Olympia officially has 162 new affordable apartments, thanks to the efforts of local lawmakers on the state, county and city level in partnership with a private developer.
After roughly four years of work and $2.65 million local dollars invested, community leaders and project partners celebrated the official grand opening of Lansdale Pointe Apartments on Tuesday, June 9.
The apartment complex at 1012 Burr Road Southeast features two, three, and four bedroom units, with some units set aside to serve large families and those with disabilities.
It serves households earning 60% of the area’s median income and below.
Only three of the 162 units were still open as of Tuesday’s grand opening, with 98% of the apartments leased and 83% of the apartments already occupied.
One of the 162 apartments is home to La Vada Reynolds and her sister, who moved in as soon as their apartment was completed in March.
“This is an affordable place. It is a wonderful place. For the first time in five years, my sister can do something more than just pay rent, utilities, and maybe put food on the table,” Reynolds said Tuesday.
In addition to creating affordable housing, the Lansdale Pointe Apartments project also delivered significant infrastructure upgrades and new public road connections in the area.
“Lansdale serves as the culmination of strategic planning, some amazing local partnerships, and a lot of hard work,” said Beau Baker of Southport Financial Services, the private developer who helmed the Lansdale Pointe Apartments construction.
The Tacoma-based company exclusively works in developing affordable housing, with a focus on effectively leveraging public and private partnerships.
As of Tuesday, Southport Financial Services had 196 affordable housing properties across 18 states.
Lansdale is the company’s first venture in Thurston County.
Southport Financial Services first approached the City of Olympia and Thurston County in 2022 with an interest in building an affordable housing complex in Olympia.
In early 2023, the City of Olympia committed $1.3 million from its home fund to the project, matching Thurston County’s commitment of $1.3 million American Rescue Act dollars.
“We all know that housing affordability continues to be the biggest challenges facing Thurston County. Too many families, workers, seniors, and young people — they're struggling to find housing they can say they can afford. Projects like this are one of the ways we respond to that challenge,” said Thurston County Commissioner Carolina Mejia.
Southport Financial Services was also able to access 4% low-income housing tax credits through the Washington state Housing Financial Commission.
The project additionally benefitted from the City of Olympia’s affordable housing incentives, including reductions in impact fees, lot capacity development charges, and city and general facility charges.
“While cities will not solve this housing affordability crisis alone — we have our partners at our state government for that, thank you very much — Olympia is committed to doing its part,” Olympia Mayor Dontae Payne said Tuesday. “Affordable housing is essential to maintaining Olympia as a vibrant and economically resilient community.”
Lansdale Pointe Apartments represents the “tremendous progress” the Washington state Legislature has made in the last five years on legislation to address the affordable housing crisis, according to housing committee chair Sen. Jessica Bateman.
“This is what progress looks like when $2.65 million in local investment unlocks 160 units of affordable housing. That's proof that smart public-private partnerships can actually work to stretch our tax dollars even further. We need more projects like this, not less,” said Bateman.
More than 1 million homes, at least half of them affordable, need to be built in Washington state in the next 20 years to accommodate housing needs, according to Bateman.
The City of Olympia has a separate goal in its comprehensive plan to build 14,235 new housing units by 2045 to keep up with projected population growth.
“Local governments are doing their part. Thurston County, the City of Olympia, they showed up for this project, but they cannot solve this alone, and they shouldn’t have to. The state needs to step up and continue to do its work,” Bateman said.
Going into the next legislative session, Bateman said she is going to push the Legislature to fund a Workforce Housing Accelerator Program that passed by the Legislature in 2024, but remains unfunded.
That program, created through a bill that was sponsored by state Rep. Mari Leavitt, would create a revolving loan program for developers creating housing for those making 50 to 80% of the area’s median income.
In addition to seeking funding for the program next session, Bateman and Leavitt also plan to bring back House Bill 1717, which would create a sales and use tax remittance program for affordable housing.
The bill died in committee during the 2026 short session.
“We need cities and counties all across our state to step up, and that program will allow them to do that,” Leavitt said Tuesday, adding that she and her colleagues are “confident that we’ll get it done this session.”
