Need a place to live? More apartments proposed in Thurston County
City of Lacey records show yet another proposal to build market-rate apartments, this time in the 9100 block of Martin Way East.
The city recently issued a mitigated determination of non-significance for the project, meaning it does not have a “probable significant adverse impact on the environment.”
The developer, who has done previous work under the name Capital City Development LLC, is working with Olympia-based Thomas Architecture Studios. The proposal is to build 96 units spread across two buildings at 9106 Martin Way E., said Michael Kershisnik, a project manager for the architectural firm. The site currently is mostly undeveloped land, he said.
The development will mostly offer two-bedroom units, Kershisnik said, to cater to individuals and those with small families, such as those serving at Joint Base Lewis-McChord. Other features: structured parking, a floor for commercial businesses and four floors of residential units. The two buildings will be linked by a plaza with a canopy, he said.
The proposal is one of several apartment projects recently pitched in Lacey and Olympia.
▪ MJR Development of Kirkland has proposed 151 units on Sixth Avenue Southeast, not far from Lacey City Hall.
▪ The Freestone Companies of Fife have proposed 183 units in northeast Lacey.
▪ The Milestone Companies of Puyallup have proposed West Bay Yards, a 487-unit mixed-use development pitched for the former Hardel Plywood site on West Bay in Olympia.
All three developers have worked in the area before. Ron Thomas of Thomas Architecture Studios said the developer he is working with on the Martin Way site developed the Village at Mill Pond on Lilly Road in Olympia and Silverleaf, a 55-and-older community, at Briggs Village in southeast Olympia.
It may seem counter-intuitive to be building in the pandemic’s slower economy, but Thomas said the need for apartments has been “exacerbated by the extreme lack of single-family housing.”
The single-family housing market here has consistently shown less than a month’s supply of homes for sale, according to Northwest Multiple Listing Service data. Total active listings in October were 54 percent lower than the same time in 2019, Northwest MLS data show.
The area is also experiencing inbound migration from Snohomish, King and Pierce counties, Thomas said.
Plus there is a new generation of people who do not view the lack of a single-family home as a “social shortcoming,” he said. They want a nice place to live and don’t want to be tied down, he said.
Thomas also said the Olympia area was “woefully underserved” by market-rate apartments less than a decade ago.
This story was originally published December 1, 2020 at 5:45 AM.
