Seattle Commons — The Case For

Why this is a win for LISC Puget Sound

civic advocacy
The Win

LISC finances community development — affordable housing, economic development, civic infrastructure. The Commons model is structurally analogous: publicly- financed asset, operated for broad community benefit, in an underserved urban core. LISC's Puget Sound office has lending and technical assistance capacity that could support the acquisition financing or the operating build-out.

More importantly, LISC's credibility in the community development finance world adds a voice that purely civic advocates can't provide. LISC met with the Lid I-5 team and hasn't committed yet — but the Commons case is arguably a cleaner fit for LISC's mission than a park lid. A civic commons in a dense urban core, run by a public institution, is core community development.

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I want to analyze this proposal from the perspective of LISC Puget Sound. There's a civic proposal to convert the WSCC Arch building at 7th & Pike into a year-round public commons operated by Seattle Center. The case being made to LISC Puget Sound: LISC finances community development — affordable housing, economic development, civic infrastructure. The Commons model is structurally analogous: publicly- financed asset, operated for broad community benefit, in an underserved urban core. LISC's Puget Sound office has lending and technical assistance capacity that could support the acquisition financing or the operating build-out. The full proposal: https://commons.conventioncityseattle.com What are the strongest arguments for and against, from LISC Puget Sound's perspective?