Mayor Durkan on election night.
Mayor Durkan on election night. Ulysses Curry

Mayor Jenny Durkan on Monday announced $100 million in investments to build and preserve affordable housing throughout the City of Seattle, including nine new apartment buildings comprising 896 units.

Revenue from the 2016 housing levy will provide the bulk of the funding, which will be disbursed to developers as long-term loans. The levy, passed by voters, is projected to bring in $290 million over nine years, $201 million of which is reserved for building and preserving affordable rental housing.

Smaller chunks of funding will come from federal sources, proceeds from the sale of surplus properties and the $29 million affordable housing bond approved by City Council last year.

In addition to developing new apartment buildings, the funds will go towards renovating 535 existing affordable housing units and building two new homeowner sites with 26 homes.

The city doles out funding for affordable housing every year, but the $100 million announced by Durkan today represents the biggest award to developers since the city started providing money for rental housing more than three decades ago.

Mayor Durkan announced the funding during a press conference at the Filipino Community Center in Rainier Valley, about a block away from a site slated to become 94 apartments for seniors.

“Today, we are making a huge down payment on a more affordable future,” the mayor said.

Other projects that will benefit from the funding include permanent supportive housing for the homeless and apartments for low-income families. The biggest project on the list is 245 apartments in Roosevelt, adjacent to the neighborhood’s future Sound Transit station, a joint venture between Bellwether Housing and Mercy Housing Northwest.