ARCH Development Programs
ARCH assists the developer community to navigate and access local housing incentives and assistance designed to promote affordable housing production, including direct financial assistance, as well as land use and tax incentives. ARCH also supports the development of housing policies and regulation to accommodate greater affordable housing development, and works with property owners long-term to ensure housing remains affordable.
Developing housing policies and regulation
Cost-reducing strategies such as land use incentives, attached housing, fee waivers and developing surplus land as well as explicit affordability requirements are among the tools to encourage the creation and preservation of affordable housing.
Providing financial assistance through loans and or grants to agencies that develop, own, and operate affordable housing
The ARCH Housing Trust Fund was created in 1993 as a way to directly assist the development and preservation of affordable housing in East King County. The Trust Fund is capitalized by both local general funds and locally controlled, federal Community Development Block Grant (CDBG) funds. The Trust Fund process allows ARCH members to jointly administer their housing funds, and assist the best available housing opportunities that meet the housing needs of the community.
In 2020, the City of Bellevue established its Housing Stability Program to 1) provide housing for households earning below 30% of area median income (AMI); address and prevent homelessness and housing instability; and focus on underserved, vulnerable residents in Bellevue.
Click here for information on the Housing Trust Fund and Housing Stability Program.
Implementing and managing housing programs
ARCH has a continuing role in the affordable housing created through the land use incentives or trust fund investment. For more information on the monitoring that ARCH does, click here.