NORTHWEST ASIAN WEEKLY
By Jason Cruz
Longtime International District community leader Bob Santos may be gone, but his legacy lives on.
The start of 2023 saw the opening of Uncle Bob’s Place, a 126-unit building offering affordable housing to the community, named in honor of the late Santos.
Santos, a former executive director at InterIm, passed away in 2016 but his mark on the community remains. InterIm spearheaded the project for the building located at the corner of 7th Avenue South and South King Street in the International District. Santos died just as the initial plans began on the building.
“Community members were looking for ways on how to memorialize him,” said Leslie Morishita, InterIm’s real estate development director. “InterIm decided prior to construction that the name of the building would be Uncle Bob’s Place.” It was one of the main reasons why his name was thought of as a way to continue his legacy.
“This project is in the heart of the neighborhood, across the street from the Wing Luke Museum, in a prominent location and it’s going to house low-income individuals including lots of families with children and seniors,” explained Morishita. She added, “[W]e just thought that the location and functions were tangible expressions of Uncle Bob’s values and vision for the future of the neighborhood.”
Morishita asked state Rep. Sharon Tomiko Santos, Bob’s widow, and all of the family members for their blessing.
“They thought it was very fitting,” said Morishita. Tomiko Santos remains involved on the project as she advises on the art and interpretive and historical installations that will be installed in the building. His son, John Santos’ portrait of his father is a painted mural on the outside of the building.
As of June, all of the units in the multi-use development are occupied. The application for tenancy weighed upon financial status and connections to the neighborhood.
“We did a ton of outreach working with our property management company,” said Morishita. “Our priority was to reach people that live or work or rely on services in the neighborhood. We did a community preference process.”
The application included questions such as, “Do you live in the neighborhood? Did you used to live in the neighborhood? What is your connection to the neighborhood?”
“We gave priority to those with existing connections to the neighborhood,” Morishita explained. “We wanted to reach out to those that had been or at risk of being displaced.”
There will be a “Bob Santos Community Room” at Uncle Bob’s Place, which will be a gathering spot for the community at-large. The room will be in a prominent area on the first floor of the building.
The building will include art installations and historical memories which commemorates the era in which Uncle Bob was a part of the community and the future.
There is an Uncle Bob’s Place Steering Committee and Art and Aesthetic Integration Committee that makes decisions on the building. The steering committee provides the concept and vision for the art, and the Art and Aesthetic Integration Committee provides the call for artists and opportunities in the building. Notably, the 12 balconies and its railings on the building were designed by different artists.
The Chan Family are the original owners of the site and sold the real estate to InterIm and InterIm leased back the commercial portion of the building to the family.
“We were really happy that they wanted to own those spaces because they wanted to keep this connection to the neighborhood, and we want them to stay connected to the neighborhood. We saw them as the long-term stake in the neighborhood and future generations of their family.”
The Chan Family will own the space that Bush Garden will return to with the opening projected mid-2024. The Bob Santos Community Room is adjacent to Bush Garden and the space allows for the two spaces to join as one for events.
In addition, Bush Garden, the Chan Family will unveil another commercial space in the building projected for 2024.
Jason can be reached at info@nwasianweekly.com.