Olympia area officials to celebrate Phase 2 of Martin Way affordable housing project
Construction of Martin Way Phase 2, Olympia’s newest installment of supportive housing, is underway, which will add 64 more homes for low-income seniors.
Local officials are inviting the public to a groundbreaking ceremony at 11 a.m. Tuesday, Oct. 10, where they will speak about the project.
The Low Income Housing Institute is hosting the event at 111 Pattison St. NE, next to Unity Commons, which was Phase 1 of LIHI’s housing project. Unity Commons has 65 permanent supportive housing units and a 60-bed shelter operated by Interfaith Works. It was the first project supported by Home Fund dollars, and it was completed at the end of 2021.
Phase 2 will be separated from Unity Commons by a courtyard, according to a news release from LIHI. It will feature 40 studios and 24 one-bedroom apartments. And parking will be under the building. The building will be 48,513 square feet, and it’s expected to be completed by September 2024.
Speakers at Tuesday’s event will include Olympia Mayor Cheryl Selby, Thurston County Commissioner Carolina Mejia, Rep. Jessica Bateman, Rep. Beth Doglio, LIHI’s Executive Director Sharon Lee and more.
Selby said the city is excited to see the second phase adding needed permanent supportive housing for seniors.
“These types of projects are exactly what we had hoped for when our community passed the Home Fund Levy,” she said. “Local dollars helping to leverage larger state and federal funding is how we get these critical low-income housing projects built.”
Olympia City Manager Jay Burney said the additional 64 units are part of the 700 units the county expects to see constructed over the next four years. The county conducts an annual Point-in-Time count that documents the number of individuals in our community who are experiencing homelessness. The count at the beginning of 2023 was 792 people.
Deacon Construction is the contractor and Encore Architects designed the building. The project has been financed by Raymond James, a tax credit equity investor, and JP Morgan Chase as an investor and construction lender, according to the release.
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