too.  They want to provide jobs for residents, groceries, meals etc.
  • LIHI is celebrating its 30th anniversary. They oversee a total of 2,400 units of low-income housing across several counties.  14 are tiny house villages, and 8 are in Seattle.
  • Long term plan is to put affordable housing at the site at 125th.  Affordable housing is going in where the Licton Springs tiny house village was located.
  • The old hotel behind the 125th St Bar and Grill will be demolished as part of the project. It will allow for 8-10 more tiny houses, so the village will have about 50 tiny houses in total. Josh saw this as a positive as he said the abandoned hotel has had many problems over the years.
  • LesSchwab, Anita's and 125th St Bar and Grill will stay.  They will pay rent to LIHI to stay in the space.
  • Friendship Heights will be an enhanced shelter, meaning there will be case managers with the goal to get the tenants into permanent housing.
  • Josh said they do not use the term "Low Barrier" anymore to describe the village.  They use the term "harm reduction" to describe it.  Alcohol and drugs will be allowed in private spaces, but not public spaces in the village. No minors allowed because of the drugs and alcohol.  Singles and couples allowed. The villages at Lake Union and 80th use the harm reduction model.
  • They will be working with Valley Cities to refer tenants that have substance use disorder to receive treatment (there is a location in Bitter Lake and on Meridian https://www.valleycities.org/our-locations). Also will partner with Aurora Commons for services they offer.
  • Village members will have free will to leave the village and do what they want/need (work, appointments, etc.). There will not be a curfew to accommodate a variety of work schedules.
  • There will be security at the village 24/7 and LIHI is requesting for two people to be on staff at all times (instead of 1 like some other locations).  Neighbors can go to the site and visit anytime.
  • If a neighbor thinks they see a member of the village doing something illegal they should call 911.  We can also call the shelter after calling 911 (there will be a 24/7 phone number).  Josh said we can take pictures and give it to the village leadership.
  • All village members will sign a code of conduct with the manager of the village -- no loitering, drugs/alcohol in community spaces. etc.
  • The estimated time one stays in a tiny home is typically 6-7 months, but it has been closer to 9-10 months during COVID.
  • There will be a Good Neighbor Agreement the leadership of the village will work on with the Community Advisory Council (CAC).  We can help develop this!  
  • The operating agreement for the village is structured so that it's success will be evaluated after 1 year, if successful will be rolled over to a 2nd year. If not, there can be a 30-day notice to close the facility.
  • The tiny house village at Licton Springs was managed by another agency and the residents had to provide their own security  -- this will not be the case at Friendship Heights.  
  • Josh said that there has to be a balance of who is referred to the village to make it manageable.  It cannot be full of only people with severe mental and substance abuse disorder -- that will not be manageable.
  • There are a lot of ways for the community to get involved: bringing meals, supplies, visiting, etc. He really encouraged this.  
  • Building will start soon and plan to open the village in the next few months.


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