SEATTLE — St. Mark’s Cathedral on Capitol Hill is one of Seattle’s most iconic churches. Now, it's one step closer to realizing a plan to convert part of its property into an affordable housing development.
"They can call this place home and know they can thrive here with all of the resources that are available here at the cathedral," said Rev. Steve Thomason. "We come with this vision to try and do something as really bold and daring and courageous but also hopeful as an affordable housing project on our campus."
Trinity Church Wall Street, a church located in New York City, has given Seattle’s St. Mark's $250,000 in grants in the past year. It's to help St. Mark's turn St. Nicholas School, right next to the church, into affordable housing units.
"The cost of living and the cost of housing has skyrocketed in the last several decades, the last several years," said Thomason. "We want to make sure that we are responding to those who have been priced out or who were never even allowed to be in this part of the city because of their race or their economic status," said Thomason.
St. Mark's is looking into two options: tearing down the school and starting from scratch or converting and expanding part of the school into 119 housing units ranging from studios to three-bedroom apartments.
"This is not one of our missional projects that is addressing the unhoused people in Seattle we have other ministries doing that," said Thomason.
There's still a lot of work to be done before this project breaks ground. The church is hoping to select a developer this summer and start construction in 2027.
"There are so many resources bringing to the focus of addressing this crisis and we are just trying to be faithful in our one part of that," said Thomason.
The church said it's in talks with the city and is soliciting neighborhood feedback on the project. It hopes to have people move into the affordable housing development in 2028.