Vantage Glen, an award-winning, manufactured housing community in Renton, celebrated its 30th anniversary this month with some original homeowners.

The 164-home Vantage Glen is managed by the King County Housing Authority at 18100 107th Pl.S.E., next to the Benson Plaza shopping center on the Benson Highway.

It’s also right next door to the housing authority’s new Vantage Point, a 77-unit apartment complex for qualifying low-income seniors 55 and older and younger individuals with disabilities.

The King County Housing Authority started development of Vantage Glen in the late 1970s after a mobile-home park in South Park closed, displacing its residents. The property was purchased from Burlington Northern railroad for $750,000.

Vida Goetz and her husband Ralph bought the first home there and moved in in 1986.

KCHA Deputy Director Dan Watson, who was then development manager for the housing authority, and Snohomish County Housing Authority Executive Director Bob Davis, who was the authority’s development specialist, created a manufactured housing community that was considered innovative at the time, with carports and gardens.

“Dan and Bob had a vision of a community but only all of you could create it,” said KCHA Executive Director Stephen Norman to the 115 homeowners who attended the Vantage Glen 30th anniversary celebration on March 14. “Their efforts provided the soil in which you could grow your community. What brings us all together is community – sharing with your neighbors, living with your neighbors, helping your neighbors.”