Enjoy ice cream, meet neighbors & provide input
Seattle Parks and Recreation (SPR) has been engaging with the community to gather input for the future Lake City Community Center. We invite all Lake City neighbors to participate in a community engagement event and ice cream social on Friday, July 12, from 4:30 to 6:00 p.m. at the Akin Building, 12360 Lake City Way NE. This event will be an opportunity to contribute to the Needs Assessment for your new Lake City Community Center. Interpretation services will be provided. All community members are encouraged to attend and free ice cream will be provided. Please share this information with your neighbors and contacts.
The Lake City Community Center redevelopment presents a unique opportunity to co-locate a new community center with affordable housing in an area with frequent transit, thus realizing multiple public benefits. It is the first development partnership between the Office of Housing (OH) and SPR, and will allow the City to combine resources to create much needed affordable housing and community center space. Once complete, SPR will own and operate the new Lake City Community Center which will be located at 12531 28th Avenue NE.
“The Lake City Community Center model of partnering with the Office of Housing is innovative and a first for the City of Seattle. We are excited to be at this point in the process and have three developers moving onto the Request for Proposals process,” said Mayor Bruce Harrell. “Additionally, we are looking for community input to inform what activity spaces the new facility should offer the Lake City community. We encourage all to attend the Ice Cream social and provide feedback on this important project that will help shape the future of this neighborhood.”
Community members are encouraged to provide input by taking a short survey available on the project website in multiple languages.
“The new community center is an essential project for supporting and realizing a thriving Lake City. To ensure this building is reflective of the needs of the community coming to the Ice Cream Social on July 12th is a great opportunity to tell Seattle Parks and Recreation and the Department of Neighborhoods what you want to see in our future community center. Please come and share your thoughts!” says district representative Councilmember Cathy Moore.
In April, the Office of Housing (OH) released a Request for Qualifications (RFQ) to select the development teams who would move onto the Request for Proposals (RFP) process. The three developers who have been selected are: BRIDGE Housing, Mercy Housing, and Low Income Housing Institute. The RFP will be released on July 29, 2024 with responses due from these developers by November 2024. The developer who is selected through the RFP process will move on to redevelop the Lake City Community Center’s affordable housing. For more information about the affordable housing of the Lake City Community Center Redevelopment, please visit the Office of Housing website.
For more information on the Lake City Community Center Redevelopment Project, please visit Project: Lake City Community Center Redevelopment | Seattle Parks and Recreation or contact Jonathan Garner at Jonathan.garner@seattle.gov or 206-619-9725.
For more information on the Office of Housing’s work in Lake City please visit https://www.seattle.gov/housing/programs-and-initiatives/lake-city-community-center-redevelopment
