In a span of a few months, the City of Redmond has opened its very own downtown light rail station and announced the construction of a low-income housing complex, bringing in a new era to the quiet town. But perceived lapses in the city’s diligence have lent residents concern about what the future holds for them.
On February 13, 2024, the Redmond City Council publicly announced its approval for the construction of a 100-unit low-income housing complex in its downtown area as part of its Housing Action Plan.
The complex, managed by Plymouth Housing, will be built on a $5.5 million city-owned lot on 16275 Cleveland Street, placing it within a block of the downtown Redmond light rail stop. The train station, an extension of a larger Puget Sound transit system known as the Link, was opened for public use on May 10, 2025, almost a year and three months after the announcement of the housing project.
In a statement on their website, the City of Redmond noted that the complex was designed as “transit-oriented,” tying the two projects’ proximity as a conscious decision on the city’s part.
The announcement comes as studies have projected Redmond to require 24,000 units of affordable housing by 2044, an estimate unsurprising to those cognizant of the Seattle area’s nearly doubling in housing costs over the past decade.
On its webpage, Plymouth Housing clarifies that residents of its future Redmond complex will be sourced from the lower class (earnings < $28k/year). The establishment will perform background checks to ensure residents have not had a history of crime related to sex or narcotics and will also enforce a “good-neighbor policy,” fit with weapon and guest policies to maintain a rule-bound environment.
Plymouth’s reliance on the newly introduced light rail to provide transport for the complex’s residents has also come under scrutiny, though American Corporate Security, a private security company hired to guard the rail’s stations, has assured on its website the safety and surveillance of the Puget Sound train system.
Despite the promises put forth by the city and Plymouth Housing, many residents of Redmond and other critics have raised numerous concerns regarding both the upcoming housing complex and the newly opened light rail.
Pertaining to the light rail station, concerns about the potential transportation of problematic individuals, particularly from more crime-ridden parts of the Puget Sound region like Seattle, have plagued the minds of many. Some have shared stories of rail cars being used by the homeless as shelters, potentially posing a risk to other passengers. Since these issues arose, private security has taken measures to remove such individuals, ceasing most concerns of transit safety.
More recent criticism, however, hasn’t been directed towards the light rail, which has overall been looked upon fondly by Redmond residents. Instead, the Plymouth Housing complex has drawn the most backlash from the public as of late. In a recent case, two appeals against the project’s development were rejected by the city. Both appellants raised concerns about the 100-unit building’s lack of parking spaces provided, as current plans have four on-street spots.
Appellant Anu Tewari, who called for the complex’s redesign, argued that the lack of parking space planned, “will increase traffic congestion, affecting pedestrian safety and the ease of living, working and visiting the neighborhood,” also a sentiment mirrored by the other appellant, Albert Rosenthal. Both men are local business owners.
Plymouth Housing, which called engineer William Popp to testify, put forth the defense that the light rail’s proximity to the complex would stifle the need for concern regarding further car congestion in downtown Redmond, an argument which would ultimately win over the court’s favor.
More severe criticism of Plymouth’s project, however, was directed towards the Redmond City Council’s transparency with the public, or lack there of. The City of Redmond’s dealings with Plymouth amounted to a transfer of land, which, per policy, did not necessitate public hearings for approval. Consequently, the announcement of the complex’s confirmation came as a surprise to many citizens of Redmond.
Subsequent concerns raised by members of the public ranged from pedestrian safety in downtown Redmond to the integrity of local businesses, but fundamentally focused on the thoroughness and openness of the city’s dealings.
The Watchdog sat down with local resident Pam Cummings, who expressed her own disapproval of the city’s handling of the project.
“[Redmond] needs to communicate with honesty why they’re doing this. If it is strictly for a humanitarian purpose, there should be no reason why they would not be able to disclose a lot of that. There’s always going to be a lot of pushback for low-income housing and/or homeless housing accommodations. The fact that they’re being secret is escalating everybody’s paranoia and fears.”
Another Redmond resident who chose to remain anonymous voiced similar concerns regarding the Redmond City Council’s private decision making, stating, “I don’t think they should be doing things like that. We voted them in, we pay their salaries and I do think things should be above board. That’s what creates problems in communities- when things are done behind the scenes.”
The controversy surrounding Plymouth Housing’s apartments can largely be traced back to an element in the initiative’s history, which began not in Redmond, but in the nearby City of Kenmore. The plans for Plymouth’s 100-unit apartment were originally approved by the Kenmore City Council, which, like Redmond, pursued an agenda targeting regional housing issues.
The public backlash to Kenmore’s decision was quite similar. Many voices decried Plymouth’s project, lambasting the building plan as a homeless shelter, despite its legal status as a “permanent supportive housing” complex. Many others raised concerns about the attraction of troubling individuals to the homeless/low-income targeted building from external cities, among other concerns. A Dec. 12, 2023, 6-1 vote amongst the Kenmore City Council turned in favor of cancelling the Plymouth program, effectively heeding the voices of the city’s people and scrapping developed plans for the building.
The February adoption of Plymouth’s residential complex by Redmond would thus prove to be a sudden decision, with the company’s CEO Karen Lee openly stating, “The circumstances that brought us to this shared opportunity are unprecedented. This process requires quick action.”
Rapid action to replan the project to fit the newly allotted land, as well as the general haste surrounding Redmond’s decision, has ultimately come at the cost of otherwise standard rigor, ranging from assessments of potential threats posed by future residents to greater transparency with affected Redmond citizens, to commonplace parking quotas.
The implementation of the light rail and soon the Plymouth “Permanent Supportive Housing” complex are undoubtedly ambitious initiatives put forth by city officials. Whether their popularity amongst locals is equally great remains to be seen until the project is fully executed.
It has been made abundantly clear that many are in favor of providing affordable means of living to those in need, especially in the midst of statewide housing market inflation. What has also been made abundantly clear, though, are the critical eyes of the public being turned towards Plymouth Housing and the City of Redmond. Satisfying both personal and public needs in moving forward will require both the city and Plymouth to ultimately reach a position of mutual agreement.
