Multifamily Housing Unit Newsletter
MHU: A Year in Highlights
Happy new year from the Department of Commerce’s Multifamily Housing Unit!
As we dive into 2025, we have much to be thankful for. We are grateful for Governor Inslee's commitment that prioritized significant state investment in affordable housing creation and preservation.
We are also thankful for a team of dedicated multifamily housing experts who can steward our housing projects through of process from complex contracts to vibrant communities.
And of course, we deeply appreciate our communities of contractors, developers, property managers. applicants, and tenants who deliver vital feedback to ensure we are meeting their needs through affordable and sustainable housing – we couldn’t do our work without you!
We are proud that together, we accomplished a lot last year. These highlights are not an exhaustive account of our work in the past year, but a brief compilation of some of our most memorable milestones.
Thank you for your partnership and enjoy the look back!
 Our Housing Division leaders represented Commerce well at the successful Housing Washington conference, in which developers, technical experts, and advocates joined forces. We learned about the complexities of affordable housing and the experiences of those facing housing instability, shared strategies to build capacity and collaboration, and planned to enhance our respective efforts in communities across Washington.
Watch the collection of keynote speeches and breakout sessions on the Housing Washington 2024 YouTube channel.
We celebrated placing 53 projects in service, resulting in 2,653 units in 17 Washington counties. Of these units:
- 803 were set aside for those experiencing homelessness
- 102 were set aside for individuals with IDD (intellectual and developmental disabilities)
- 310 were preserved to remain affordable to low-income tenants
Keep reading more highlights from 2024...
- We heard our communities of housing experts express the need for additional funding opportunities for units that house extremely low income tenants. In 2025, we will launch our Repair Fund, which will provide targeted funding for housing units funded by the Washington State Housing Trust Fund, National Housing Trust Fund, and HOME program, as well as permanent supportive housing units that are funded by local public jurisdictions. Watch for more information on this soon.
- We coordinated with 14 new prospective affordable housing developers. For those who are less experienced in developing affordable housing, we offer pre-application technical assistance to prepare applicants for the varied requirements of development and operation. When more people apply for affordable housing capital funding, we have the ability to house more community members from diverse backgrounds, including those who are historically underserved, such as those who are BIPOC, LGBTQ+, disabled, and in rural communities.
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We allocated $174,449,382 in state and federal funding, supporting traditional housing development projects, IDD housing, "rapid capital" funding for projects with high urgency and short turnaround times, Apple Health and Homes housing for adults with disabilities, and more.
- We reviewed our priorities for how to best invest in communities, including:
- Streamlining funding options for applicants in competitive funding rounds
- Aligning operating supports for permanent supportive housing
- Evaluating the safety and quality of properties in our affordable housing portfolio
- Making significant investments in tribal housing and by-and-for organizations
- Activating funding opportunities to generate more inclusive, mixed-income communities
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Do you have ideas for this newsletter in 2025?
We want to showcase valuable and actionable information that is relevant to Commerce contractors, perspective developers, property managers, and more! If you have an idea for newsletter content, please email Tim Marshall.
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