An estimated 500 chronic drunks haunt downtown Seattle streets and parks every day. Mostly older men, they panhandle on Pine Street, act belligerent in Belltown and pass out in Pioneer Square. They tax police, courts and emergency services.
Banking on an unconventional approach, the city, county, state and federal governments are spending $8.7 million to build permanent housing for 75 of them — a four-story apartment building on the northeastern fringe of downtown.
The project has two goals: remove homeless drunks from downtown park benches and cajole them toward treatment.
But a lure is needed to get them there. So the apartment will allow tenants to drink inside their rooms. They also will be allowed to invite a limited number of guests to join them.
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