Spokane Housing After Pamela Parr Retires

Spokane Housing Authority said Tuesday that Executive Director Pamela Parr will retire on April 1, 2027, after 13 years leading the agency. (spokanehousing.org) Parr joined the authority in December 2013, and Board Chair Kai Nevala said her tenure expanded affordable housing capacity while building a stronger fiscal base. (spokanehousing.org) The board has already formed a search committee and said recruitment for the next executive director will begin in the coming months. Parr will remain in the job during the transition year. (spokanehousing.org) The change lands in the middle of an active development pipeline. Last week, the Washington State Department of Commerce awarded Spokane Housing Authority $126,000 to design a child care center at Orchard Vista Apartments in Spokane Valley. (spokanejournal.com) That Orchard Vista project is planned to deliver 240 affordable housing units at 9910 E. Appleway Blvd., and the residential side carries a reported $66 million price tag. (spokanejournal.com) Spokane Housing Authority is not the same thing as Spokane City Hall’s housing office. The city’s Community, Housing and Human Services Department runs federal grant programs such as Community Development Block Grant funding and sets priorities through a consolidated plan. (spokanecity.org) That means Parr’s retirement does not directly decide the city’s housing code or all local subsidy choices. It does affect one of the region’s biggest public affordable-housing operators and voucher administrators. (spokanehousing.org) (spokanecity.org) The authority says it provides affordable housing options and assistance to more than 6,000 households each year in Spokane, Lincoln, Pend Oreille, Stevens, Ferry and Whitman counties. (spokanehousing.org) It is also part of the federal Moving to Work demonstration, which gives selected housing authorities more flexibility to test local strategies with federal housing dollars. Spokane joined that program as an expansion agency. (hud.gov 1) (hud.gov 2) Parr said she plans to stay active after retirement as an advocate and consultant focused on health and housing. For now, the immediate question is who the board picks to run the next phase of Spokane Housing Authority’s work. (spokanehousing.org)