Developed by HomeSight, the overall Othello Square project– four buildings on a multi-block 3.2-acre campus–is envisioned as a place where the diverse residents of southeast Seattle can find homes, educational and business development opportunities, health care, social services, and a variety of small enterprises at which to shop, eat and play. U-Lex, located on the SE corner of the Othello Square campus, will provide stable and affordable housing in 68 low-income, limited equity co-op home ownership units as well as small commercial and retail spaces on the ground floor. The homes are a mix of one, two, and three bedroom units. U-Lex faces eastward to Martin Luther King Jr Blvd and is adjacent to the Othello Light Rail Station. The building is designed to integrate with its surroundings, working with the neighborhood instead of dominating it. To create connections to the neighborhood, significant landscaping, including vertical gardens, were added. One challenge for the project design was incorporating meaningful outdoor and amenity spaces, which is accomplished with a central ground level courtyard with large, double height balconies and vertical gardens above.

This project is an International Living Futures Healthy materials Pilot Program Project that will help inform ILFI of the challenges and opportunities of using healthy materials in affordable housing.

Construction will start in the first quarter of 2024.