Sumner staff backs pre‑commitment of $966,000 to SHAPE fund for Frederickson homeownership project

City staff on May 19 outlined a proposal to pre‑commit up to $966,000 from the South Sound Housing Affordability Partners (SHAPE) capital fund to support an affordable homeownership project on a 4‑acre site in Frederickson.

The recommendation, presented by Jason Gauthier, SHAPE manager, would ask the SHAPE executive board to authorize the pre‑commitment so Pierce County Community Development Corporation (CDC) can include the funding in a developer request for proposals (RFP). The executive board was scheduled to consider the recommendation at a May 30 special meeting.

The effort matters because the site — bought from the Washington Department of Natural Resources last October for $998,000 — could yield up to 28 affordable homes targeted for households earning up to 80% of area median income under recently expanded state rules for the funding source commonly called “14‑06.” The council heard that the Sumner contribution is intended as catalyst funding to attract additional public and private dollars to close an estimated development gap.

Gauthier told the council that the 14‑06 funding “can be used to serve households earning up to 60% of the area median income for rental housing” and that SHAPE successfully advocated to extend the source’s flexibility to support ownership opportunities to 80% AMI. He described the recommended resolution as authorizing the pre‑commitment of funds to an RFP that the Pierce County CDC will issue and said the RFP would require proponents to include a minimum of 20 affordable units, use universal design principles where possible, and market the homes to Sumner and Fife residents as primary contributors.

Staff estimated total development costs for a 28‑unit scheme at about $17 million, including infrastructure, construction, soft costs and sales costs. The presentation assumed roughly $9 million of that would come from the sale of homes (28 units at about $320,000 each in the illustrative model), leaving an approximate $8 million funding gap. Planned funding layers discussed include roughly $500,000 in state predevelopment dollars already allocated, a planned $2 million application for a CHIP (Connecting Housing to Infrastructure) grant to extend water and sewer lines, state housing trust fund requests, and an anticipated $1.6 million from Pierce County affordable housing funds.

Council members asked how the homes might be configured. Gauthier said the site is already zoned for moderate‑density residential and that developers could use zero‑lot‑line or small multi‑unit layouts. “I think you could look at those as single‑family homes, but my guess is there’ll be a number of duplexes, triplexes as part of that to maximize what can be built there,” he said.

Council Member Kenna praised the partnership approach: “I think this is exactly the type of thing the region needs,” he said.

No formal council vote was taken on May 19. The recommendation before the SHAPE executive board would authorize a pre‑commitment and RFP; final funding decisions and developer selection remain contingent on the CDC’s RFP process and securing the state and county grants described by staff.

If approved by the SHAPE executive board and later by Pierce County and partnering funders, staff said the timeline would include an RFP in fall 2025, developer selection by late 2025 or early 2026, infrastructure work in 2026 (contingent on CHIP or other grants), and construction through 2028, with home sales beginning in 2027 in the illustrative schedule.

The council discussion included questions about community outreach plans and the property’s relative lack of adjacent residential neighbors; staff said the Pierce County CDC has already drafted a community engagement plan for the site and that the CDC will lead neighborhood outreach as part of predevelopment and the RFP process.

Clarifying details and next steps from staff’s presentation remain: the $966,000 figure is the proposed Sumner pre‑commitment to SHAPE for 2025, the property purchase price from DNR was $998,000, the site capacity cited is 28 units under current zoning and bonus density, the illustrative development cost estimate is about $17 million, and the RFP would require affirmative outreach to Sumner and Fife residents. Final affordability, unit mix and price structure will be set by the selected developer and the layered funding package.