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Amina Mgaza happily accepts keys to her new three-bedroom home at Seola Gardens in White Center.
Residents Move Into Newly Built Rental Homes at Seola Gardens
By Ruth Stoffel
King County Housing Authority
“Nice! Beautiful! All my kids are happy,” exclaimed Amina Mgaza minutes after she got the keys to her new home. Amina, a former Park Lake Homes II resident, returned to the site where she used to live. In its place is a bright and brand new three-bedroom home. “It has three bathrooms,” squealed her daughter, Hamdi. The family is moving from a place that has only one bathroom.
Mgaza and her three children were among 25 families who moved in to Zephyr late last month. Zephyr is the first rental housing development completed at Seola Gardens in White Center. Burhan Hasan was simply gushing with joy. “Fantastic houses!” said Hasan. “Amazing, totally amazing. Can’t believe how they did it; I love it.”
The 25 homes are the first in a $76 million redevelopment to transform the site into an attractive mixed-used community. It offers sidewalks, parks with public art, exercise stations, and community pea patches. Abundant educational opportunities for infants to high school students are close by. Recreation opportunities are plentiful with play fields, a swimming center, a lake, a Frisbee golf course, and a park nearby.
Next year, 64 apartment homes for seniors and disabled persons will open along with a new community center. An additional 87 rental units and up to 107 for-sale homes will be constructed starting in 2013. When completely built out, the new community will have up to 300 homes, new roads and utilities, and a community center that will provide a variety of services including a Head Start early learning program.
The community is being developed by King County Housing Authority using federal HOPE VI funds, state and local funds, and federal low-income housing tax credits. All residents who previously lived in Park Lake Homes II have the first right to come back to the new community.
By Ruth Stoffel
King County Housing Authority
“Nice! Beautiful! All my kids are happy,” exclaimed Amina Mgaza minutes after she got the keys to her new home. Amina, a former Park Lake Homes II resident, returned to the site where she used to live. In its place is a bright and brand new three-bedroom home. “It has three bathrooms,” squealed her daughter, Hamdi. The family is moving from a place that has only one bathroom.
Mgaza and her three children were among 25 families who moved in to Zephyr late last month. Zephyr is the first rental housing development completed at Seola Gardens in White Center. Burhan Hasan was simply gushing with joy. “Fantastic houses!” said Hasan. “Amazing, totally amazing. Can’t believe how they did it; I love it.”
The 25 homes are the first in a $76 million redevelopment to transform the site into an attractive mixed-used community. It offers sidewalks, parks with public art, exercise stations, and community pea patches. Abundant educational opportunities for infants to high school students are close by. Recreation opportunities are plentiful with play fields, a swimming center, a lake, a Frisbee golf course, and a park nearby.
Next year, 64 apartment homes for seniors and disabled persons will open along with a new community center. An additional 87 rental units and up to 107 for-sale homes will be constructed starting in 2013. When completely built out, the new community will have up to 300 homes, new roads and utilities, and a community center that will provide a variety of services including a Head Start early learning program.
The community is being developed by King County Housing Authority using federal HOPE VI funds, state and local funds, and federal low-income housing tax credits. All residents who previously lived in Park Lake Homes II have the first right to come back to the new community.
