Published May 2004

New subdivision features factory-built homes

Snohomish County Business Journal/ JOHN WOLCOTT Five factory-built, two-story townhouses at Kokanee Creek in south Everett were assembled by crane in April in a new subdivision that will include 35 of the homes by October. All of them are designed as affordable housing for moderate- to low-income families by HomeSight of Seattle. Tours and sales of the $180,000-to-$220,000 homes will begin this month.

By John Wolcott
SCBJ Editor

An innovatively designed HomeSight subdivision on the rise in south Everett — Kokanee Creek — uses factory-built, two-story homes to help meet Puget Sound’s growing demand for affordable family housing.

“If we built on site at Kokanee Creek, these units would sell for an average of $250,000 to $300,000 each. Using factory manufactured homes, we are able to build the same units, with equal or better quality and added features, for a market price of around $180,000 (to $220,000),” said Tony To, executive director of HomeSight, a Seattle-based nonprofit organization that works to provide homeownership opportunities for moderate- and low-income families.

The median price for a new home in Snohomish County was $228,000 in March, according to the Northwest Multiple Listing Service’s tracking statistics.

A family of three earning an annual income of $51,750 and buying one of Kokanee Creek’s $180,000 homes would need a $3,600 down payment. Monthly mortgage payments would be $1,100, including taxes and insurance. For first-time buyers, HomeSight also provides up to $35,000 in purchasing assistance for qualified home-seekers.

In a single day in mid-April, the first five of the 35 two-story townhouses to be built at Kokanee Creek by late October were set on their foundations by a giant crane. The home sections were quickly assembled on site, with their interiors completed at the factory. Afterward, work crews added siding and other exterior finishing touches, and bolted together the steel-girders that strengthen the sections for transporting and crane lifting.

“The Kokanee Creek development is the first subdivision in Puget Sound built entirely with manufactured homes,” said R. Danner Graves, whose Graves Group public relations firm in Seattle represents NorthWest Pride, the Olympia-based trade association for manufactured housing associations in Washington, Oregon and Idaho. “Using Sheetrock, 2-by-6 lumber and quality building to federal code, these manufactured homes no longer look like the mobile homes produced by the industry decades ago.”

The new homes will open for tours and marketing this month. Three models, the Columbia, Snoqualmie and Snohomish, range from 1,571 to 1,266 square feet, with three bedrooms, living room, kitchen, a bonus room, an attached single-car garage and front and back porches. They also feature 9-foot-high main floor ceilings, basements in some models, gas heat and range, an appliance package in the kitchen and 1.5 to 2.5 bathrooms.

“Because factory building saves 20 percent or more of the cost of construction compared to site-built homes, we were able to add extra features such as the porches and mini-blinds for the windows,” said Joan Brown, executive director of NorthWest Pride.

There are private yards for each home, a pedestrian-friendly cul-de-sac neighborhood, a landscaped play island for children, and a wetland greenbelt. Located just south of 128th Street SW, with close access to I-5 and State Route 99, the site also is near a new elementary school.

Land for the 3.44-acre site was provided through a partnership with the Housing Authority of Snohomish County, whose programs also assist qualified first-time buyers in purchasing homes.

HomeSight began building affordable housing in 1990, with a single home. Today, the organization has leveraged $80 million, primarily in private investments, to build 235 homes, with an additional 69 under construction this year — including 35 at Kokanee Creek.

One of the nation’s few nonprofits licensed as a mortgage broker, HomeSight also provides financial coaching for clients, including homebuyer education, credit repair, savings help and budgeting guidance. Preferred rates and fees are offered through community partnerships with local financial institutions as well as preferred Realtor referrals. HomeSight housing program partners in recent years have included U.S. Bank, Washington Mutual, Bank of America, Wells Fargo and HomeStreet Bank.

More information is available from HomeSight at 888-749-4663, Ext. 222, or online at www.homesightwa.org. The Kokanee Creek development’s Windermere sales site is at www.buildersalesgroup.com.

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