Thursday, October 1, 2026
The Olympia Land Use & Environment Committee is looking at a tenant opportunity to buy program, which would likely include targeted unit sizes and rapid-access funding mechanisms.
At a meeting on July 23, the committee directed Olympia Housing Department Senior Program Specialist Christa Lenssen to return in October with concrete options for a targeted or unit-size pilot, including 16-plus unit buildings or owner-voluntary sales, and an estimate of staff and administrative capacity for notification and rapid funding.
The committe also directed staff to look into potential partnerships and funding pathways with groups like Resident-Owned Communities Northwest (ROC Northwest), Thurston Housing Land Trust and Regional Housing Council (RHC).
Earlier this year, the committee directed city staff to explore a tenant purchase policy, which would allow tenants or qualified community organizations to compete to buy rental properties when put up for sale.
Lenssen said community stakeholders who met with city staff and the committee on June 11 expressed interest in both tenant and community opportunities to buy rental properties.
She said the state’s program allowing residents to compete to purchase manufactured home communities could serve as a model for a local program.
ROC Northwest estimates an additional subsidy of 30 percent to 40 percent on top of traditional financing may be needed for residents to acquire a property through a limited equity cooperative, while keeping the housing affordable.
Based on the feedback from stakeholders at the June 11 meeting, Lenssen said funding would need to be available quickly because properties can go up for sale at any time.
She described the RHC’s Opportunity Fund as well-suited for rapid-response acquisitions, but with limited scale with roughly $3 million available annually across the region.
ROC Northwest recommended a direct state appropriation similar to funding used to help purchase manufactured home communities. Stakeholders also noted most grant programs are competitive and operate on annual cycles, while properties can come onto the market year-round.
The timeline for completing a purchase was another concern.
Lenssen said stakeholders viewed the 70-day period used in the state’s manufactured home community program as insufficient for tenants to organize, determine whether they can make a purchase and secure financing. She said a 90- to 180-day period may be more realistic.
"There’s not currently sufficient staff capacity or funding resources to support enacting a tenant opportunity to purchase policy or pilot program,” Lenssen told the committee.
Lenssen said a pilot progra could focus on a smaller properties.
“It could involve a smaller scope of eligible properties, and that could be based on a geographic area, a target unit count, or through outreach to any property owners who might be willing to explore selling to their tenants," she said.
Lenssen said a geographic pilot could consider factors, such as areas with a higher concentration of renters and areas at higher risk for tenant displacements.
Stakeholders suggested multifamily properties with at least 16 units could be a viable focus for a cooperative ownership model.
Lenssen said ROC Northwest viewed 12 units as the bare minimum for a cooperative to function effectively. At least 16 units is a more preferable threshold, which reflects the need to have enough residents to participate in governance and share responsibilities, such as accounting and property maintenance.
Lenssen added that organizations, such as ROC Northwest, could help residents navigate multiple funding sources and arrange financing.
Olympia City Councilman Clark Gilman, who serves on the committe, said a larger group could better absorb the impact if one resident’s financial circumstances changed, while a smaller group could be more vulnerable if one member could no longer contribute.
Gilman said the city should identify a source for the estimated 30 percent to 40 percent subsidy needed to keep properties affordable before investing heavily in education and outreach.
He suggested a self-selected pilot could be a more practical starting point, such as helping a property owner who voluntarily wants to transition a small rental property to tenant cooperative ownership.
Olympia City Councilman and Committee Chair Robert Vanderpool also raised the possibility of a scattered-site model involving single-family homes and multifamily properties, with additional units added over time under shared financing.
Committee members expressed interest in testing the concept through a pilot program before considering a broader effort. Members also acknowledged that additional funding and staff capacity would be needed to expand the program.
Lenssen said staff would gather more information on how many potentially eligible properties come onto the market each year, which would help the staffers estimate the potential scale and funding needs of the program.
5 comments on this item Please log in to comment by clicking here
Honestyandrealityguy
I hope that they do not discriminate against landlords. So many need their rent check timely to be able to afford their mortgage payments.
Monday, July 27 Report this
JulesJames
Shocking they didn’t bring up one relevant example of this business model. Can’t pretend mobile home parks are similar because the tenants already own their housing, just not the dirt under it. Nor did anyone mention the capital needed after purchase for all the deferred maintenance and improvements.
Monday, July 27 Report this
JnNwmn
Just create an all inclusive reverse mortgage program organized by the City of Olympia. All rental property would become city property with a 6% payback for landlords. The city would save money by not needing a rental registration staff or an inspection staff. Renters would be safe in Public Housing and affordable rents.
Monday, July 27 Report this
Southsoundguy
Coops, and the coop has to build a treasury rooted in financial assets with yield to increase cashflow usable for capex.
Tuesday, July 28 Report this
MrCommonSense
I'm sure most owners would consider selling to tenants if the tenant's offer was competitive in the marketplace. There might be some advantages for an owner if a highly appreciated and nearly fully depreciated property to consider a reduced price if the buyer was a charitable 503(c). But the rub is having a buyer ready in advance. Most sellers are not going to wait a year or two for a long, drawn out grant funding and "organizing tenant" process which has a low probability of closing.
Apartment buildings are not really suitable because older units, which would be more affordable would not meet existing codes for individual ownership. I suppose it would be possible to have a coop owner and agreements form the tenants to rent back from the coop. These are laudable ideas, but nearly impossible to execute because lenders who are adverse to the increased financial risks. Also most tenants are tenants for a reason, so finding enough in one building who are willing to participate, have some financial where-with-all, reasonable credit, etc. would make most projects impractical if not impossible.
Maybe I'm missing something here, but I think the hours dedicated to these meetings could be better spent volunteering for organizations like Habitat for Humanity.
I
Tuesday, July 28 Report this