City of Port Townsend

Amount Appropriated?

$2.5M

FFID tracks stages 1–2 — stages 3–5 vary by agency, assistance type, and earmark structure.

Project Description

Despite its outward-facing charm, Port Townsend suffers from an unusually high poverty rate \u2013 greater than both the rest of Washington State and the United States as a whole. Since declaring a housing emergency in 2017, the region\u2019s housing crisis has only grown more severe with COVID-19 as a likely amplifier. Not only are house prices rising at or faster than alarming national trends, but house purchase and rental availability at all levels of affordability is just barely above 0%. \n\nWith coordination across the City and region on emergency and transition housing initiatives and recent market rate development proposals moving through the permitting process, the focus now falls on the missing middle. The rural and underserved region is using existing housing/homeless funding mechanisms like a 1/10th 1% sales and use tax to full capacity; tangible and lasting progress through this intensifying crisis requires more substantive funding that can only be met through state and federal allocation.\nWith very limited larger-sized tracts of land available in Port Townsend\u2019s urban area, the City acted to acquire a 14-acre parcel within a \u201clive/work\u201d district designated in the 2018 Rainier Subarea Plan and well-served by transit and trails, close to current and future jobs/employers in a light industrial/commercial district, and adjacent to amenities like grocery and retail. Public sanitary sewer capacity is the primary constraint for this property in making it ready for development of affordable housing. Development of the Evans Vista neighborhood seeks to unlock quality, affordable, accessible and sustainable housing of 100-150 affordable and workforce housing (mixed income) units in Port Townsend that will ensure a diversity of residents can enjoy a high quality of life and contribute to a strong local economy. The project is very widely supported by relevant local agencies, partners and the community.