Mt. Baker Village was recently named 2019 Affordable Housing Magazine Reader’s Choice Award Winner, thanks to its unique financing, renovations and new construction elements.

Mt. Baker Housing turned the Mt. Baker Village Apartments at 2900 McClellan St. into a 156-unit affordable housing project that offers homes to those making 30% to 60% of the area median income.

The firm also received the Development of Distinction award from Novogradac Journal of Tax Credits for notable achievement using low-income tax credits.

The building’s residents are mainly Southeast Asian Cambodian and Vietnamese refugees who relocated to Seattle in the 1960s and 1970s.

At the time of its purchase in 1988, the renovation represented an early use of the low-income housing tax credit program in Washington state. The recent renovations include updating the existing 107 units and the common spaces. The company also bought the neighboring property which includes 49 units designed for Seattle’s aging population.

The creative financing includes the use of debt, tax credit equity and seller note funds. Mt. Baking Housing was one of the first Seattle companies to use a new Department of Housing and Urban Development program to leverage more debt.

The development will be featured in the November/December issue of Affordable Housing Finance magazine.