The historic Commodore Apartments and the Duchess Apartments were joined as one by the University of Washington in the 1950’s. This development project was a joint venture between the University of Washington and the National Development Council (NDC), a non-profit organization. Vacant when the project began, the 140-unit building was leased by the NDC from the University of Washington and renovated to provide married student housing.

NDC then hired a developer to assist them in implementing the project. Maria Barrientos served as Project Manager for the development team. She worked with the NDC team to put the deal structure together and worked on the financing package. The financing was a unique tax exempt bond issue under IRS 63-20 Rules. (These redeveloped units will be operated as student housing until the bond debt is retired, at such time, the project will revert to 100% University of Washington ownership.) Maria managed the A&E team during design and managed the construction administration process.