Overview
Amidst displacement pressures and rising costs of housing, community-led and community-owned permanently affordable housing models, such as Community Land Trusts (CLT), converting a rental project to a homeownership project or limited equity co-ops, can provide stability for generations to come. The development of community-led and community-owned models of permanently affordable housing is a multi-step process that can take many years, significant financing, strong partnerships, and community buy-in. This RFP will support the capacity of CBO(s) to engage their communities in the planning and development of these housing models.
Directed by Ordinance 19146 and Motion 15539, King County released the Anti-Displacement Strategies Report in 2021. Motion 15539 directs the Executive to pursue “strategies to implement community land trusts; including funding a year-long community engagement process with monthly meetings to ensure that the North Highline and Skway-West Hill community voices are being included in the process to shape any possible strategy; and exploration into a variety of funding sources for such a community land trust.” In response to that recommendation, this RFP will deploy up to $175,000 to initiate a year-long community planning process, or a year-long implementation process to further explore permanently affordable housing models in Skyway-West Hill, or North Highline.
The goal of this RFP is to build community capacity and participation in shaping the future supply of affordable housing to mitigate, repair, or prevent residential displacement in Skyway-West Hill and North Highline. This RFP is intended to fund either a community planning process or implementation process to explore permanently affordable housing models in Skyway-West Hill & North Highline communities.
Objective
Community-based organizations funded by this RFP would lead a year-long community planning process or a year-long implementation process within their respective community. A community planning process would focus on exploring different permanently affordable housing models and making recommendations regarding these housing models. An implementation process would focus on utilizing feedback from previous community engagement and planning efforts and translating it into implementing recommended permanently affordable housing models.
Awarded CBO(s) are expected to hold monthly meetings on a range of topics such as, but not limited to, engaging in peer learning sessions, or discussions on permanently affordable housing, reviewing types of permanently affordable housing models for community implementation, or defining what implementation of these models might look like for Skyway-West Hill and/or North Highline. The following activities may be supported by these funds:
- Supporting community engagement activities related to community planning for Permanent Affordability Models including, but not limited to, education and training, gathering community input and feedback, community outreach and planning, stipends for community member engagement, and developing partnership agreements.
- Supporting a community implementation process, activities include, but not limited to, land acquisition, land development planning, predevelopment activities, staffing costs and activities related to project management to support a permanently affordable housing project, or implementation workplan; and increasing a CBO’s organizational capacity to plan for affordable housing development work.
- Development of final recommendations for permanently affordable housing models.
Available Funding
The total funds available for this RFP is $175,000 for a 12-month program period. DCHS anticipates awarding at least two Applicant(s); at least one per neighborhood, for work within Skyway-West Hill, and/or North Highline. The precise allocation will be dependent on the applicant pool.
The maximum award amount each organization may request is $87,500 with the understanding that more or less might be awarded as a result of the funding decision process. Use of funds need to be aligned with the strategies outlined in the RFP. DCHS reserves the right to not award all funds advertised in this RFP. The number of awards is subject to change. Any contract awarded as a result of this procurement is contingent upon the availability of funding. Applicants should request only what they can spend.
Timeline
The following timeline represents the tentative schedule of the entire RFP process, from the release of the RFP to program implementation. The dates listed here are subject to change. Applicant(s) are responsible for monitoring ZoomGrants for any changes prior to the submittal deadline.
RFP Release | March 10, 2025 |
Information Session: Recording | March 24, 2025, 10:00 am |
Final day to submit questions to the RFP Lead, lemiller@kingcounty.gov | April 15, 2025 |
Proposal due | May 13, 2025 by 2:00 p.m. |
Responses reviewed | May - June 2025 |
Interviews, if needed | June 2025 |
Notification of selected and non-selected Applicant(s) | July 2025 |
Anticipated program/contract start date | August 2025 |
DCHS held an Information Session on Monday, March 24, 2025, at 10:00a.m. The recording can be found here: https://youtu.be/qsfBXl-MpqY
Join By Microsoft Teams: Join the meeting now
Meeting ID: 283 721 016 849
Passcode: xB7hy3Cc
Join By Phone:
+1 425-653-6586, 316002839# United States, Bellevue
Phone conference ID: 316 002 839#