SEATTLE — The Seattle City Council voted unanimously Tuesday to approve legislation allowing the Seattle Housing Authority to redevelop the 22-acre Yesler Terrace public housing neighborhood.
The plan is to bulldoze the old Yesler Terrace Development and replace it with high-rise buildings with mostly upscale residences.
The redevelopment means the 500 families living there now would eventually have to move. Seattle Housing Authority said it will provide comparable housing for all current Yesler Terrace residents during construction and every resident a certificate guaranteeing their right to return to the neighborhood once new housing is completed.
See video showing how Yesler Terrace might eventually look.
The legislative package requires Seattle Housing Authority to replace 561 existing units of very low-income housing for current residents, build more than 1,200 new income-restricted units at a variety of affordability levels, and allows for as many as 4,500 total housing units.
The area borders Boren Avenue on the east, Alder Street on the north, Interstate 5 on the west, and Jackson Street on the south.
Yesler Way runs roughly through the middle.
Hundreds of residents of Yesler Terrace have shown up at hearings, trying to convince the city council to spare their community.
Replacement construction is estimated to begin in 2013.
More details on the plan at seattlehousing.org.
KIRO
