Get Full Government Meeting Transcripts, Videos, & Alerts Forever!
Get email alerts on the Local Housing Projects topic
No spam. Unsubscribe anytime.
Board hears updates on Ekland self‑help project, Sequim build timeline and manufactured/modular housing options
Summary
The board received schedules for the Ekland mutual self‑help project and a Sequim 45-home development, discussed modular/manufactured home models as a lower-cost option, and noted lending and insurance barriers for some manufactured products.
Board members received updates on multiple local housing projects and discussed manufactured and modular housing as potential strategies to add units.
Director Heidi Greenwood said the Ekland mutual self-help project has a closing date of June 1 and that a loan RFP will be issued in June with contractor bid documents to follow in July; construction is tentatively scheduled to start Oct. 1. "The loan RFP is gonna go out in June. Bid documents for a contractor will go out in July, and construction, we are scheduling to start October 1," Greenwood said.
Commissioner Colleen Robinson reported that the Sequim project — 45 homes planned within the city on Brownfield and Sequim Avenue — has selected a contractor and is targeting a September start, but the project is three days past the city’s 30-day building-site-permit timeline. Robinson said the authority hopes to have the permit in hand before the planned start.
The board also discussed a Wilder presentation about manufactured and modular homes, including duplex configurations that can be sited on small city lots and sold or rented as townhomes. Speakers described examples and early local prototypes: a duplex installed in Diamond Point was cited as an initial test. One presenter noted rough installed-cost examples and that some models can be positioned to create two residences on a small lot. "You can put 2 residences on a small city lot," a presenter said. The discussion also flagged practical barriers: higher insurance costs for some manufactured products and lending requirements that often demand a permanent foundation.
Board members discussed the potential for modular units to expand affordable housing supply while acknowledging zoning, land acquisition and regulatory constraints that must be resolved.
