A new partnership is helping Pierce County investigate how a publicly owned neighborhood site can become affordable housing. 

A vacant half-acre property in East Tacoma may not look like much today. Covered in trees and shrubs, the undeveloped site near the intersection of Portland Avenue and 56^th St on Tacoma’s eastside, sits quietly within an established residential neighborhood. But it represents something increasingly valuable: publicly controlled land that can be preserved for affordable housing.

In 2025 the Pierce County Community Development Corporation (PCCDC), utilizing funds allocated by the Pierce County Council, acquired the property from the Washington State Department of Natural Resources and placed it in its land-banking portfolio. Now, with up to $50,000 in support from Enterprise Community Partners’ Home & Hope program, PCCDC will complete the early technical work needed to understand what can realistically be built there.

The investment will not produce homes overnight. It will do something essential to making those homes possible: identify the site’s opportunities, constraints, risks, and costs before a future development partner is selected.

A promising site with room for different housing models

The approximately 24,000-square-foot property could potentially accommodate as many as 24 homes with the final number will depending on the development concept, site conditions, infrastructure needs, and City requirements, with any future housing being dedicated to serving households earning no more than 80 percent of area median income.

The site’s setting helped make it an attractive candidate. It is residentially zoned, located near utilities, schools, transit and surrounded primarily by homes, with the Eastside Community Center conveniently located across the street. Acquiring it allows the PCCDC to keep the property in public hands while evaluating its long-term potential.

Turning possibility into reliable information

Enterprise funding will support a broad package of feasibility and predevelopment work, including reviews of critical areas and utilities; geotechnical, groundwater, environmental, traffic, and access studies. Together, these reports will help answer the central question: What kind of affordable housing can be developed successfully on this property, and what will it take to get there?

“Early feasibility work allows PCCDC to identify potential development opportunities, constraints, risks, and costs before the project advances too far,” Champagne Lewis of the PCCDC explained. “It also reduces some of the uncertainty that a developer would otherwise have to address after being selected.”

That information can make the next phase more efficient and more competitive. Future development partners will be able to prepare proposals using a clearer picture of the site’s capacity, infrastructure, constraints, and likely costs. PCCDC will also be better equipped to evaluate whether each proposed housing model, financing approach, and timeline is realistic.

A regional partnership makes the connection

The South Sound Housing Affordability Partners (SSHA³P) connected PCCDC with Enterprise Community Partners. Through Home & Hope, Enterprise works with local governments and community partners across Washington to identify publicly owned land that can support affordable housing.

Enterprise saw the East Tacoma property as a strong fit because the site is surplus public land, has local government support, is intended for affordable housing, and is already moving through predevelopment feasibility.

“PCCDC’s project demonstrated community support and was actively moving forward through predevelopment feasibility,” Clarence Messler of Enterprise said. “Because the site consisted of surplus land with plans to develop affordable housing, this project was an ideal candidate for Home & Hope funding.”

The work builds on Enterprise’s growing presence in Pierce County. Through its Faith-Based Development Initiative, Enterprise is partnering with churches in Tacoma’s Hilltop and Proctor neighborhoods to explore affordable housing and community facilities on underused land. Its Home & Hope initiative has supported nearly 10 Pierce County projects with predevelopment funding or technical assistance.

What comes next?

PCCDC issued a request for qualifications for predevelopment services and expects to select consultants in fall 2026. The feasibility work is anticipated to begin in November or December and continue into 2027.

The result will be a set of technical reports covering the site’s environmental conditions, geology, groundwater, trees, cultural resources, utilities, transportation and access, critical areas, and other development considerations. Those findings will guide PCCDC as it refines the development opportunity and prepares to select a future housing partner.

For now, the East Tacoma property remains a vacant neighborhood lot. The partnership among PCCDC, Enterprise, and SSHA³P is an important step toward giving that land a larger public purpose: creating homes that remain within reach for local individuals and families.

Learn more: Pierce County Community Development Corporation and Enterprise Community Partners