The $190 million revitalization began in 2001 with a $35 million HOPE IV grant from the Department of Housing and Urban Development. The entire stock of dilapidated public housing was torn down and the new urban style neighborhood began to take shape.

The master plan, created by Silver Spring, Maryland-based Torti Gallas and Partners, Inc., after extensive community input, is already winning critical acclaim. The firm recently accepted a Charter Award from the Congress for the New Urbanism for the project, and also took home the 2007 AIA/HUD Secretary Award in the "Creating Community Connection" category. Salishan also received the 2007 AIA Multifamily Housing Award and a Puget Sound Regional Council Vision 2020 Award.

When all three phases are complete (estimated in the year 2011) the neighborhood will consist of 1,180 homes: 704 rental, 356 for-sale properties, 105 senior units and 15 Habitat for Humanity homes. Architects drew from the traditional vernacular of the Pacific Northwest to create the Craftsman Bungalow and Foursquare styles, according to Cynthia Gray, AIA, LEED-AP, an associate at Torti Gallas and Partners, Inc. Her firm designed the rental homes at Salishan in addition to its role as master planner for the project.

HardiePlank™ lap siding is used on all of the rental homes, Gray says. "In the beginning of the project—as in many projects—there was a debate as to whether vinyl siding should be used or whether Hardie should be used," she recalls. The builder even did a mock up to show what the vinyl would look like, which "failed miserably." From that point on, all people involved—the architects, the development team and the Tacoma Housing Authority—really pushed for using the HardiePlank™ on the project. Looking at the end result, Gray says the Hardie material is "where we get our successful detailing."

Another advantage to HardiePlank™, Gray believes, is "you don't see the J-channels around the windows that you get with vinyl." More importantly, "the buildings look very solid," she says. "You feel like these buildings have maybe even been there for a hundred years and will continue to be there for another couple of hundred years."

Gray is pleased with the many sustainable town-planning tools used at Salishan. A new town center, which will contain a health clinic, educational space and an open air market, will add a sense of place—and community. Twenty-four acres of green space, parks and playing fields will further complement the 30-acre T-Street gulch that bisects the neighborhood.

That same gulch, in fact, is also being cleaned up for residents, thanks to some innovative new features being built into the project. Previously, storm runoff and pollutants would drain directly into the gulch, which emptied into a sensitive salmon stream and ultimately, Commencement Bay. Gray and the team created a network of bioretention swales—or vegetation areas—on one side of every street to help filter out contaminants. "It's able to infiltrate 91 percent of all of the storm water on the site," she notes.

Salishan is proof positive that quality design and superior materials are a welcome addition in any neighborhood.

For more information visit the http://www.salishan.net/