Thursday, October 1, 2026
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The Olympia City Council endorsed an amendment to an option-to-purchase agreement that expands the city’s access to the 20-acre encampment known as “The Jungle."
The agreeement was approved as part of the city council’s consent agenda at a meeting on Tuesday, June 2. The amendment extends the city’s ability to purchase the property at 3126 Pacific Ave. SE, while continuing homeless outreach and planning for possible future uses of the site.
The amendment covers an agreement between the city and JJP Group LLC, which owns the property.
The encampment spans roughly 20 acres, including about 16 acres of privately owned land held by JJP Group, between Martin Way and Pacific Avenue.
“The option to purchase agreement allows us to access the site to work with the individuals who have been residing in the encampment to try to get them housed,” said Assistant City Manager Stacey Ray at the meeting.
She said the agreement also allows the city to establish regular garbage removal at the site to address public health concerns, such as smoke from burning trash that has affected nearby properties.
“Having the agreement in place also leaves all options on the table for potential future use of the property,” Ray added.
The original option agreement was signed on June 20, 2024, and was set to expire on June 30, 2026. Under the approved amendment, the city extended the agreement for an additional three years through June 30, 2029.
Under the extension, the city will pay JJP Group $80,000 annually from Economic Development Reserve funds. Future payments made between 2026 and 2028 will apply toward the property’s purchase price if the city ultimately buys the land. Payments already made in 2024 and 2025 will not count toward the purchase price.
The property’s current purchase price is listed at $3 million, subject to appraisal.
According to a staff report, the site could support future uses, including temporary shelter, affordable housing, roadway access, wetland preservation and open space.
The amendment also expands the city’s authority over the property during the option period. The agreement allows outreach workers to access the site and temporarily park vehicles while conducting services. It also gives the city the ability to restrict access and trespass individuals from the property.
Olympia is coordinating with the City of Lacey, Thurston County, Intercity Transit and regional service providers on a phased plan to reduce the encampment population and eventually close the site.
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SnakeFarm
Bro, what?! They're buying what?!
Thursday, June 4 Report this
Boatyarddog
Home back to where in the community?
Thursday, June 4 Report this
chrispc2u
Lease a couple busses and ship the professional street bums to Nebraska to work on pig farms. Problem solved.
Thursday, June 4 Report this
Mugwump
Nice to see Olympia’s local leadership focusing on the nuts and bolts of what makes a city work (sarcasm).
Thursday, June 4 Report this
OlyBlues
This is totally insane! The city allows these transients to destroy city property and that of the developer, does literally nothing but enable this lawlessness, condones the murders, shootings, explosions, fires, drug overdoses, human trafficking, and destruction of the environment to the point the soil is contaminated and may qualify as an EPA Superfund site and the city's response is to buy more of the Jungle property! They failed to manage what they had! The city has a fiduciary responsibility to make sound financial decisions and investments with taxpayer dollars. This is not one of those decisions.
Friday, June 5 Report this
johnvaneenwyk
It’s a good idea. This gives the city the rights to clean it up.
Friday, June 5 Report this
TheVirtualOne
The only surprise about this is that some of you are surprised. Government keeping the drains circling is what perpetuates the government grifting.
Friday, June 5 Report this
Snevets
Thank you too the city for purchasing this land.
The amendment also expands the city’s authority over the property during the option period. The agreement allows outreach workers to access the site and temporarily park vehicles while conducting services. It also gives the city the ability to restrict access and trespass individuals from the property.
Now that the city would own it, law and order can be applied.
Friday, June 5 Report this
BettyVerdammt
The corruption is worse than you think.
The Jungle includes protected wetlands. If the the city allows junkies to degrade the wetlands, then the wetlands lose their protected status. The wetlands can be paved over for street and building developments.
Olympia: Home of the Washington State Department of Ecology!
Friday, June 5 Report this
Patriot
This is insanity. They can't fix the roads or sidewalks but they can continue to support drug dealing, theft, and an environmental disaster. The people who live there don't want a home, they live like that because they choose. Quit calling them homeless and start calling them what they are, Bums. Then, enforce the law. The problem will go away.
Friday, June 5 Report this
MJGord
Do Gripers ever get involved? Try it you should then you would have more street cred'
Friday, June 5 Report this
Boatyarddog
This FOOL wants to Kidnap homeless and force them into slave labor! Disgusting person,
Lease a couple busses and ship the professional street bums to Nebraska to work on pig farms. Problem solved. SICK THINKING
Friday, June 5 Report this
JW
I'm ashamed to say I didn't think that this brain trust of complete buffoons known as the city council would stoop to this level of stupidity, but I've been proven wrong.
