Construction is underway in Seattle’s Mt. Baker neighborhood on two buildings that will house over 150 affordable apartments for the Mt. Baker Housing Association (MBHA).
The first building, called Maddux North, is on the site of a former dry cleaners that released significant amounts of contaminants into the neighborhood soils and groundwater. The second, Maddux South, is across South McClellan Street on land with its own history of contamination from use as a gas station and auto repair shop. The costs to clean up these properties and similarly affected ones around the city usually leave the valuable land beyond the reach of nonprofits like MBHA. In the past few years, Aspect has partnered with the Washington State Department of Ecology and legal experts on the Healthy Housing Remediation Program to help organizations navigate regulatory pathways and fund cleanup efforts to get these urban sites ready for redevelopment as housing. You can learn more about this innovative funding model on our Affordable Housing page.
Aspect’s environmental and geotechnical teams will be on site in the coming months at both Maddux North and South to monitor the shoring and pile installations that will make way for the buildings’ foundations and make sure the excavated contaminated soils are being handled properly.
