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Cameas Flats opens 82 affordable units; nonprofit partners outline funding and occupancy
Summary
Island County’s Opportunity Council and Blue Ridge Cascade briefed the council on Cameas Flats, an 82-unit affordable project that began move-ins in January 2026 and uses tax credits, Department of Commerce funds, ARPA and project-based vouchers to serve very low- to moderate-income households.
Representatives from the Opportunity Council and Shelter Resources (now Blue Ridge Cascade) briefed the Oak Harbor City Council on Cameas Flats, an 82-unit affordable-housing development on North Oak Harbor Road that began occupancy earlier this year.
Melissa, director of the Island County Office for Opportunity Council, said the nonprofit partnered with Blue Ridge Cascade and Island County to win the site via an RFQ and close public financing and construction in 2024; site move-ins started in January 2026. Jeremy Wilining of Shelter Resources described the financing “matrix” that supports the project: federal low-income housing tax credits administered by the Washington State Housing Finance Commission, Department of Commerce competitive programs, Island County contributions, ARPA funds used during development, and project-based Section 8 vouchers from the Island County Housing Authority that reduce resident rent to about 30% of income for the lowest-income units.
The developers said the complex mixes one- to three-bedroom units and includes community amenities—large community rooms, central laundry, play areas, dog-walking space, EV chargers and rooftop solar—designed to reduce tenants’ utility costs and support community-building. As of the workshop, staff reported roughly 60–70 residents housed with about 14 larger units still available at the 80% area median income tier.
Council members asked about time-to-full-occupancy, rent restrictions and whether local sales-tax funds support projects. Staff said tax-credit restrictions set durable rent caps tied to program rules (often many decades) and that Island County’s 0.01 sales-tax for affordable housing (about $1.5M/year) has been used for land purchases and other projects but not for these two specific properties.
Ending: Council members welcomed the update and asked staff to continue coordinating on future projects; presenters said a second project on Swantown Road is in tax-credit application and could add roughly 96 workforce units.
