Community Coalition in Seattle’s International District Reaches Landmark Agreement with Developer

A coalition of neighborhood groups, small business associations, affordable housing advocates, and labor unions has forged the Northwest's first enforceable "community benefits agreement" (full text) with the developer of a proposed retail and residential project to be located in the Little Saigon section of Seattle’s International District.  Highlights of the agreement require the developer to: build 200 units of affordable housing in the project; provide assistance for traffic reduction measures in nearby neighborhoods; contribute $200,000 toward a community center serving the Vietnamese immigrant community; and ensure that construction workers on the project receive prevailing wages and health insurance. Columbia Legal Services represented clients in this successful community economic development effort which spanned over two years and involved work in the areas of land use, contract, and municipal law.  

Read more about this achievement for livable, economically diverse neighborhoods in the official press release, and in these stories from the Seattle Post-Intelligencer and King 5 News.