Seattle Social Housing Purchases $1M Property for New Construction
October 15, 2026 Seattle Social Housing meeting report.
SSHD approves $1M Seattle Central District property buy, waives feasibility vote and tracks $137M in projected 2027 revenues. Read the full meeting recap.
The Seattle Social Housing Developer session on October 15th began with the normal beats — approval of the agenda and September minutes. Following that, there was no public comment as no members of the public chose to speak.
Almost immediately after the meeting began, though, the board went into a roughly 45-minute executive session to consider internally the potential acquisition of new real estate (resolution No. 2026-23).
CENTRAL DISTRICT HOUSE
The board approved the purchase of a new property, dubbed the “Central District House”.
The location of the corner lot real estate is located in Seattle’s Central District (2402 E Yessler Way). The board concluded that the site was “very suitable with minimal risks.”
The hope, the board said, is to break ground on a renovation in 2027 and complete the work in 2028. The site came to the attention of the board thanks to “affordable housing champion” Nancy Long, wife of longtime WA State Rep. Frank Chopp. The property currently features modernist bungalows built by Chopp and his father in the 1970s.
The Seattle Times reported SSHD purchased the property from the family of the late Chopp. “The family sold the property to the developer for $1 million. . . which is $60,000 above the property’s assessed value for tax purposes. Seattle Social Housing Developer’s entire budget for the project is $15 million.”
In addition to approving the purchase of the property, the board voted to wave the feasibility vote for land acquisition. The move was a formality, members said, allowing SSHD staff to move forward with the purchase.
FINANCIAL REPORT
Continuing with the meeting, the board approved budget changes to the 2026 budget and approved the 2027 budget.
Details published from September 17, 2026 meeting projected 2026 total revenues estimated at roughly $139 million (including $3 million from 2025 taxpayer funds paid in 2026), with Q3 and Q4 social housing tax revenues forecasted around $77 million. Projected 2027 revenues are estimated at $137 million.
Speaking about the budget, CFO Bulent Ozdemir said September was a “normal, regular month” without anything strange coming up in the budget.
The one thing he pointed out was the line item for professional services, which was higher than previous months because it included $45,000 in recruiting fees, which included paying a temporary HR person. No one on the board had a comment.
Ozdemir said that in September SSHD had started to put some money into LGIP, or a local government investment pool. “We have some funds in there,” he said, “rate returns on that are competitive.” He added that he will look into putting more money into the LGIP down the road.
Maybe the one major thing of note from his budget presentation was the addition of $12,000 to the 2026 budget and $36,000 to next year’s for training and conferences. “We need some more training dollars,” he noted.
Those numbers were derived by looking into the SSHD employee handbook. Employees, the book notes, can be reimbursed up to $2,500 per year for training and conferences. So, while the board is bookmarking $12,000 for this year and more for next, those are maximums and that money may not be spent in full, Ozdemir noted.
MORE ACQUISITIONS
After the 2026 and 2027 budget discussions and approvals, the board discussed potential property purchases. Along with the “Central District House”, which the board approved the purchase of in this session, the board is looking at three more potential property purchases for 2027, with more likely slated for 2028.
But while the members approved potential figures, board member Becca Book and others made sure the public understood that the numbers were still hypothetical.
“A lot of these [numbers] are assumptions to inform the budget,” said Book. “The numbers could change significantly.”
The vote passed.
LLC
CFO Bulent Ozdemir said he and the board are tabling discussions about setting up and LLC for SSHD’s property ownership. He had been looking into setting up an LLC as a protective measure for SSHD’s properties.
“We’d thought about putting properties into an LLC mainly because of liability,” he said. “If you want to finance certain properties through loans, it’s advantageous.”
But the board said it will continue to look into other options and speak with reps from the state to make sure all ducks are in a row.
RESIDENT GOVERNANCE COUNCIL
Interim CEO Tiffani McCoy talked to the board about the need for an allotted annual budget for onsite Resident Governance Councils at the SSHD homes.
The budget for the buildings would be determined by number of bedrooms inside—with buildings getting $50 per bedroom annually. This money, McCoy said, could go to various social gatherings, like a Halloween event (with no alcohol).
The board approved the Renovation, Habitability, and Upgrade measure (resolution 2026-22).
ETHICS COMMITTEE CHARTER
It was a night of 100% approval, no public comment, and no dissent.
Continuing the trend, the board approved the Ethics Committee Charter. It will include four members, though which members of the board is yet to be decided.
The board development committee is also said to be heading toward a sunset.