Thursday, October 1, 2026
A proposed mixed-use development on the West Bay of Olympia cleared another regulatory hurdle after the Washington State Department of Ecology approved a conditional use permit for the project.
The decision, which was released on Sept. 2, requires the project to comply with conditions imposed by the City of Olympia, as well as the department’s condition that “hard stabilization shall not be constructed at the site for the life of the project.”
Olympia Hearing Examiner Mark Scheibmeir approved the project’s Shoreline Substantial Development Permit and Shoreline Conditional Use Permit on July 22. The decision included conditions addressing environmental restoration, public access, fire safety and site cleanup.
The project, proposed by West Bay Development Group at 1210 West Bay Drive NW, includes five buildings of up to five stories tall containing 478 residential units and about 22,000 square feet of commercial space. Plans also include a waterfront trail, public access areas, an esplanade, a kayak put-in and other waterfront amenities.
As part of the project, the developer plans to remove about 200 creosote-treated pilings, concrete debris and other material from the shoreline, and cut back the existing rock revetment. Gravel, sand and other beach materials would then be placed to create a more naturally functioning intertidal beach.
The restoration plans also includes native vegetation and habitat features. Scheibmeir concluded in his July decision that the restoration, as conditioned, would provide a “significant functional lift” to shoreline ecological functions and meet Olympia’s “no net loss” requirement.
The Department of Ecology’s role was separate from the hearing examiner’s approval. Under the state Shoreline Management Act, local governments must submit shoreline substantial development permits to Department of Ecology and it must independently review shoreline conditional use permits.
In its Sept. 2 decision, the Department of Ecology approved the conditional use permit subject to the city’s conditions and its additional prohibition on hard stabilization.
The project must provide permanent public access to the waterfront, including a publicly dedicated trail, and permanently protect the restored Vegetation Conservation Area.
The decision is subject to a 21-day appeal period beginning Sept. 2. Anyone who disagrees with the decision may appeal to the Washington State Shorelines Hearings Board.
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MrDubious
I'm glad that somebody is cleaning up part of the old mess...
Can't wait to see how expensive the apartments will be. We need housing desperately.
Friday, September 4 Report this
Bobwubbena
Unless we want to tell our kids and grandkids to move to the remote Rual areas, we need to provide housing opportunities for them to live in areas nearby. This is a good solution. NO, we cannot go back to conditions before the while settlers arrived. This is a good next step.
Friday, September 4 Report this
TheVirtualOne
Also agree with others that this is a positive step in cleaning up an eyesore and making it into something habitable. Being waterfront, these 478 units will command higher end prices. Hopefully ample parking space for residents and the public will be provided. Traffic on West Bay Drive and the roundabouts where it connects with Harrison Avenue will no doubt become much more congested with an additional 600-700 residents traveling through on a daily basis.
Friday, September 4 Report this
Boatyarddog
Bobwubbena, is it cocktail hour BOB your thinking and spelling is atrocious. Good for who? Business people like you. THIS IS NOT AFFORDABLE housing. It is meant to drive up the costs of Downtown living to undermine the less fortunate souls trying to find somewhere to live. You don't care I know, you never cared while you were a Marina Owner either. As a POCAC member your Logic is VERY Flawed. Marine Terminal is A LOSS to the county every year for Decades. IT SHOULD BE DUG UP. This project is for the rich.
Friday, September 4 Report this
terry
This is a prime waterfront development that will attract higher end buyers and provide a positive tax base for municipal services. Affordable housing has its place in municipal planning but clearly not here.
Friday, September 4 Report this
EcoViking
Say, Terry, I wonder why you think this development is CLEARLY not a place to include some low-income residents. Some of our best and brightest, even from your eugenics perspective, are on fixed incomes. Why create a wisdom desert so close to downtown on the West Side? And what is the break-point you imagine for low incomes? My niece is a school treacher with a child and a currently unemployed husband. Oooh ick, don't let them live here.
What are you8 talking about?
Friday, September 4 Report this
gypsydjango
I live across the Bay from where this development will be built. So many other undeveloped areas in the Olympia region where a project like this could happen, but gotta take advantage of the money views will bring. And remove those unsightly evergreen trees that line the "road".!!! I totally appreciate looking over at that property every day, and enjoying the forest look. But, alas, big money wins again.
