This is an utterly awful location for low-income senior housing.
It is an entirely auto-dependent location. It is walkable to nowhere. So the residents will save a little on their rent, but have to own a car.
By contrast, low-income senior residents at SHAG, on North Capitol Way in Olympia, are a fairly easy walk to Thriftway supermarket, and one block from the Intercity Transit bus depot.
And, the OYO is an older building, with many system deficiencies in plumbing, heating, ventilation, and other components.
It would be far better for the Housing Authority to "do it right" by building a new building from scratch, designed to be low-income senior housing from the beginning, and located close to a supermarket in Lacey, Olympia, or Tumwater. The construction costs will be higher, but the transportation costs, energy costs, water costs, maintenance costs, and quality of life will be much better.
It's time to abandon this dumb idea. The Port should drop its efforts to get federal approval, and the Housing Authority should make a smarter decision elsewhere.
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