OLYMPIA — The Washington State Department of Commerce announced Thursday a third round of Connecting Housing to Infrastructure Program (CHIP) grants that will help expedite the construction of 1,102 affordable housing units in 12 counties statewide. The nearly $5 million in funding awarded to local governments can be used to pay for water, sewer, and stormwater infrastructure costs and waived connection fees for projects with affordable housing.
Grant recipients are:
- Airway Heights (Highland Village 1) – $55,844 for 40 affordable units
- Bellingham (Barkley Village) – $99,546 for 77 affordable units
- Everett (Four Corners) – $1 million for 430 affordable units
- Jefferson County (7th Haven) – $142,583 for 43 affordable units
- Kirkland (Horizon) – $1 million for 300 affordable units
- Raymond (Willapa Center) – $117,182 for 30 affordable units
- San Juan County (Lopez North) – $400,000 for 15 affordable units
- Tacoma (Lincoln) – $483,085 for 78 affordable units
- Tumwater (Talicum Townhomes) – $726,984 for 28 affordable units
- Vancouver (O Street) – $108,207 for 10 affordable units
- Winthrop (Cascade Meadows) – $100,000 for 22 affordable units
- Yakima (Justice Housing) – $764,998 for 29 affordable units
Lack of housing inventory accessible to all income levels continues to be a challenge in communities throughout Washington state. The CHIP grant program supports both rental and homeownership opportunities.
The CHIP program has funded 54 projects with $41 million in 17 counties over the last year, supporting the development of 4,700 units of affordable housing. By paying for the costs of connecting new projects to utilities, the CHIP program strengthens communities’ ability to expedite the development of much-needed new affordable housing units.
