Mount Zion Baptist Church’s Housing Development (MZHD) created the Central District Freehold to provide affordable senior housing to the traditional communities in the Central Area while preserving Afro-centric culture. Located north of Mt. Zion Baptist Church on 19th and Madison, this new 7-story, 46,756 sf building consists of 10 studios, 1 two-bedroom and 50 one-bedroom housing units offered to seniors and veterans. It also features state-of-the-art amenities, including a business center, a community rooftop, and parking.

Rolluda Architects, led by Sam Cameron, designed the project with Centerra Alliance as a development consultant. Cameron describes the purpose and significance of the Central District Freehold: “The project was meant to combat gentrification in the area. There were a lot of seniors, specifically African Americans and people of color, that were being displaced from their historical neighborhoods, so we wanted to provide housing that is affordable that they can come back to and live closer to their churches of worship and hospitals and things that had some cultural significance to them.”

“It was important to me that I worked on both sides of the table on this project, as an architect and as a developer, to steer the MZHD group to the successful completion of a project that fulfilled a much-needed desire for affordable housing for seniors and veterans in what has been the traditional home of the African American community in the Central District of Seattle.”