Overview

Traugott Terrace, located in the Belltown neighborhood of Downtown Seattle, provides fifty units of ‘clean and sober' housing for individuals with very low incomes. It is the first LEED certified affordable housing project in the country. The facility is owned and managed by the Archdiocesan Housing Authority. Twelve single room occupancy homeless units on the second floor serve participants in neighborhood recovery programs. A common kitchen, dining and lounge area, and a large common outdoor deck are provided for the residents, along with two caseworker offices. Floors three through six contain thirty-eight studio and one-bedroom units of permanent affordable housing. The ground floor contains the entry lobby and the resident manager's office with a meeting room on the mezzanine level.

The housing broadens the services of the Matt Talbott Center, a multi-service facility offering a core of programs built around initiatives to stop substance abuse and prevent relapse into alcoholism and addiction. The Traugott Terrace housing project began with the desire on the part of the Matt Talbott Center to provide housing as an integral component of their program, and they worked with Seattle's Archdiocesan Housing Authority to develop the housing on the Center's existing site. A separately funded project allowed for upgrades to the Matt Talbott Center itself. .

The new housing was built above the existing one-story building and within its adjacent 30-foot wide parking lot. Construction above the existing building was supported by a new concrete lid that sits atop new steel columns brought through the existing building. The housing was designed in an L-shape around an outdoor deck at the second floor to provide southern exposure for a majority of units. The form minimizes construction above the existing structure and ensures continued access to natural light and ventilation regardless of future developments.