Saturday, September 5 Report this
KEW100
Ensuring that our water and sewer infrastructure are adequate for this and presumably additional developments in the area, is essential. I assume LOTT has had a say in how to accommodate this new development, and that the development itself with pay for the additional needed infrastructure.
Saturday, September 5 Report this
TheVirtualOne
Boatyarddog - Of course this is not “affordable housing.” Why should waterfront homes be affordable? If people want a waterfront home, they should have to earn it, not have it given to them on a silver platter paid for with taxpayer money. There is plenty more subsidized housing in the pipeline - big complex being built near Capital Medical Center and Highway 101 right now. Meanwhile, this waterfront development will have public access, so the people who live in subsidized housing can use it just like the rest of the community.
Saturday, September 5 Report this
WeLikeLacey
The city needs to give an estimate of how much this could generate in property taxes, not to mention sales taxes incurred by the new residents. Olympia is a very generous city, but it seems like all they do is come up with new ways to spend money. Money doesn’t grow on trees.
Saturday, September 5 Report this
longtimeresident
I'm assume the builders will not get a break on property taxes, if there are no affordable living units being included in this monster of a project. Oh, and by the way, most of the baby boomers (who have the money) will have passed onto their reward by the time this project gets finished. Maybe it will indeed become affordable housing with rental prices dropping just to fill the units!
Saturday, September 5 Report this
Daisylee
Ya know...we live in earthquake country and I am always amazed to see so much develope happening on our unsteady ground. A mystery to me that part is not addressed and continuing to develop in other areas of Olympia.
Saturday, September 5 Report this
TheVirtualOne
BYD - Learn how to read. You missed the point.
Saturday, September 5 Report this
Local360
I hope they are expensive and unaffordable.
Downtown Oly is a dump.
Sunday, September 6 Report this
Yeti1981
A lot of these comments miss an important point about housing: housing is a ladder, and we need every rung.
Washington’s own housing planning shows substantial need both below AND above 80% of Area Median Income. Building market-rate housing does not somehow hurt people lower on that ladder. It adds supply and creates mobility. People moving into new homes leave other homes available, which reduces competition and pressure throughout the existing housing market. If we refuse to build for people at the higher end, they don’t disappear. They simply compete for the housing already available further down the ladder.
We absolutely need subsidized affordable housing, but we also need market-rate housing. It isn’t either/or. And West Bay Yards brings 478 homes while restoring a historically impacted shoreline, removing creosote pilings and debris, restoring habitat, and creating permanent public waterfront access. After years of review, the Hearings Examiner approved the shoreline permits and Ecology has now independently approved the conditional-use permit.
At some point, the process has to mean something. We cannot say we have a housing crisis and then continue finding reasons not to build housing that meets our adopted requirements. If we are serious about housing affordability, we have to build the entire ladder.
Tuesday, September 8 Report this
ViaLocal
woohoo for apartments on the water that no one can afford! Not even working people with decent jobs! yaaaay for buildings that will mostly be empty!
Tuesday, September 8 Report this
citizenken
Yeti1981, Thank you for your thoughtful comment. I know that neither I or my adult children, will ever be able to afford living on the waterfront, but someone will, and the space they leave behind will come open for someone else. Increasing the housing stock, close in, doesn't hurt those of us on the lower income scale. The site is currently contaminated from historical industrial use, and not accessible to the public. I believe the permitting process allows those issues to be addressed and makes the project a net gain for Olympia.
Tuesday, September 8 Report this
Just3GoodCats
This proposed housing project will be a mistake. West Bay Rd. is one of the few routes into West Olympia that bypasses Harrison and other busy intersections to access Cooper Pt. Rd. and Division St. When more residents are added to the area it will increase congestion to the area. What about water usage, sewer and electrical services this will require? Can we agree that there are better places to build that many residential units?
Thursday, September 10 Report this
BillSpencer
The West Bay Yards is a fantastic project that will add housing and clean up the shoreline. The amount of bureaucracy that homebuilders have to deal with is ridiculous.
What is all of the opposition to the Yards other than a bunch of greedy rich old white landowners trying to prevent new housing from being built on the Westside.
Stay classy Olympia!
Tuesday, September 22 Report this