New Low-Income Housing Units Serving North Side

CORRECTION: 8-21-97; N11 A story in the Aug. 14 issue of the North Side Voice incorrectly reported the status of emergency pull cords in the Heritage Heights Apartments. The cords are not operable and are being removed.

Two new low-income housing units on Spokane’s North Side are near capacity.

Heritage Heights, a community of 62 units for people age 55 and over, is half full while Westfall Village is 90 percent full.

Both complexes are classified as Section 42 housing, which means they’re tax credit properties and not subsidized housing, say apartment managers.

Mary Jo Harvey, executive director of the Spokane Housing Authority, which operates both projects, said, “These major affordable housing projects could not have been developed without effective partnerships among several private organizations and public agencies.”

On Aug. 27, U.S. Rep. George Nethercutt is scheduled to participate in a ribbon-cutting ceremony to kick off an open house at the two complexes from 11 a.m. to 2 p.m.

Heritage Heights is located at 3818 N. Cook, and Westfall Village is nearby at 3724 N. Cook.

Apartment managers at both complexes said the dwellings have been welcomed additions to the Hillyard neighborhood.

“Just the look of the apartments alone has spruced up the neighborhood,” said Kerrey Lemons, manager of Westfall Village along with her husband Glenn Lemons.

“The Northeast Community Center really had a lot of input into how this complex would be built. The community thinks of it as its own.”

Westfall Village opened April 3. Only 11 units are currently available for rent, Lemons said.

She said the units are open to anyone fitting the income requirements - families and individuals earning 60 percent of Spokane’s median income.

Apartments for those earning between 30 percent and 40 percent of the area’s median income are already filled, Lemons said.

Apartments have from one to four bedrooms. Units with two or more bedrooms have their own laundry hookups. A community room, four laundry rooms, basketball courts and playgrounds are available, Lemons said.

At Heritage Heights, which opened June 9, older residents can choose between one- or two-bedroom apartments in a secured building with secured laundry facilities, according to manager Kathleen Mason-Willard.

Each unit has a sitting area at the end of the hallway near the elevators on each floor and a pull cord in every apartment in case of an emergency. Handicap-accessible units are also being offered.

“We’ve got a wide mix of people living here,” said Mason-Willard, who manages the complex with husband Jerry. “Most everybody has children and grandchildren, so there are always young people here at the complex.

“And I think that’s something the older residents appreciate,” she said.

Mason-Willard said contrary to the belief that Hillyard is rough and dangerous, she said she has found her managerial stint at Heritage Heights to be positive.

“I spent most of my life in the (Spokane) Valley until recently moving into the complex,” Mason-Willard said. “All I knew about Hillyard were all the bad nicknames for it. But I haven’t found that to be the case.

“What I have found is a lot of people who are proud of their community and want to keep making it better,” she said.

Those financially eligible for Heritage Heights are families and individuals earning 60 percent of the area’s median income.

Mason-Willard said 25 units are still available at the complex.

, DataTimes