Submitted by San Juan County

At the Dec. 9 Council meeting, the San Juan County Council authorized a Development Agreement between the County, Town of Friday Harbor, and San Juan Community Home Trust for the Argyle project on San Juan Island.

This proposed project has been many years in the making. The project is situated on San Juan County-owned land in the Town of Friday Harbor. The project is estimated to provide 35-40 units of affordable rental housing for very-low-, low-, and moderate-income households.

In addition to providing land for the project, the County has also committed $1.79 million to the Argyle project. This money comes from the County’s Home Fund – a program approved by voters in 2018 that contributes funding towards the creation and preservation of affordable housing funded by a Real Estate Excise tax (REET), and a 1/10th of 1% sales tax.

To date, the County has contributed over $15 million dollars in funding to 14 affordable housing projects throughout the County. These projects represent 136 units of affordable housing that have already been built or preserved, with another 65 units currently in active development. In total, the County’s Home Fund has contributed funding to 201 units of affordable housing.

With the finalization of the Development Agreement, which facilitates predictability and certainty regarding development standards, processes, and public benefit requirements, the project can move fully into its next phase and towards construction. The San Juan Community Home Trust has submitted multiple State grant applications and will continue fundraising efforts to make the project a reality.

San Juan County extends its thanks to the Town of Friday Harbor and the San Juan Community Home Trust for their work on this agreement.

Learn about the project on the Home Trust website: https://www.hometrust.org/