Construction has started on the Mount Baker Redevelopment and Rainier Rising Early Learning Campus in southeast Seattle, bringing together plans for approximately 400 affordable apartments, an early childhood education center and community facilities on a 3.8-acre site.
The development is located across the street from Sound Transit’s Mount Baker light-rail station. It is the result of an eight-year collaboration involving the University of Washington (UW) College of Education, the City of Seattle Office of Housing, the State of Washington, Mercy Housing Northwest and El Centro de la Raza, among other partners.
The housing development will be delivered in two phases. The first includes 239 affordable rental homes, while the completed redevelopment is expected to provide housing for more than 1,000 people.
One-third of the homes will be reserved for families earning at or below 30% of the area median income (AMI), according to the project announcement. Family-sized homes will account for 60% of the development’s housing.
The plans also include 20,000 square feet of public open space, a 6,000-square-foot community hub for events, cultural programming and services, and 4,000 square feet of commercial space intended to support locally owned and Black, Indigenous and people of color-owned businesses. Climate-resilience measures include advanced stormwater management and environmental practices exceeding baseline requirements.
Early Learning Campus to Serve More Than 120 Children
The Rainier Rising Early Learning Campus (RRELC) will occupy approximately 35,000 square feet across two floors. The facility will expand access to early care and education while bringing together community services, research and professional training.
An eight-classroom early learning facility on the first floor will serve more than 120 children, from infancy through preschool. The second floor will accommodate early learning organizations that support children and families, alongside professional development and adult learning programs.
The campus will also serve as a training and demonstration center for educators, researchers and community partners. The University of Washington will draw on expertise across its programs, including UW Medicine and its schools of nursing, pharmacy, dentistry and social work, to support children and families.
The UW College of Education’s Cultivate Learning will occupy part of the second floor. Through early childhood professional learning, coaching and quality improvement, the program will help students and working educators develop their skills and share practices with education leaders beyond Seattle.
The campus will also include the Cauce Community Space, named in recognition of former UW President Ana Mari Cauce’s role in advancing the project. The Bezos Family Foundation is funding the space, which will give families and community members a place to gather, learn and access resources.
The early learning campus has a separately reported cost of approximately $36 million. Philanthropic, federal, state, county and city resources provide its funding.
Funding and Construction Partners
The project announcement identifies $170 million in funding for the Mount Baker Redevelopment, drawn from state, city and private sources. It does not establish that this figure represents the total cost of the housing development.
The approximately $36 million cost of the Rainier Rising Early Learning Campus is additional to the funding for the housing redevelopment. The announcement does not specify the total cost of the combined development.
Seattle Mayor Katie Wilson described the groundbreaking as the result of collaboration among government, community organizations, philanthropy and the university to address the interconnected needs of children, families and communities.
The project has been shaped by work with Rainier Valley residents, families, educators and community leaders since 2018. Mercy Housing Northwest and El Centro de la Raza are developing the housing component.
Runberg Architecture Group is designing the Mount Baker Redevelopment, with Beacon Development Group serving as developer consultant and Walsh Construction as builder. Mithun is the architect for the Rainier Rising Early Learning Campus, where Walsh Construction is also the builder.
The first phase of the housing redevelopment and the early learning campus are scheduled for completion by 2029.
Institutional Land and Affordable Housing
The Seattle development is part of a broader landscape of efforts to expand affordable housing through partnerships involving public agencies, community organizations and major institutions.
Harvard University has contributed land for affordable housing in Boston’s Allston neighborhood. The University of Virginia has set a goal of creating 1,000 to 1,500 affordable homes on university-owned land over a decade, while Howard University in Washington, D.C., has used long-term ground leases to facilitate residential developments while retaining ownership of its land.
The approaches differ, but they demonstrate how institutional land and partnerships with housing developers can contribute to housing delivery in expensive urban markets.
Private developers are also incorporating affordable housing into larger mixed-use schemes. In Culver City, California, Lincoln Property Company and McCourt Partners have secured $132.7 million in construction financing for ElevenOneEleven, a planned 344-residence development that includes 52 affordable units, retail space and publicly accessible outdoor areas.
Unlike the Seattle development, ElevenOneEleven is primarily a residential mixed-use project rather than a combined housing and early learning campus. Both projects include affordable homes alongside additional amenities intended to serve residents and the wider community.
Mount Baker Redevelopment and Rainier Rising Early Learning Campus: Factsheet
- Location: Mount Baker neighborhood, southeast Seattle, Washington
- Site area: 3.8 acres
- Mount Baker Redevelopment funding: $170 million from state, city and private sources
- Planned affordable housing: Approximately 400 apartments across two phases
- First phase: 239 affordable rental homes
- Affordability: One-third of homes reserved for families earning at or below 30% of AMI
- Family-sized homes: 60% of homes
- Early learning campus: Approximately 35,000 square feet
- Planned early learning capacity: More than 120 children
- Public open space: 20,000 square feet
- Community hub: 6,000 square feet
- Commercial space: 4,000 square feet
- Early learning campus cost: Approximately $36 million, additional to the housing redevelopment funding
- Housing developers: Mercy Housing Northwest and El Centro de la Raza
- Mount Baker architect: Runberg Architecture Group
- Early learning campus architect: Mithun
- Developer consultant: Beacon Development Group
- Builder: Walsh Construction
- Target completion: 2029 for the first phase and early learning campus
- Total combined development cost: Not specified in the announcement
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