TACOMA — The Washington Department of Natural Resources has agreed to sell Pierce County four acres of land that will be used to develop affordable housing.
The parcels at 5804 200th St. in Spanaway have been zoned residential and could accommodate up to 28 lots of affordable housing units, both single-family and duplex, according to a Pierce County spokesperson.
Ryan Rodruck, a spokesperson for DNR, told The News Tribune the agreement to sell the land is “part of a large push” by the department to appropriate unused land owned by the state to create more affordable housing to mitigate the shortage.
Washington state has identified the need to build over a million homes in the next 20 years, which is more than 50,000 new homes annually.
“To fully meet the housing needs of current and future residents, the county needs to produce, on average, over 2,300 units per year of housing affordable at or below 50% of area median income (AMI) through the year 2044,” the county’s Housing Action Strategy of 2022 found. “Over half of these units are needed for households at 30% of AMI or below.”
Rodruck said the formerly privately-owned land was taken into the state’s land trust after the previous owners passed away with no heirs to pass it on to. The land in unincorporated Pierce County was deemed to have “no timber value” before the DNR board agreed to sell it to the county on Oct. 1.
The parcel is valued at $998,000, and the proceeds from the transfer will be deposited into the Real Property Replacement Account to purchase future trust lands. DNR can directly transfer state trust lands to tribes and local governments, with counties, cities, school districts or port districts able to purchase the lands at fair market value.
DNR says it uses the proceeds from transfers to fund the purchase of replacement properties elsewhere in the state to support schools and local services.
“Solving the housing crisis across our state requires new partnerships and creative answers, which is why I am committed to being part of the solution and leveraging public land for this public benefit,” said Commissioner of Public Lands Hilary Franz in a statement on Oct. 3.
The Pierce County Community Development Corporation (PCCDC) found out the property was going to be made available in 2023. According to Pierce County, the PCCDC completed a feasibility study to determine if the property was suitable for housing. That included reviewing wetlands, sewer availability, soil suitability, cultural resources and other factors.
Pierce County spokesperson Kari Moore told The News Tribune the closing is anticipated for November 2024.
Moore said the homes anticipated to be created on the property would be “made affordable, to support low — and moderate — income homebuyers.”
She also mentioned the property is close to the Frederickson employment center and transportation.
Moore said the county expects to issue an open bid for a developer in 2025 and will see “steps towards development” by 2026.
“This is a long-term project that we anticipate will take several years to complete,” she told The News Tribune via email.
The PCCDC was provided $2.75 million for an acquisition loan fund in the 2024-2025 Pierce County biennium budget.
Pierce County Council member Ryan Mello, who helped approve the acquisition fund, told The News Tribune the fund was intended to allow the PCCDC to acquire properties like old trailer parks to help prevent the displacement of affordable housing when opportunities arise.
“We are charging [the PCCDC] with taking a bigger role in developing affordable housing,” he told The News Tribune in a phone interview. “This fund will allow county government to work at the speed of the real estate market.”
Mello said this acquisition will be the first since the fund was put into place and that he anticipated the housing will provide affordable home ownership opportunities rather than rental units.
