The City of Bellingham purchased a property adjacent to the future North Haven tiny home village on Northwest Avenue that will eventually be used for affordable housing development.
The $1.26 million purchase of the North Coast Credit Union property came after the credit union filed an appeal in July over a permit that would allow the tiny home village to operate on the property next door. The business suggested the Temporary Shelter Permit issued to nonprofit HomesNOW! Not Later violated the property’s planned contract.
Communications and Community Relations Director Melissa Morin said the city had approached the credit union several months ago about the purchase, prior to the permit application for the tiny village. The credit union dropped its appeal on Sept. 9 as part of the purchase and sale agreement with the city. The city won’t close on the property for 16 months, or sooner at the credit union’s request, Morin said.
The city is pleased that this will expand the space available for a development “down the road,” Morin said, as the tiny home village site will eventually also be used for affordable housing.
“Community need for affordable housing is at an all-time high,” Bellingham Mayor Kim Lund said in a statement. “We are working all angles of the issue, and planning ahead to have land available for future City-led and partner-led affordable housing projects is a smart investment in a more equitable future for all of us.”
The credit union’s appeal delayed the opening of the tiny village, which was slated for fall 2024. Morin said the city expects the village to be operating by spring 2025.
North Haven will be a combination of two existing HomesNOW! tiny home villages, Swift Haven and Unity Village, which provide emergency shelter to about 50 residents who would otherwise be homeless.
Both of those villages sit on city properties that have expiration dates: Swift Haven is on a city-owned parking lot intended to be used for recreation under terms of use specified by state grant funding. Unity Village is on property next to the Point Point Wastewater Treatment Plant and must relocate by March 2025 for soil cleanup ahead of planned Post Point expansions.
North Coast Credit Union will close the branch at 3250 Northwest Avenue in the next few months, before the sale closes.
“We’re so happy that we can contribute to better short-term and long-term affordable housing for our community,” A.C. Griffith, president and CEO of North Coast Credit Union, said in a news release issued Tuesday morning, Oct. 1. The employees at the Northwest branch will be offered positions at other North Coast branches.
Charlotte Alden is CDN’s general assignment/enterprise reporter; reach her at charlottealden@cascadiadaily.com; 360-922-3090 ext. 123.
