Governor Inslee comes to Renton to celebrate new Sunset Gardens housing project

Sunset Gardens will provide affordable housing for veterans, persons with disabilities, and seniors.

By Cameron Sheppard • July 6, 2022 4:00 pm
(Right most) Renton Mayor Armondo Pavone, (Second to right) Governor Jay Inslee, (Middle) and King County Executive Dow Constantine, as they celebrate the groundbreaking of the Sunset Gardens housing project. (Courtesy of the City of Renton)
(Right most) Renton Mayor Armondo Pavone, (Second to right) Governor Jay Inslee, (Middle) and King County Executive Dow Constantine, as they celebrate the groundbreaking of the Sunset Gardens housing project. (Courtesy of the City of Renton)

On June 29, Governor Jay Inslee, King County Executive Dow Constantine, Renton Housing Authority Executive Director Mark Gropper, Renton Mayor Armondo Pavone, and other officials broke ground for Sunset Gardens, Renton Housing Authority’s newest project in the Sunset neighborhood area.

Also In attendance were City of Renton councilmembers, state legislators, and services providers, highlighting the vast variety of funding, institutional support, and creativity necessary for a community redevelopment of this scale.

Sunset Gardens will provide affordable housing units for veterans, persons with disabilities, and seniors. It’s also the first project in Renton to utilize HB 1590 funding, which the State Legislature authorized in 2020. HB 1590 funds were intended to go towards constructing affordable housing and mental health and behavioral health-related facilities.

It’s also the seventh affordable housing and infrastructure project in the Sunset area since 2012. Each project brings the neighborhood closer to fulfilling the vision identified by the Renton Highlands Task Force in 2007 when the transformation efforts began.

To date, more than $150 million in federal, state, city, and county funds has been invested in completed Sunset Area projects. In addition, an additional $230 million is earmarked for current or planned projects in the Sunset Area. This amount of public investment has drawn the attention of private investors, further enhancing the commercial development of the surrounding community.

Sunset Gardens Funding:

$22.765 million: Low Income Housing Tax Credits (LIHTC) Equity (Washington State Housing Finance Commission, Capital Markets)

$12.5 million: Private Debt (JP Morgan Chase)

$4.525 million: Sponsor Loans (Renton Housing Authority)

$3 million: Public Funder (King County, including $600,000 in HUD HOME Funds)

$2.5 million: Public Funder (Senator Patty Murray, Congressionally Directed Spending)

$2.5 million Public Funder (Department of Commerce, Housing Trust Fund)

$1.5 million: Public Funder (City of Renton, HB 1590 Funding)

The Sunset Gardens project also benefited from $984,130 in waived development and impact fees from the City of Renton and a $1.768 million “Connecting Housing to Infrastructure Program” grant that Renton received from the Department of Commerce.