Tyler Town housing project brings seven new homeowners to North Bend

Two are a couple with young daughters, another a single parent and domestic violence survivor, a third is an elderly woman, a fourth is a cancer survivor, another recently had a daughter.

They are all now homeowners.

During an hour-long ceremony, filled with plenty of tear-jerking moments, seven families had their lives drastically changed on April 15, when they were given keys to homes in downtown North Bend.

After over a year of construction, Habitat for Humanity Seattle-King County celebrated the completion of Tyler Town, a community of seven affordable townhomes on East 2nd Street.

Each property is 1,250 square feet and features three bedrooms and 1.5 baths. Five houses were sold at 80% of the area median income, while the other two were sold at 50% AMI.

“We all hear and read a lot about the nationwide crisis of lack of affordable homes. We don’t have to travel anywhere to witness it. The crisis is right here in our town,” said Jonathan Pearlstein, a Habitat board member and North Bend resident. “Well, many of you here today have picked up hammers and struck your blows against the crisis right on this very site.”

There is a glaring need for cheaper housing in the region, as costs have skyrocketed since the pandemic. According to data from Redfin, a Seattle-based real estate website, the median North Bend home sold for $1.3 million in March 2023. Median prices have consistently been at or above $1 million since October 2021.

“Owning that piece of America that allows you to accumulate wealth and pass that on to the next generation,” said U.S. Rep Kim Schrier, “is really the key to stability and safety.”

New townhomes built by Habitat for Humanity in North Bend.

One by one, all seven families spoke at the ceremony, expressing what homeownership meant. For some, it is a stable place to raise their children and pass on generational wealth. For others, it allows them to remain in the community where they were raised.

“For me, it’s about realizing the American Dream,” said Marian Hom, a new homeowner alongside her partner, Tim Matrin.

“My parents immigrated here. My father worked in a restaurant and my mom was a seamstress. Back then they were actually able to save enough money and buy a nice little three bedroom home in the suburbs,” she said. “I also work in service, but it’s just not enough these days. With the housing crisis skyrocketing, our dream of homeownership wasn’t realistic until we found Habitat.”

Tyler Town is Habitat’s first housing project on the Eastside and was made possible by a land donation from the family of George Krsak.

“With the donation of this land, the family has transformed what was once a single family home into homes for seven families that can now thrive,” said Brett D’Antonio, executive director of Habitat Seattle-King County.

North Bend Mayor Rob McFarland said the seven homes were needed in the community, and said he was proud of the city’s ongoing support for affordable housing projects.

“I’m confident that I can speak for the community of North Bend when I say that we are deeply, deeply grateful for the estate of George Krsak who donated the land we now call Tyler Town,” he said.

Many of George Krsak’s descendants and relatives attended the ceremony. His daughter, Mimi Krsak, spoke about her father’s life.

George was the sixth of seven children born in 1922 to immigrant parents. He grew up on a farm just outside the town of Tyler, Wash., about 30 minutes from Spokane.

“The people of the town of Tyler helped each other. They birthed their babies at home. They educated their children. They shared what food they had. They cared for the sick and they buried their dead,” Mimi said.

George Krsak went on to serve in World War II, study engineering at Seattle College, married in 1948, and found his calling as a bricklayer and stone mason, Mimi said. George never lived in North Bend, Mimi said, but “being a farm boy he loved this Snoqualmie Valley.”

Krsak died in 2013. Mimi said her father was a generous man, always sharing his talents, time and treasures to those in need.

“Our family is proud to share our heritage with these seven families. And we wish you joy and the peace that comes with family and neighborly solidarity,” she said. “Stay together, love and forgive each other. Believe in the best for all as you have been given. Someday it will be your turn to give. May the circle of kinship ever increase.”