Even a persistent rain couldn't dampen the enthusiasm of those who gathered to celebrate the Grand Opening of Unity Village of White Center, a new construction project with 30 units of affordable apartments near the White Center business district.

Those attending, close to 80 or more, huddled under tents to hear Executive Director of the White Center Community Development Association (WCCDA) Aileen Balahadia introduce the guest speakers.

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Those speaking included Chris Persons, Executive Director of Capitol Hill Housing (CHH), Willard Brown, Board VP of the Delridge Neighborhood Development Association (DNDA), King County Executive Dow Constantine, King County Council Member Joe McDermott, Jasmine Brown Site Manager, Jamesina Jamison, resident, and Kate Gill de la Garza, Unity Village Lead Developer.

Balahadia said, " I love the idea that a place like Unity Village could have the power to catalyze an entire neighborhood as well as impact the 30 families that are here."

Chris Persons said, "Everybody deserves beautiful, decent housing that's affordable and that's what this project is about."

Dow Constantine said, referring to the fact that six of the units are dedicated to people transitioning from homelessness, "It is particularly important in this time, and look at the weather today. If any of us needed a reminder of what it would be like to looking ahead as the light fades to a night without shelter, without a home, without heat. Think about the little discomfort you are feeling right now and think about facing that day after day without being able to get into some kind of shelter. Some homeless families will have the security of knowing they won't have just shelter but a home. That is a tremendous achievement."

Constantine also highlighted the green building techniques employed such as the 50 year roof that will "make this project sustainable over time."

The project is a partnership between CHH, the WCCDA and the DNDA.

To see a slideshow of what the complex looks like see the West Seattle Herald's previous story here.

Unity Village of White Center offers apartments in a neighborhood that has lacked housing options for many years. All of the homes at Unity Village are affordable to very low-income families, and most have two- or three-bedrooms in order to serve the larger, multi-generational families of White Center.

King County Housing Authority Executive Director Stephen Norman said, "I think this is a real shot in the arm for White Center. It's one more step in creating a real community, a real sense of village in the middle of White Center. What I want to say to the WCCDA is keep on trucking!"

Vlad Oustimovitch who was involved in the project, said, "This is one of the best housing projects that I've ever been involved with. I've developed many projects before so from a low income housing point of view it's one of the nicest ones that I've been involved with, and so many people have been involved, I've just been in a very small part of it."

According to CHH, residents of Unity Village will have direct access to necessary resources and community involvement through a partnership with the White Center CDA. The various amenities of this new development include a central community room, a laundry room, bike storage, on-site parking, and a children's playground.

All apartments are secured with RFID keys that can not only be programmed in minutes but allow individual keys to permit and/or track access if necessary.

Most rooms throughout the complex have their own "De-humidistat" that controls the heat and moisture in the room and are equipped with wall mounted radiant heat panels. There's a computer room on site with equipment donated by Boeing.

Unity Village was built in part with monies from the American Recovery and Reinvestment Act Tax Credit Assistance Program funding administered by the Washington State Housing Finance Commission. The lead developer for the project was CHH, the WCCDA is the local sponsor and DNDA secured the site in 2008 and provided construction management services for the project. The project is owned by a tax credit Limited Liability Company in which all three non-profit organizations have an ownership stake.