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Ellensburg details affordable-housing projects, incentives and code changes
Summary
City staff outlined recent and planned affordable-housing projects including Habitat homeownership units, HopeSource adaptive reuse of Knights Inn for 78 units, and a downtown mixed-income development; the city also described regulatory changes to encourage smaller units and ADUs.
Ellensburg planning staff gave a progress report on local affordable-housing projects and regulatory changes intended to encourage smaller, income-restricted units.
City housing staff said more than a quarter of Ellensburg households are severely cost-burdened (spending more than 50% of income on housing) and that most cost-burdened households are renters. Staff reviewed completed and planned projects: Habitat for Humanity’s Stuart Meadows homeownership project on Bender Road has six households moved in and additional units scheduled; HopeSource has purchased the Knights Inn and adjacent property and plans 78 units, with half the units affordable at 30% AMI and the remainder at up to 50% AMI, including 20 units reserved for households experiencing or at immediate risk of homelessness and managed as standard leases.
City staff said the downtown First and Pine site has been designated for a mixed-income project where all units would be limited to 80% AMI, with development phased for 2027–28. The city noted that HopeSource’s Addison Place acquisition of eight duplex units has county funding and will be considered by city council May 19. Ellensburg described incentives in place to support affordable projects — traffic-impact fee waivers, water and sewer connection fee waivers, multifamily tax exemptions in central zones and density bonuses — and said uptake of some tools has been limited to date.
The city said it revised development standards to allow two accessory dwelling units per principal residence ahead of a legislative deadline, reduced parking requirements for small multifamily units and adjusted townhome/cottage requirements to reduce disincentives for smaller-unit development. Staff said they will continue outreach and pursue wetland reconnaissance on a designated Catherine property for future affordable development and will reach out to owners of two income-restricted complexes with expiring restrictions in 2027 to seek preservation options.
