What’s happening at Cain Road and 22nd Avenue in Olympia?
A new housing development is under way in Olympia, not far from a busy residential intersection at Cain Road and 22nd Avenue Southeast.
The project is the Village at Cain Road, a 24-unit single-family subdivision being built by Rob Rice Homes, a prominent builder based in Olympia.
The subdivision was approved by the city in 2019 and then was delayed by the pandemic, said Leonard Bauer, the city’s community planning and development director. The developer now has the engineering permits in hand to begin the first stage of work, he said.
Co-owner Rob Rice said Monday that after the site is cleared, residents and others can expect to see grading, utilities and roads installed. Lot development is expected to take place later this summer and then, if all goes well, home construction will begin in the fall, he said.
The housing market is still strong, Rice said, but he is keeping his eyes on the economy.
“The biggest challenge we have is interest rates and inflation,” he said.
Both have increased in recent months. The average rate on a 30-year mortgage has climbed above 5 percent and inflation rose 8.5 percent over the year ending in March, federal economic data show.
Still, Rice said the southeast Olympia housing market is one of the strongest markets in town. Although year-over-year sales in April were down, the median price of a single-family home was higher by 18 percent to $510,000, according to Northwest Multiple Listing Service data.
Home size and price details at the Village at Cain Road were not immediately available, although city information shows lot sizes will range from 4,000 square feet to 4,700 square feet. The project also was identified as middle-income housing, according to city information.
During the land-use process for the Cain Road site, the city did receive comments of concern about tree removal, but Bauer said the developer went above and beyond what the city typically requires for tree retention. A 50-foot strip of trees was retained between the development site and McGrath Woods Park and in right-of-way areas, he said.
“I don’t know if we ever worked harder on a project,” added co-owner Helena Rice, saying they met with neighbors, the city and numerous consultants. “We took a lot of time in developing that small project.”
This is Rob Rice Homes’ 49th housing development, most of which have been built in Thurston County. He has been building homes since the late 1980s.
“It’s been pretty steady for 30 years,” he said, adding that they have been building at a pace of “nine homes per month.”
