Hilltop housing project’s future uncertain after WA tribe yanks support for federal grant

The future of a celebrated project expected to bring 300 affordable housing units to Tacoma’s Hilltop neighborhood is uncertain after a Washington tribe withdrew its support for the federal funding request made by the nonprofit spearheading the venture.

The Snoqualmie Indian Tribe sharply criticized Forterra’s grant application for up to $20 million in federal money to aid construction in the historically marginalized Tacoma neighborhood and elsewhere in the state. The Tribe accused the environmental nonprofit of making material misrepresentations to the U.S. Department of Agriculture and misleading the Tribe about the contents of the funding request.

“We have serious concerns that Forterra’s grant application contains multiple unauthorized misrepresentations of fact, as well as false representations of commitments allegedly made by our Tribe, and apparently impossible claims made regarding promised outcomes from the resources invested,” Tribe chairman Robert M. de los Angeles wrote in a Sept. 23 letter to Robert Bonnie, the USDA’s undersecretary for farm production and conservation.

In a Sept. 28 response, Forterra board chair Beth Birnbaum wrote to Bonnie that the nonprofit had operated in good faith and was “shocked and saddened” to receive the Tribe’s notice to withdraw support, adding that the Tribe’s concerns had not been previously conveyed to Forterra.

The project, called Forest to Home, counted the Tribe as one of its key partners because timber from the Tribe’s ancestral forest was to be harvested for building material.

USDA spokesperson Marissa Perry said the agency was aware of the Tribe’s concerns and noted that Forterra had only been tentatively chosen to participate in the funding program, which is expected to invest nearly $3 billion in climate-smart projects across the country.

“Before resources through this funding opportunity can be disbursed, partners for tentatively selected projects must undergo discussions with the Department to finalize the scope and funding levels in the coming months,” Perry said in a statement. “USDA is engaged in discussions with both of the project partners focused on resolving the concerns that have been raised by the Tribe.”

Hilltop’s stake in the project

News that the USDA would invest in the project was cast last month as a victory for traditionally disinvested communities and the climate, relying on an eco-friendly supply chain of local timber, including from the Tribe’s roughly 12,000-acre ancestral forest east of Seattle, which the Tribe announced in February that it had reclaimed.

It is unclear how the Tribe’s withdrawal of support, first reported by the Seattle Times, might affect Hilltop, the historically Black and currently diverse neighborhood poised to benefit from the project. In September 2019, Forterra bought the former Rite Aid at South 11th Street and Martin Luther King Jr. Way in a $4 million deal, two decades after the chain drugstore arrived in the neighborhood with a promise to spark revitalization, only to close within six years.

The building is currently home to the Tacoma Urban Performing Arts Center and an incubator for artists. A community garden also is maintained on the property.

“There’s something nice where there used to be nothing but dereliction ... and now we’ve turned a full circle to something that’s beautiful,” said property manager Travis Pope, who noted that he was speaking personally.

Forterra envisions the site as a mix of affordable housing, retail and community developments, with a focus on Black, Indigenous and people of color-owned businesses, according to its website, which details four Forest to Home projects in the state, including the one on Hilltop.

“The parcel represents an opportunity to create attainable and market-rate housing and local business spaces in ways that respect the heritage and extend the legacy of the neighborhood,” its website reads.

Two Tacoma city leaders declined to comment on the Tribe’s withdrawal of support for the grant application. Councilmember Keith Blocker, who in the past has expressed excitement and optimism about the project and represents District 3, which encompasses Hilltop, said Friday that he did not have any information on the matter. He did not immediately return a follow-up message Tuesday.

At-large Councilmember Kiara Daniels, who lives in the Hilltop neighborhood, said that she was aware of the situation but did not wish to publicly address it. Daniels is a paid consultant with the local nonprofit, Fab-5, which partnered with Forterra on community engagement, including the development of the Community Investment Council, an advisory group to the project. The city of Tacoma is also a project partner.

“I have a lot of hope in this community,” Daniels said, speaking in broad terms. “I have faith that this development will be a success.”

Tribe claims ‘great distress’ over Forterra’s statements

The Tribe says Forterra drastically overstated how much timber would be harvested from the ancestral forest and never discussed that volume with the Tribe, according to the letter from de los Angeles. It also claims that Forterra misinformed the USDA that the Tribe had agreed to specific forest management standards — the Tribe has regulatory control over its land — and that it vowed to match nearly $1.5 million in project funds, which the Tribe said it never signed off on nor knew about.

The Tribe underscored that, by raising its concerns, it was willing to forgo needed funds to help manage its ancestral forest. The Tribe expected to directly receive nearly $3 million to help manage the forest and bring new environmental technologies to bear, according to a person close to the matter, who agreed to speak on the condition of anonymity because they were not authorized to publicly address an ongoing legal situation.

Ultimately the Tribe felt “great distress” over how affordable housing plans for Hilltop and other disadvantaged communities in Washington had been centrally tied to commitments that the Tribe either never agreed to, was never asked to make or could not deliver on.

In a statement, Birnbaum said the board “takes these concerns seriously, and has initiated a review of the (grant) application process” to be facilitated by an independent, outside law firm.

“Forterra NW’s goal in pursuing this grant was to bring additional resources to partners engaged in essential climate work across a range of dimensions — community-project, technical implementation, government, and social impact,” Birnbaum said. “Forterra remains committed to supporting these organizations, regardless of how the grant funds are directed or administered.”

Birnbaum also suggested that the nonprofit sought to grow from the situation following the independent law firm’s review of its funding request and the Tribe’s concerns.

“Grant applications are complex,” she wrote, “and we are committed to understanding, learning from and improving our process from this review.”

The relationship between Forterra and the Snoqualmie Indian Tribe appears to have taken a serious hit, however. Beyond its concerns about Forterra’s representations in its grant application, the Tribe claimed that the nonprofit had refused to share a copy of the application unless the Tribe signed a non-disclosure agreement, which forced the Tribe to obtain one from a third party.

Additionally, the first time the Tribe was made aware of the specifics put forth by Forterra was at a press conference last month on Hilltop announcing that the USDA would invest in the project, de los Angeles wrote to Bonnie.

It made for an awkward and embarrassing situation, which tribal members took personally, according to the person close to the matter.

In a letter Monday to Bonnie, de los Angeles expressed appreciation to the USDA for meeting with the Tribe last Friday and for taking its concerns seriously. He said he understood “that the USDA is investigating Forterra’s conduct” and that the grant’s award will be contingent on the issues raised by the Tribe being addressed to the federal agency’s satisfaction.

“I have directed the Tribe’s attorneys to coordinate with your General Counsel to ensure the USDA has materials it needs to promptly investigate these serious matters,” he wrote.