Housing Authority moves to preserve 24 senior apartments in Cashmere

CASHMERE — The Housing Authority of Chelan County and the City of Wenatchee is nearing the acquisition of a 24-unit senior housing property in Cashmere, an effort intended to keep the apartments affordable rather than allowing them to move onto the open market.

Housing Authority Executive Director Sasha Sleiman told the Cashmere City Council Aug. 10 that preserving the property has become a major priority for the agency.

“We are working on the final-ish, almost final steps,” Sleiman said. “Real estate has so many final steps of acquiring a property here in Cashmere to preserve affordable senior housing.”

“If we don't acquire it, it would have gone to open market, and we want to make sure those 24 units of senior housing stay affordable,” she added.

Cashmere representative Steve Vradenburg, who serves on the Housing Authority board, said securing funding for the acquisition has been challenging because rental income from the property would not support conventional financing.

“There’s very low to no grant money out there for these types of things, unfortunately, and the only way these projects work is with grant money,” Vradenburg said. “The HUD rents won't even cover the interest on the debt if you were to try to borrow the money for it.”

Vradenburg said the effort received local support and advocacy as the Housing Authority sought funding for the acquisition.

The Housing Authority already operates River Run in Cashmere. The agency was created in 1981 to provide low-income housing for agricultural workers and became a joint city-county housing authority in 1998, expanding its ability to operate throughout Chelan County. Its portfolio has since grown to include housing serving agricultural workers, low-income families, seniors and other residents.

Sleiman said the agency continues to look for opportunities to develop, acquire and rehabilitate affordable housing, including potentially broadening its focus on workforce housing beyond its agricultural roots.

The Housing Authority also administers federal Housing Choice Vouchers. Sleiman said the program currently assists 448 households across Chelan and Douglas counties through approximately 150 private landlords.

The agency recently reached the end of a Housing Choice Voucher waiting list that had been open since July 2023. It contacted about 280 families during the past year, but Sleiman estimated only about 45 to 50 would ultimately receive vouchers from that group as outdated addresses and other changes made it difficult to reach people after years on the list.

To address those problems, the Housing Authority is moving more of its services online. Sleiman said after the meeting that the new services are expected to become available later this year.

The change will allow residents to update their information, access Housing Authority services and pay rent online rather than relying primarily on mailed paperwork or traveling to the agency’s Wenatchee office.

Sleiman also told council members the Housing Authority recently received about $6 million through two grants to rehabilitate older USDA Rural Development properties, including accessibility and safety improvements.

Councilmember Jeff Johnson, attending by Zoom, thanked Sleiman and Vradenburg for the agency’s work, particularly its efforts involving senior housing.

“I continue to look forward to partnerships going forward,” Johnson said.

Andrew Simpson: 509-433-7626 or andrew@ward.media