At Killian Pacific’s Jack Straw development, Director of Development Cassidy Bolger is overseeing a new pilot program that dedicates two ground-floor, two-story townhome units for in-home daycare operators. The initiative offers these providers a reduced rent, set at 60% of the area median income, to increase childcare availability for both residents and the surrounding community.
The program represents a creative reimagining of how apartment buildings can serve community needs. According to Bolger, the ground-floor townhomes are specifically designed to accommodate childcare operations during the day while maintaining private living space upstairs for the resident providers.
“The downstairs will be where the daycare would occur during the day, and then upstairs, there’s also another private bedroom, that would be only for the private use of the resident,” Bolger explains.
The initiative aims to tackle two persistent challenges in urban areas. “We know we have a shortage of daycare providers, I think that’s pretty common in a lot of parts of the country right now,” Bolger notes. “When we initiated thoughts about this project, it was like, what are the things that we could do here that would benefit the community?”
The program goes beyond just providing space, it’s part of a larger partnership with state agencies. “The state’s running a program where they’re training people,” Bolger says. “Once people get up and running, learn how to do this and are in a position to go with their certification, they just need a place to live to do it in. Then we’ve made a match.”
This approach represents a departure from traditional affordable housing models. Rather than simply setting aside units at below-market rates, the program creates opportunities for residents to provide valuable community services while accessing affordable housing.
“We do voluntarily include affordable components in our buildings,” Bolger says, noting that they typically align with city requirements even in jurisdictions where it’s not mandatory. At Nine Bark in Vancouver, Washington, they implemented voluntary affordability programs because “we were able to underwrite that deal and make it happen with that included.”
While the in-home daycare program is still in its pilot phase, it suggests new possibilities for how developers can approach affordability challenges. By linking affordable housing with community services, developments might be able to create more sustainable models for mixed-income communities.
“We’re here to try to help that problem, not create it,” Bolger says of the housing affordability challenge. “We help to bring financial capital in to solve our housing shortage problem.”
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