Seward Park Estates Changes Hands

A new management team yesterday took over Seward Park Estates, a multifamily residential complex in southeast Seattle.

The complex - 364 units in 34 buildings on 16 acres at 9061 Seward Park Ave. S. - was purchased for $7.3 million this week by a California housing-development company and a Seattle nonprofit group focused on revitalizing southeast Seattle.

The new owner, Lake Washington Limited Partnership, consists of Southeast Effective Development (SEED) and A.F. Evans Co. Inc., based in the San Francisco Bay area. The two partners have been interested in Seward Park Estates for several years.

The partnership bought the property from Realty Investment Co., a Seattle investment company that owns multifamily properties throughout the Puget Sound area, said Bill Austin, vice president for Epic Asset Management Inc., the Seattle company that formerly managed Seward Park Estates.

Lake Washington Limited Partnership plans a $20 million renovation of the complex, from the sewer system to the landscaping. The complex then will be renamed the Lake Washington Apartments.

The renovated complex will offer affordable one-, two- and three-bedroom apartments to families that earn less than the federally calculated median-income standard in Seattle.

One hundred units will be available to families earning less than $23,750 for a three-person household, which is 50 percent of the median income. The rest of the units will be available to families earning less than $28,300, or 60 percent of the median income.

Rents will range from $470 to $680 a month.

SEED officials said that Seward Park Estates has fallen into disrepair and that the deterioration and high incidence of crime around the property have hurt the community.

"It's impacting both the residential and business communities," said Earl Richardson, executive director of SEED. "We thought this was a good opportunity to go in and stabilize the community."

The renovation is slated to begin in December and should be completed in three phases over about 18 months. Art Evans, president of the A.F. Evans Co., said plans include a recreation center and possibly a day-care center.

Money for the project will come from city and state funds, tax-exempt bonds and tax credits, Evans said.