Olympia City Council gets update on housing projects -- and a nudge to clarify objectives
City of Olympia staff are a little lost when it comes to responding to homelessness, and the mission, direction and expectations for success are unclear, Senior Planner Stacey Ray told the Olympia City Council last week.
Ray and her team engaged more than 50 city staff to talk about their body of work and get a better understanding of their position. It’s part of an effort to review the city’s One Community Plan that’s meant to help people experiencing homelessness.
She said staff need a better picture of their role, as well as standard operating procedures for how to respond to particular issues. And more partnerships with resource providers throughout the city are needed.
But despite those challenges, the city is still seeing an increase of housing projects in the works. Mayor Cheryl Selby said the city is a leader in not only the region, but the state, in its response to homelessness and the housing crisis.
Darian Lightfoot, housing programs manager, said there’s not one silver bullet that will solve the problem, but that the city has to do everything at every level as much as it can. That means addressing immediate needs, building more shelters and working long-term toward more permanent supportive housing.
It’s been about four weeks since the city started clearing Ensign Road and the 75 residents who lived there. More than 50 people have been moved to Quince Street Village, the city’s tiny home village that’s slated to become permanent supportive housing in the future.
There’s still a plan to purchase a hotel, funded by the Department of Commerce. The hotel would help house people displaced by the state rights-of-way initiative to clear homeless encampments along Interstate 5. At some point in the future, Lightfoot said the hotel would be turned into 120 units of permanent supportive housing. For now, those being displaced are offered congregate housing at Unity Commons on Martin Way.
Another tiny home village is in the works on Franz Anderson Road, and Lightfoot said 50 units will be operational in the spring on the city- and county-owned property southeast of Merritt Manor.
Purchase of Phase 2 of Unity Commons on Martin Way is set to close in January 2023, and after about a year or so of construction will add 62 units of permanent supportive housing for low-income seniors to Thurston County’s offerings. Phase 1 was the first housing project partially funded by Olympia Home Fund dollars and the first new homeless shelter to open in seven years in Thurston County.
The Family Support Center of South Sound’s 62-unit project is under construction, with full occupancy expected by the end of 2023, Lightfoot said. The new permanent housing site will be for low-income families and can accommodate up to 200 people. The center has another extension planned for a few years out that will include another 62 units for about 200 people.
The old homeless mitigation site located downtown on the corner of Olympia and Franklin streets is being repurposed as workforce housing, adding another 80 units to the city. Lightfoot said Providence St. Peter Hospital has plans to build 75 units of permanent supportive housing on their site and have respite care available.
The South Puget Sound Habitat for Humanity’s plans for 100 units of affordable housing are underway, but much needs to be done still. Lightfoot said many of the planned units will be reserved for seniors and will include chances for homeownership.
On the smaller side, Home First is working on purchasing five single-family homes throughout the county to help low-income families. And the city’s study for turning the Capital Mall triangle area into a dense urban area includes affordable housing.
What’s more, the Salvation Army has started envisioning how to expand their footprint out and up to include permanent supportive housing for seniors.
Lightfoot is working directly with a local resident to develop 12 duplexes on an abandoned lot to give people with disabilities opportunities for homeownership.
“I am a big supporter of private partnerships; whoever wants to come to the table, I am willing to work with,” Lightfoot said. “I think that if we see this just as a government or nonprofit issue or having to rely on the state, it’s going to remain slow and arduous.”
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