The YWCA would own those units but would likely hire an experienced housing management company to operate them, said YWCA executive director Jean DeMaster. The Housing Authority would own the units above the future Safeway store. They would house residents earning more like 60 percent to 80 percent of the median income, Barney said. Obletz said his development firm for this project, Sockeye Development LLC, will likely sell a partial stake in the units above the parking structure. Those are the units that will command market rates.
Financing remains a puzzle, one with many potential pieces.
The parking situation alone illustrates how difficult both financing and planning can get, Obletz said. It won't be easy to convince lenders and city officials that a downtown parking garage can serve multiple uses. Issues include the number of parking spaces the zoning code will allow, how many spaces the project needs to function and how many spaces the lenders think the project needs to function. The Belmont Dairy's parking relies on that multiple-function approach, Obletz said, but the zoning code is less restrictive in that portion of town. Compared to the Belmont Dairy, the Museum Place project offers certain advantages to a developer, he said.