PYATOK | Project Work

RED CEDAR AT YESLER TERRACE Seattle Housing Authority

Seattle, Washington Affordable Housing

When completed in 1940, Yesler Terrace was Washington State’s first public housing development as well as the nation’s first racially integrated housing development. The original project was 2-story wood townhomes on the 30 acre site. After the turn of the millennium, the Seattle Housing Authority began plans to redevelop the project into a mixed-use neighborhood with mixed-income residential, office, retail, and community spaces. After careful analysis and community outreach, plans were created to replace and augment the existing affordable housing stock by selling parcels to market-rate developers and doubling the number of affordable residences. A new First Hill Streetcar now connects Yesler Terrace with Seattle’s downtown.

Red Cedar serves a culturally diverse mix of families and seniors. A seven-story "north bar" anchors the complex in the sloped site, while the shorter component of stacked townhomes wraps a child-friendly triangular courtyard, protecting it from Broadway and Fir Streets. The first two levels of the north wing are Type I concrete construction, accommodating a parking garage, with five levels of wood-frame apartments above. The south wing has one level of Type I with four levels of wood above.

SRG and PYATOK designed the complex to meet the needs of diverse families and seniors with a variety of townhomes and flats. In addition to the apartments there is a community room accessible by the broader neighborhood, a multipurpose room for residents, 1:1 bike parking, laundry facilities, SHA offices, and a playground in the courtyard.

Awards