In the Seattle area, skyrocketing rents and constrained housing supply have made King County increasingly unaffordable for people earning low-to-moderate incomes. Statewide, there is a need for 1.1 million homes over the next 20 years, more than half of which will need to be affordable to meet the needs of residents.

Evergreen Impact Housing Fund (EIHF) is a partnership between the Seattle Foundation and Washington State Housing Finance Commission designed to expand the supply of affordable housing in King County. The fund aims to raise and deploy $150 million to make patient, flexible, low-interest loans that support the development of 3,750 that would be affordable for families earning less than 60 percent of the area median income.

Launched in 2020, EIHF makes “last dollar” investments in large-scale development projects to fill financing gaps. It has four main strategies: ensure the financial feasibility of affordable housing projects; counteract market distortions that disincentivize development activity; complement established financing programs for affordable housing; and advance positive outcomes for communities of color, which have been particularly hard hit by the housing crisis.

Initial investments illustrate the fund’s priorities. Solera is a 590-unit mixed-income project in Renton, Wash., that will open in 2024, with half of its units designated as affordable and 20 percent set aside for disabled residents. Aries in Seattle’s Bitter Lake neighborhood is a 200-unit development opening later this year, with 40 units set aside for people with disabilities.

EIHF is managed by the Seattle Foundation, which oversees philanthropic assets for more than 1,200 individuals, families, organizations and businesses and has a particular focus on deploying capital to fuel equity and opportunity.

The foundation launched the fund in 2020 with an $11 million proof-of-concept round of funding from local credit unions, as well as support from JPMorgan Chase and Tableau Foundation to build the fund. It subsequently raised $75 million from Microsoft to advance the fund’s objectives, in addition to leveraging capital from its donors.

Broadstreet provides administrative services to impact funds like EIHF, drawing on our two decades of experience as an investor and fund manager focused on economic development, racial and gender equity, small business growth and community revitalization.

Our team works with the staff at Seattle Foundation Fund Management LLC to provide fund administration and fund management advisory services for the initiative.