Affordable Housing Near Transit: Seattle's REDI Makes Its First Loan

More than many U.S. cities, in recent years Seattle has made significant investments in public transit, and significant efforts to increase density.

And though the city has been at least somewhat successful, rents in Seattle are soaring, and some of the steepest increases have been driven by transit. (Also, there's Amazon.)

That's a problem, considering people who need transit the most are people who can't afford cars.

The Regional Equitable Development Initiative (REDI) was developed with the goal of increasing affordability—it's basically a revolving loan program that gives out low-interest loans to developers who plan to build affordable housing near transit.

The first REDI loan was announced this week; the fund will give $4 million to the Tacoma Housing Authority to build a mixed-income development it's calling James Center North.

Sarah Anne Lloyd writes:

"Near transit," for REDI purposes, means sited within one-half mile of a light rail station or one-quarter mile of a frequent-service bus stop. In this case, the project is located across the street from the Tacoma Community College (TCC) and the nearby transit center, which currently features intercity bus service and will eventually become Sound Transit’s southernmost light rail stop.

More details on the development are at Curbed Seattle.