by Alex Garland
Habitat for Humanity is building in South Seattle. Just a block from the Columbia City light rail station, a series of Habitat homes are almost complete. If you travel one block farther south along the light rail line, you’ll see the site of the largest single-building, multifamily development in the history of Habitat for Humanity.
The groundbreaking ceremony for the 5022 Martin Luther King Jr. Way S. condominium project took place on Sept. 16, and construction on the site is slated to begin before Oct. 1. When completed, 58 families will reside in the largest, multifamily Habitat project “in the history of the world,” according to Lt. Gov. Denny Heck.
By spring 2026, 5022 MLK will be a 5-story, transit-oriented development, consisting of five studios, 26 one-bedroom units, and 27 two-bedroom units with homes ranging from 370 to 690 square feet. With its location two blocks from the Columbia City light rail station, it will offer families making less than 80% of the area median income an opportunity to own a home with mortgage rates no higher than 35% of their income. Additionally, this property will be placed in a land trust, making sure affordable housing exists for future generations.
MacKenzie Scott, ex-wife of Amazon founder Jeff Bezos, was key in securing this property. An email from Scott’s representatives in April of 2022 led to an influx of liquidity and capital, allowing Habitat for Humanity to close on the property in June of 2022. Amazon is separately providing “great terms” on construction lending, according to Habitat for Humanity Seattle-King & Kittitas Counties CEO Brett D’Antonio.
This large project is joined by several other Habitat for Humanity projects in the area. “This is an area where there's a huge need for affordable housing, and there's been significant community investment in transit, which is a huge benefit to homeowners that can live and buy right here,” said D’Antonio in an interview with the Emerald. “It's really exciting that we're going to be able to take a single project and provide first-time homeownership opportunity for 58 families. But in addition to that, to be able to show the community at large that we can do homeownership at scale, and that we hope this is just the first of many buildings of this size, and hopefully bigger because the needs are great.”
Heck agreed that housing needs are significant. In his address to the crowd, Heck remarked, “Our state needs 1.1 million new units in the next 20 years. We're going to have to scale up our current efforts. Today is a prime example of that.”
With additional funding of $7.4 million from the City of Seattle’s housing levy, recently renewed by Seattle voters, the project taps into public and private funds in an attempt to address housing needs in Seattle. Mayor Bruce Harrell added, “As the lieutenant governor stated today, it’s estimated over 16,000 people are living in homes funded by the housing levy. The new levy that was passed is estimated to create over 3,000 units of affordable rental and for-sale homes. While Habitat for Humanity’s 300 units in the next few years is a small dent in that enormous need, it’s a dent that allows first-time homeowners the opportunity to get a foot in their own door.”
Alex Garland is a photojournalist and reporter. With a degree in emergency administration and disaster planning from the University of North Texas, Alex spent his early professional career as a GIS analyst for FEMA. Follow him on Twitter.