Twenty-eight families could soon have a shot at homeownership in Frederickson, where Pierce County is turning a parcel of former state trust land into a new affordable housing community with homes priced at less than half the county's median. The project, called Frederickson South, will sit on 4.22 acres at 200th Street East and Knoble Road East and is expected to house more than 70 Pierce County residents once complete.
According to Pierce County, the development is a partnership between Tacoma/Pierce County Habitat for Humanity and the county, with families expected to begin moving in starting in 2029. The plan calls for 28 permanently affordable homeownership opportunities, and final design and permitting work is expected to continue through 2026 and 2027, the county says. Per Tacoma/Pierce County Habitat for Humanity, the development will include 20 three-bedroom duplex townhomes and eight two-bedroom detached cottage-style homes, with utility and site work slated to begin later this year and full project completion projected for 2031.
Homes Priced Well Below Pierce County's Median
The math behind Frederickson South is striking against the backdrop of Puget Sound's housing costs. Homes in the development are projected to sell for $220,000 to $320,000, roughly half of Pierce County's median home price of about $580,000 in 2026, according to Pierce County. Eligibility will be limited to households earning at or below 80% of the Area Median Income, which this year caps qualification at $96,650 annually for a four-person household or $77,350 for a two-person household, the county's housing office notes.
To keep those prices affordable for future buyers too, not just the first round of owners, the project relies on a 99-year land-lease model. Buyers will purchase the physical home but lease the underlying land from the county or the Pierce County Community Development Corporation, a structure the county says prevents speculative resale price inflation over time. Selected homebuyer families must also complete HUD-approved financial counseling and put in at least 100 hours of construction sweat equity labor toward building the homes, per the same county account.
State Land, Local Dollars
The 4.22-acre site itself has a notable backstory. It was acquired by the Pierce County Community Development Corporation from the Washington State Department of Natural Resources in October 2024 through a public-to-public land transfer, supported by a county rapid acquisition loan fund — a deal Hoodline previously reported when the state board first approved the transfer. By securing public trust land rather than buying on the open market, the county and its Community Development Corporation avoided standard land acquisition costs, which the county says is central to why Habitat can offer homes at roughly half the regional market price.
Funding for the project is also stitched together from multiple government sources. Frederickson South received $1 million in grant support from the South Sound Housing Affordability Partners, a coalition known as SSHA³P, along with additional funding from the state's Connecting Housing to Infrastructure Program and federal directed spending, the county reports. During construction, Tacoma Habitat is partnering with 1DROP, a nonprofit collective, to hire local contractors of color and provide paid on-the-job training, according to the county.
Part of a Broader County Push
Frederickson South adds to a long track record for Tacoma/Pierce County Habitat for Humanity, which has built or renovated 337 homes across Pierce County since it was established in 1985. The nonprofit's future plans page notes it maintains multiple active single-family and multi-family developments throughout the Tacoma area.
The project also fits into a larger local funding strategy. Local affordable housing efforts in Pierce County draw on the Maureen Howard Affordable Housing Act, a 0.1% local sales tax approved in 2023 that generates about $20 million annually and has helped fund more than 1,300 housing units, as Hoodline has reported. Combined with interlocal partnerships like SSHA³P, that revenue stream is one of the tools county officials are using to close the gap between what working families earn and what homes now cost across the South Sound.
