Laurel Manor will provide housing for low-income seniors; federal program championed by Cantwell & Wyden covered 63% of project cost; Key Senators discuss strategy to expand and fund critical affordable housing program in post-election Congressional session
VANCOUVER, WA – Today, U.S. Senator Maria Cantwell (D-WA) and U.S. Senator Ron Wyden (D-OR) joined Vancouver Mayor Anne McEnerny-Ogle, Vancouver Housing Authority (VHA) CEO Andy Silver, and longtime VHA complex resident Flo Blanton for a press conference celebrating Laurel Manor, an 82-unit affordable housing project in central Vancouver.
The project — which broke ground in summer 2023 and is expected to be completed in the coming months — will provide housing for low-income seniors in the community, with half of the units reserved for tenants making up to 30 percent of the area’s median income and the other half reserved for tenants making up to 50 percent. Additionally, 17 of the units will be for seniors who are exiting homelessness.
Laurel Manor was built using the Low-Income Housing Tax Credit (LIHTC), a program championed by Sen. Cantwell and Sen. Wyden. The project received $21.4 million through the program, covering 63.1% of the total cost.
“We have a housing crisis, and we need urgent solutions. That’s why I’ve been a big advocate of increasing the amount of capital behind the Low-Income Housing Tax Credit,” Sen. Cantwell said. “This literally is a supply and demand issue: Not only does it benefit people here, but it creates the supply that helps take off some of the pressure in the local community. If we build more housing like Laurel Manor, it will help us keep down the cost in the larger region.”
In his remarks, Sen. Wyden called Sen. Cantwell “the go-to person” on affordable housing advocacy in the Senate.
“Not just in the Pacific Northwest, but in the country,” Sen. Wyden added.
Sen. Cantwell has been a longtime supporter of affordable housing and LIHTC and is currently the leading Senate proponent of two provisions to enhance LIHTC that were included in a larger tax package that Senate Finance Committee Chair Wyden negotiated with his Republican House counterpart. That legislation, which was fully paid for and would not increase the federal deficit, received an overwhelming bipartisan vote in the House earlier this year and the LIHTC provisions represent the most significant investment in affordable housing in the last 35 years. More information about Sen. Cantwell’s work to include an expansion to the LIHTC program in the bipartisan tax package is available HERE.
In addition to the bipartisan tax package that Chair Wyden negotiated with his Republican House counterpart, Chair Wyden is the author of the Decent, Affordable, Safe Housing for All (DASH) Act. This legislation would make a landmark investment to house all people experiencing homelessness, tackle the housing affordability crisis by increasing supply, and expand homeownership opportunities, especially for young people, by creating a new down payment tax credit for first-time homebuyers.
Since its creation in 1986, LIHTC has helped pay for 90% of the federally-funded affordable housing construction across the country, and has financed over 3.8 million affordable homes, including more than 100,000 in Washington state. The economic activity that the credit generated has supported nearly 170,000 jobs and generated more than $19 billion in wages.
Photos of today’s event are HERE; video of the press conference and b-roll of the complex tour is HERE; and a transcript of Sen. Cantwell’s remarks is HERE.