City of Tumwater to turn vacant LOTT house into affordable housing
Officials in Tumwater are partnering to address affordable housing from behind the scenes.
Tumwater City Council earlier this month accepted an interlocal agreement with LOTT Clean Water Alliance for the purchase of a vacant house to be used for affordable housing. And by the end of a few months-long legal process and preparations, the house will be managed by a sober living organization to house eight women.
In 2018, the city of Tumwater adopted Homelessness and Affordable Housing Action Plan, and one of its goals was to work with nonprofit organizations to help identify areas in the city where affordable housing could be established, as well as find families who need assistance. Part of accomplishing these goals is being able to identify areas where houses may already exist that could become affordable housing.
In 2015, the LOTT — a non-profit corporation that provides wastewater management services for the urban areas of north Thurston County — bought two parcels of land totaling more than 10 acres as a possible reclaimed water infiltration site similar to Hawks Prairie’s reclaimed water ponds. On the smaller of the two parcels, located at 6541 Henderson Blvd. SE, sits a single-family home that has sat empty since its purchase.
Washington state law requires a public hearing to be held before disposing of surplus property with an estimated value of more than $50,000. In September 2021, the LOTT board declared the house surplus. State law and LOTT administrative policies also deem that LOTT can transfer surplus property to a jurisdictional partner for affordable housing.
The LOTT house was originally purchased for $200,000, and Tumwater will buy it for that amount using grants including from the American Rescue Plan.
Tumwater Mayor Pete Kmet sits on the LOTT board of directors as the representative for Tumwater. He said one of the most effective ways the city can combat homelessness is to increase the supply of affordable housing.
For Kmet, he saw this project as the perfect chance to combine his two positions.
“As an elected representative, we all sit on various boards and commissions,” he said. “I’m always looking for ways to connect the pieces, achieve objectives together. In this case it just happened to work out.”
After the city makes plans to have the house connected to sewer and water lines, it will be transferred to Homes First, a local nonprofit that manages a variety of affordable housing sites.
Homes First purchases homes below market rate and rehabs them with grant money to rent out to low-income people. The majority of the nonprofit’s tenants make less than 30% of the area median income. CEO Trudy Soucoup said most people have a hard time finding and maintaining an affordable rental home, and though Homes First has 45 houses in their portfolio, people are always asking them why they aren’t doing more work.
Housing just isn’t affordable, she said. The only reason Homes First is able to do what it does is because it works as a nonprofit that relies on donations and grants from sponsors and members of the public.
“Shared housing like we provide with support from our service partners is one of the most effective ways to connect and keep people in affordable homes they can afford,” Soucoup said.
The LOTT house, like all other houses through Homes First, will be used for permanent supportive housing through Oxford House, a nonprofit sober-living organization. It will house eight women who will have access to social workers and other support to help them keep up on rent payments and provide a support network for any issues that arise.
Homes First applied for funding through a Community Development Block Grant to allow the nonprofit to rehab the house. It currently has four bedrooms and a large garage, and the groups plan to replace the roof, siding, insulation and the heating system. Soucoup said solar panels are probably in its future, too. She said local builders, engineers and architects have agreed to work with them on these projects pro bono.
Soucoup said there is plenty of landscaping and interior work to be done as well, and that she is hoping to get volunteer work parties to help in that process. The house isn’t quite in their hands yet, but Soucoup said everyone is excited to get to work. She said her hope is that the house will be ready for move in by March or April.
“This is something that we’re pretty good at, and we get a lot of community support to make sure that we’re successful,” she said.
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