🏠 Pierce County Greenlights $12.2M for 646 New Homes

If you've watched South Sound housing costs climb over the last few years, there's a piece of news worth paying attention to.

The Pierce County Council recently approved $12.2 million in funding for four affordable housing projects that will create or preserve 646 units for individuals and families across the county.

💰 Where the Money Is Going
The funding breaks down into four projects:

• Cedar Flats (South Hill / Frederickson) — $7 million for new construction of 276 family-sized units with two- to four-bedroom apartments. Total project cost: nearly $109 million.

• Chateau Rainier (Fife) — $5 million for rehabilitation of 248 existing units to preserve affordability.

• FFC Homes XIV (Buckley) — $166,800 for acquisition and rehabilitation of three group homes.

• Fairway at DuPont — $69,752 for new construction of 113 family-sized affordable units near Joint Base Lewis-McChord.

📈 The Bigger Picture
The money comes from the Maureen Howard Affordable Housing Act, a one-tenth of 1% local sales tax dedicated to affordable housing. That's 10 cents for every $100 spent.

In just over two years, that tax has supported the creation, development, or preservation of 1,387 units across Pierce County. Past projects include Copper Way in Spanaway and Viridian Grove in Tacoma.

🌳 Spotlight: Cedar Flats
The largest of the four projects, Cedar Flats, is being developed by Macdonald Ladd at 8012 170th St. E in unincorporated Pierce County between South Hill and Frederickson.

The full project:

• 276 units, all with at least two bedrooms

• 40% of units will have three or four bedrooms, a rarity in modern apartment construction

• 20% of units reserved for large households, 10% for people with disabilities

• Households earning at or below 60% of the Area Median Income (AMI) qualify

• On-site amenities: covered playground, movie room, computer lab, electric vehicle charging, community rooms

A market study found average tenant rent savings of about $550 per month compared to equivalent market-rate rents.

Construction broke ground on March 31, 2026. First units are expected to begin leasing in early 2027, with the full project fully leased by 2028.

🪖 Why DuPont Matters
The Fairway at DuPont project, 113 new units near Joint Base Lewis-McChord, directly addresses a pressure point our team sees often: military families and incoming JBLM personnel struggling to find affordable rental options near base.

🏡 What This Means for South Sound
South Sound has been experiencing real housing pressure, both for buyers and for renters. While these projects won't single-handedly solve affordability, they represent a coordinated, taxpayer-funded effort to expand the supply of homes for working families.

If you're tracking what's happening in our housing market, this is the kind of news that quietly compounds over time.

📬 I'm Aaron Thomas, a local realtor sharing stories that connect us to the places we call home. Every Friday, we publish the South Sound Report, keeping you informed about what's happening in Tacoma, Olympia, DuPont, Puyallup, Lakewood, and the communities in between.

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