The city sells property for a dollar to build slum housing and then pays millions for polluted and despoiled land that will cost probably a million or more dollars to clean up later. All the while fire hosing money to support the criminal transients that refuse to leave. In the middle of a budget crisis.
Will the braindead voters of Olympia keep electing these politicians? You betcha. The voters of Olympia deserve crushing taxes, degraded levels of city services, and to trip over deteriorating sidewalks. You elected the circus so enjoy the show.
Friday, June 5 Report this
Mugwump
How many sidewalks could be fixed with $80,000/year? How many potholes could be filled? Why does the city need to spend $3,000,000 to buy a piece of private property to service the 100-250 people who live there?
Friday, June 5 Report this
Larry Dzieza
Someone from the city please correct me but from reading the article it seems that the city is paying an LLC $80,000 a year:
1. For the right to clean up the the garbage on the LLC's property.
2. To be allowed access to "work with" the people who are illegally residing in the encampment to try to get them off the property and housed.
Does this make sense for taxpayers to pay a private party for the city to have access to improve their property? In a normal relationship I would expect the private party would be paying the city for this kind of benefit, not the other way around.
Again, I welcome (actually hope for) a correction and that the article misrepresented the situation.
Friday, June 5 Report this
JulesJames
In reality, the City of Olympia is paying $80,000 a year for the privledge of providing dumpster and outreach service to a seething den of depraved squalor. Alternatively, the City of Olympia could be holding the LLC owners responsible for Code Compliance with regard to destruction of wetlands and illegal structures. There is likely civil liability for allowing an attractive nuisance. But -- it seems -- spending taxpayer dollars on subsidizing rampant drug abuse, retail theft, porch pirating, residential property gleaning and human trafficking -- must somehow be the better choice.
Friday, June 5 Report this
The_Armed_Gardener
PURE EVIL. It's just a way to get more funds. The end result is more drug deaths and more jobs. It's the human waste fund, AKA "homeless industrial complex." It's literally an investment in death AND SUFFERING. We did so well as a society in reducing the use of tobacco, but with drugs, we have turned a new page. Bureaucrats will say that the homeless have family. Yet, the indoctrinated are pushing this evil to destroy the family. It's not complicated, and you need to expose this or rot in Hell.
Friday, June 5 Report this
MisPeeps
Olympia is doing its best with a bad situation. I'm ashamed of all of you people who think these people are bad and expendable. They're homeless, that doesn't make them bad. There but by the grace of God go you. Any one of you could be homeless and needing to live in such a crap place. Have a little empathy. And also if you're going to take the time to comment perhaps you could comment with ways that you could help or possible solutions i instead of just being asshats.
Friday, June 5 Report this
The_Armed_Gardener
MisPeeps
Olympia is profiting from misery and death. Nobody wants that. Stop demonizing those who care by shifting the blame from the enablers onto the people with the solutions. I never voted for these retards, but I bet you did.
Friday, June 5 Report this
bonaro
@Boatyarddog I know it's bizarre thinking for you but at least he has them working for once. Plus I hear Nebraska pig farms are quite nice in the summer heat.
Friday, June 5 Report this
IroquoisPliskin
Wow. Another money laundering scheme around homelessness by the city of olympia. $80000 a year for the right to clean up land adjacent to protected wetland?
This while the city also pays $3000 per unit per month to keep the homeless tiny homes running. That sounds like obvious money laundering to me when working class people are supporting themselves on less than that all month.
Olympia is a joke
Saturday, June 6 Report this
Boatyarddog
IroquoisPliskin. Tell your story to TACO DONALD, THAT is the logic behind poverty, making a FEW RICH.
Saturday, June 6 Report this
Cobbnaustic
Anybody who is defending these bums I double dog dare you to walk through there so you can see all the inclusiveness. They will welcome you with open arms, don't forget your insurance cards.
Monday, June 8 Report this
Somney
Each INDIVIDUAL in the encampment referred to as "the Jungle" has a unique story. To paint everyone there with a broad brush serves to dehumanize and desensitize people to our shared humanity.
Sunday, June 14 Report this
Wesley
Let me get this straight: We're paying a property owner to maintain a public nuisance? How do I get a deal like that?
Thursday, June 18 Report this