Seattle Area Losing Affordable Housing to 3rd Runway

A step forward for Sea-Tac Airport's troubled third-runway project is putting more than 500 residents of the Lora Lake Apartments in Burien a step closer to losing their homes.

The apartment complex is scheduled to be leveled to make room for the new runway, but affordable-housing advocates say many of the units could be saved.

"With a critical housing shortage, to deliberately eliminate affordable rental units -- especially units that are of good quality and located near two major employment centers -- is not only shortsighted; it is morally wrong," said the Rev. Sanford Brown, executive director of The Church Council of Greater Seattle.

"There is no need to tear the (apartments) down," said Bill Block, project director of the King County Committee to End Homelessness. "We will be very lucky in the next year to create about 625 units of housing to help people out of homelessness. If we lose 162 low-income units at the same time, those people essentially go into that pool."

See the entire Seattle P-I article: Housing to be leveled for 3rd runway.