The development parcel includes the St. Nicholas School building and adjacent green space. Encouraging land use code changes provide a path for religious institutions such as Saint Mark’s to develop housing to mitigate the Seattle housing crisis. With grant funding, Saint Mark’s conducted a feasibility analysis of the parcel’s redevelopment. The results demonstrated that, with housing finance support and a well-established development partner, Saint Mark’s vision to create an affordable housing community can become a reality.
The “Cathedral Place” apartments are being developed under a partnership between Redwood Housing and Saint Mark’s Cathedral Parish on the St. Nicholas site adjacent to the Cathedral on northern Capitol Hill in Seattle. Adaptive reuse of the historic St. Nicholas School building and new construction of a 6-story addition to the west will provide about 135 apartments, alongside community gathering spaces operated by a Saint Mark’s affiliated Community-Based Organization.
A combination of public financing commitments is anticipated by early 2027, with closing on financing and start of construction projected for late 2027.
Visual Storytelling Project
As a part of the community engagement work of the Affordable Housing Committee, the Visual Storytelling Project is a museum-caliber set of eight panels that tell the story of housing discrimination and Black resilience in the neighborhoods in and around Capitol Hill. This display will educate the community on the historic practices that continue to have a measurable impact on the neighborhood, such as restrictive covenants and racial redlining. Using archival materials, images, maps, graphics, and narrative, the exhibit tells a story of systemic injustices and the enduring strength and creativity of Seattle’s Black community. Additionally, the storyboard is designed to empower viewers to take measurable action for repentance and repair.
MILESTONES
October 2026
Public funding applications have been completed and submitted.
September 2026
Debut of Visual Storytelling Project.
January 2026
Parallel efforts in community engagement and development of a new Community-Based Organization (CBO) are undertaken to seek broad-based community, parish, and prospective tenant input into the project and potential Third Places which will be operated by Saint Mark’s CBO. Kendall Clawson of Northwest Leadership Consulting serves as our CBO consultant.
October 2025
Saint Mark’s and Redwood entering into a Joint Development Agreement.
Saint Mark’s receives $150,000 grant from Trinity Church NYC to develop community-based organization (CBO) model that will support the mission and vision of the affordable housing community. See article on Episcopal News Service.
May 2025
Saint Mark's signs a Memo of Agreement with affordable housing developer Redwood Housing.
February 2025
Vestry renews the process for selecting a development partner, resulting in the selection of Redwood Housing as Saint Mark's development partner.
May 2024
Vestry approves continuing to explore affordable housing while shifting timeline of selecting a development partner.
March 2024
Vestry approves moving forward into phase to select a development partner.
January 2024
Feasibility study refines vision of two potential capacity studies on the site; Vestry believes affordable housing is likely the highest and best mission-related use of the St. Nicholas site and that parishioners are highly supportive.
March 2023
Vestry unanimously approves Affordable Housing Committee's recommendation to move forward with a “formal” feasibility assessment, based on outlined criteria, and engage the services of an affordable housing development consultant.
January-March 2023
Initial exploratory phase by Affordable Housing Committee includes 20+ interviews with community organizations and affordable housing providers, establishing guiding criteria, and outlining plan for determining feasibility.
February 2023
Affordable housing is discussed as part of strategic visioning at annual Vestry Retreat.
September 2022
Vestry forms the Affordable Housing Committee with Vestry, staff, and parishioner representation for a focused exploration.
FAQ
The Affordable Housing Committee is actively engaging the community, including a range of stakeholders—neighbors, potential tenants, cathedral parish, interested citizens, and nearby school families. Uncommon Bridges, a local consulting firm which specializes in this field of work, has helped guide this work.
Saint Mark’s sees this as an opportunity to address longstanding housing injustices related to historic redlining and racial restrictive covenants. Kendall Clawson of Northwest Leadership Consulting has been engaged to help us as we seek to deepen relationships with Black communities as we listen and learn. Kendall is the consultant for Saint Mark's new Community Based Organization (CBO), which will eventually operate the resource spaces in the affordable housing development and will guide our full portfolio of housing and hunger relief ministries, from direct services to partnerships to education and advocacy efforts.
Additionally, Kendall's work informed the Visual Storytelling Project, which will also help to further engage the surrounding neighborhood.
The Vestry has identified affordable housing as a missional initiative worthy of Saint Mark’s consideration. The continued rise in the cost of buying and renting homes in Seattle has exacerbated a housing crisis. Growth in the private market housing sector does not address the needs of those with lower incomes. More housing is needed that will remain affordable to lower-income households for the long term.
The Vestry sees redevelopment of the St. Nicholas property as a strategy serving the broader vision of the Cathedral’s mission and purpose to seek and serve Christ in all persons, to strive for respect and dignity for all people, and to build on our long-term commitment to address homelessness and hunger in the Puget Sound region.
Neighborhoods matter to the fabric and well-being of families. This project tangibly creates an opportunity for many individuals and families to experience an affordable home closely connected to schools, transit, urban amenities, and green spaces.
The Affordable Housing Committee is looking to serve a multigenerational population at a variety of lower income levels. The Committee and Vestry envision the design would be fitting architecturally with the cathedral campus, include initiatives to minimize carbon impact, and create opportunity for meaningful connection for residents, parishioners, and community members to interact as part of daily life including the intentional use of greenspace.
The structure has aesthetic beauty, history, and personal connection for many, but also has significant repair, maintenance, and operational challenges. Having carefully assessed the costs and benefits of preserving the building, modifying the building, or pursuing new construction in its place, Saint Mark’s and Redwood Housing have decided to preserve and adaptively reuse the historic building while removing the non-historic wing and adding a new building.
COMMITTEE MEMBERS
John Hoerster, Chair
Karen Maeda Allman
Greg Hamm
Bethany Hoy
Wes Klingele
Re Knack
Scott Kovacs
Julia Logan
The Very Rev. Steve Thomason, Dean
Tory Laughlin Taylor, Development Consultant
Kendall Clawson, CBO Consultant
PARTNERS
Developer: Redwood Housing
Architect: Perkins Eastman
General Contractor: Rafn
Bethany Hoy, a Saint Mark’s member since 2023, serves on the Affordable Housing Committee as a community engagement advisor. This role is supported through her consulting firm jade lab llc, which centers justice-driven systems work and community-rooted engagement. In this capacity, she supported Uncommon Bridges, with which Redwood Housing contracted to advance community engagement regarding the Saint Mark’s affordable housing project. Bethany also serves as a liaison to the Affordable Housing Committee, with a special focus on guiding outreach and relationship building with multigenerational families in the Black community in Seattle.