Dublin, Ohio-based Options for Supported Housing will complete a redevelopment project involving four separate Spokane-area houses to be leased to low-income people with developmental disabilities, says Jacob Pollowitz, housing developer and asset manager with Navarre + Pollowitz & Associates LLC.

Shoreline, Wash.-based Navarre + Pollowitz & Associates is a consulting company that manages Options for Supported Housing’s Washington state assets, says Pollowitz.

Options for Affordable Housing owns 40 properties in Washington, although the recently acquired Spokane properties are its first holdings in Eastern Washington.

The project is funded through a $1.5 million grant from the state’s Housing Trust Fund, but Pollowitz says developers will seek about $45,000 more from the city of Spokane to finish the fourth home. The grant funds cover the acquisition, rehabilitation, contractor and architect fees, and a reserve for future tenant
improvements.

Each of the four single-story homes has three bedrooms, so three tenants with developmental disabilities can live independently in the homes, says Pollowitz.

Accessibility improvements were completed in February on the first home, a 1,900-square-foot house at 6110 E. Seventh Lane, in Spokane Valley.

Work was completed earlier this month on homes at 1128 E. Bismark, in Spokane’s Nevada Lidgerwood neighborhood, and at 12505 W. Pacific Court, in Airway Heights. Those homes have about 1,400 and 1,900 square feet of living space, respectively, says Pollowitz.

Improvements to the homes include wheelchair accessible ramps, roll-in showers, and accessible decks. Some rooms were also reconfigured to make the bathrooms more accessible, Pollowitz says.

Tenants recently moved into the three completed homes.

The fourth home in the project has about 1,700 square feet of living space at 3612 E. 25th. 

Improvements planned there currently are out for construction bids, and that work is expected to be completed in midsummer, Pollowitz says

Rent is set at 30 percent of tenant income, which the tenants typically receive through a Social Security program.

“Our goal is to (enable) people with development disabilities who make almost no money to live out in the community in affordable housing, so they can use what money they have leftover for things other than housing,” says Pollowitz.

Seattle-based nonprofit Environmental Works is the architect, and Pura Vida High Performance Builders, of Spokane, is the general contractor for improvements to the first three houses.

Navarre + Pollowitz was founded in 2010 by Janice Navarre and Jacob Pollowitz’s father, Michael. The business partners have more than 40 years of experience working with people with developmental disabilities.

Options for Supported Housing is the trade name for Foundation for the Challenged, a nonprofit that focuses on “providing safe, quality community housing that improves quality of life for people with developmental disabilities,” the organization’s website says.

More than 400 people with developmental disabilities in 11 states are tenants with the organization, the website says.