Affordable housing coming to Skyway-West Hill community
Published 11:30 am Thursday, March 5, 2026
King County is building “affordable” homes in the Skyway-West Hill community.
The King County Council approved a King County Housing Authority project to build 30 manufactured houses on a 2.89-acre property off S. 129th Street near the intersection of Martin Luther King Jr. S. The housing will be “affordable” to households earning at or below 80% of area median income (AMI), which is approximately $96,950 for a family of two or $121,150 for a family of four.
According to the Washington Center for Real Estate Research at the University of Washington, the median home price in King County nearly doubled from 2015 to 2024, while median household income, as reported by the Federal Reserve Bank of St. Louis, has increased by only approximately 50 percent over the same period.
“King County’s affordable housing crisis is pushing working families farther from opportunity, stability and community. Projects like this one in Skyway are exactly the kind of practical solutions we need, creating homes people can actually afford in a community that reflects the diversity and strength of our region,” Councilmember Rhonda Lewis said. “This project will deliver real housing for real people. It’s a reminder that progress doesn’t always come from grand gestures, but from consistent investments that strengthen neighborhoods and expand opportunity.”
Lewis, who sponsored the ordinance, said this agreement is the first between King County and King County Housing Authority. The King County Housing Authority administers rental housing and rental assistance for more than 50,000 people across the county. It owns more than 155 properties with more than 12,700 units, including more than 2,500 units of federally-subsidized housing for families, seniors and people with disabilities.
King County Housing Authority is partnering with Manufactured Housing Community Preservationists (MHCP), a Washington nonprofit corporation that purchases, renovates and operates mobile home/manufactured housing communities as affordable housing. The housing project is located between two existing manufactured housing communities that are owned and operated by MHCP. The project will feature two-bedroom, three-bedroom and four-bedroom units. Lewis said they made “no sacrificing of life safety standards” for the project.
“A lot of painstaking work has gone into this agreement to ensure that we have the variances to allow for more affordable housing in one of the most diverse parts of our region,” Lewis said. “We hope that this will open doors to help more people realize home ownership in unincorporated King County.”
The housing, tentatively called Vue Terrace, is fully funded, including $2,900,000 from King County’s housing finance program, and will be ready for construction once development permits are issued.
“King County continues to make headway in getting affordable housing where we need it for the people and families that need it most,” King County Executive Girmay Zahilay said. “This housing win for Skyway neighbors represents a lot of time spent on the ground in community listening and acting to secure the funding and land to make real homes for King County families and I have so much gratitude for Councilmember Lewis getting it across the finish line along with the council.”
