Thurston County will help keep Olympia’s largest tiny home village open for another year
Thurston County has agreed to pay $600,000 to keep the city of Olympia’s largest tiny home village open for another year.
The Board of County Commissioners unanimously approved an interlocal agreement with the city Tuesday to fund Quince Street Village, a temporary 100-unit housing site at 1211 Quince St. Southeast. The Olympia City Council approved the same agreement later that evening.
With these actions, the county and the city have put an end to the uncertainty over how to fund Quince Street Village for the next year. As part of the agreement, the city also outlined a plan for how to continue funding the village for the next couple of years.
“The city of Olympia is seeking some funds to help support the operations of Quince Street Village for two to three more years before that property is turned into permanent housing. which has always been part of the plan,” said Keylee Marineau, the county’s Homeless Response Program Manager.
Quince Street Village opened in 2022 to replace the Franklin Street Mitigation Site, a now-defunct operation that was located near the downtown Intercity Transit station.
Catholic Community Services, a regional non-profit, operates Quince Street Village at a cost of about $1.3 million a year, according to a presentation city officials made during an Aug. 23 Regional Housing Council meeting.
The uncertainty around Quince Street Village came to a head during the Aug. 23 RHC meeting. During that meeting, the city invoked the intent of a previous interlocal agreement to request about $1.2 million in American Rescue Plan dollars from the county to be used in 2024.
The county pushed back against that expectation and instead offered $600,000 in ARPA funds under a new interlocal agreement that would also consider a long-term funding plan. The city presented a plan during a Sept. 27 RHC meeting and the agreement was finalized on Tuesday.
What’s the new plan?
Marineau said the city expects the cost to operate Quince Street Village will increase to about $1.5 million annually.
To meet that cost in 2024, Marineau said roughly $600,000 will come from the county, $400,000 will come from the city and $500,000 will come from the state.
State funding will come from Gov. Jay Inslee’s Rights-of Way Initiative, a state effort to clear camps along highways and offer housing to occupants.
The $600,000 from the county will be paid on a reimbursement basis, Marineau added.
For 2025, Marineau said the city and the state are each expected to contribute $500,000. The city is expected to request the remaining amount from the Regional Housing Council.
The RHC includes representatives from the county as well as the cities of Lacey, Olympia, Tumwater and Yelm. It was formed in 2021 so local jurisdictions could combine resources and collaborate on projects that would support access to affordable housing in the county.
The city of Olympia secured funding from the state after offering to allocate a portion of the units at Quince Street Village for people displaced by the ROW Initiative, Rich Hoey, Olympia’s interim assistant city manager, said during the Sept. 27 RHC meeting.
Hoey said the city would also be “opportunistic” with other grant opportunities. If they are successful with additional grants, he said the city would request less funding from the RHC in 2025 and beyond.
The city’s Home Fund, a levy-supported fund that brings in about $3 million a year, cannot support the annual operation costs for Quince Street Village by itself, Darian Lightfoot, the city’s director of affordable housing and homelessness response, previously said.
Lightfoot said the annual operation costs for Quince Street Village exceed the $1 million a year the levy brings in for its entire homeless response budget.
About 65% of the Home Fund is dedicated to the construction of affordable housing and shelter while 35% is dedicated to the operations of its homeless and housing programs, according to the city.
How did we get here?
The city created Quince Street Village with the intent of housing people living at the Franklin Street Mitigation Site, but it has since housed people who lived along Ensign Road, near Providence St. Peter Hospital.
The county and city devised the plan to move people along Ensign Road to a property on Franz Anderson Road, which is south of Martin Way and just west of Lilly Road. Through an interlocal agreement, the two parties decided to share the costs of purchasing and preparing the property for that purpose.
However, those plans changed in mid-2022 after Gov. Jay Inslee announced his Rights-of-Way Initiative.
The Franz Anderson site now has a 50-unit tiny home village that houses people displaced by the ROW Initiative. Meanwhile, the city pivoted towards moving Ensign Road occupants to Quince Street Village.
“Currently, Quince Street Village serves as a regional resource and accepts referrals through the Coordinated Entry system, which prioritizes individuals experiencing homelessness throughout Thurston County, regionally,” Marineau said.
The city plans to eventually move people living at the Franz Anderson tiny home village into permanent supportive housing across the street.
This story was originally published December 18, 2023 at 5:00 AM.
