A stretch of North Seattle College land at 9250 College Way North is poised to become Thunderbird Nest, an affordable housing development planned by Bellwether Housing and Chief Seattle Club in the Licton Springs neighborhood. The project would serve households earning between 30% and 60% of area median income, with construction targeted to begin in 2027 and residents expected to move in by 2029.
Sources differ on exactly how many apartments the project will ultimately include. According to Bellwether Housing, Thunderbird Nest will include 209 affordable apartments, while ConnectCRE describes the proposed development as 200 apartments targeting lower-income families, and the Daily Journal of Commerce reports a four-story, 192-unit project. As reported by The Business Journals, the project is also described as a 200-unit affordable housing building expected to depend on public funding approvals, with groundbreaking planned by the end of 2027.
Chief Seattle Club plans to provide onsite resident services through what Bellwether Housing describes as an Indigenous lens and trauma-informed approach. The land itself was purchased from North Seattle College, and Bellwether Housing frames the sale as a demonstration project for redeveloping vacant, state-owned land into affordable housing.
A Long-Term Lease And A Shared Campus Vision
Under the arrangement outlined by the Seattle Times, Chief Seattle Club and Bellwether Housing would be responsible for financing, developing and operating the housing project along with 67 tenant parking spaces. The proposed ground lease would run 87 years, including two years of construction, the Seattle Times reports. The housing sits on a 2.26-acre parcel at the southwest corner of the North Seattle College campus, per the same account.
The broader campus proposal also includes space dedicated to Indigenous culture and learning, though descriptions of that space vary. The Seattle Times describes an Intellectual House conceived as a multi-service and multicultural learning and gathering space, while ConnectCRE describes a proposed 6,000-square-foot Coast Salish longhouse intended to provide educational space for the college.
Permitting Progress And A City Program Partnership
The project is moving through design and permitting, and Chief Seattle Club says it is one of the early projects participating in Seattle's Roots to Roofs program, according to Chief Seattle Club. Runberg Architecture Group is designing the project, the Daily Journal of Commerce notes. Separately, a Seattle Department of Construction and Inspections project record indicates that the city has issued the land use permit for the site.
Bellwether Housing's own project timeline lists community outreach, design and permitting spanning 2021 through 2027, ahead of the planned 2029 opening. Chief Seattle Club similarly states that construction is scheduled to begin in 2027, with the project aiming to open in 2029.
Part Of A Broader City Push For Affordable Units
Thunderbird Nest arrives as Seattle has been steering significant capital toward affordable housing citywide. The city's Office of Housing has pointed to at least $100 million in capital funding opened for affordable rental housing through its 2026 Rental Housing Production NOFA, according to the city's Office of Housing. The Seattle Times also reported that the city announced a separate $22 million investment toward establishing 267 rent- and income-restricted homes in Northgate and South Park.
The city's affordable housing push extends beyond any single project. Seattle's 2025 NOFA awards supported 439 new affordable rental homes through a $64 million investment, per the Office of Housing. Building permits issued for several large multifamily projects in 2025 also boosted the city's Mandatory Housing Affordability payment contributions by $22.4 million from the prior year, according to a city report.
For now, Thunderbird Nest remains a planned project dependent on public funding approvals, with its design, unit count and permitting still being finalized as Bellwether Housing and Chief Seattle Club move toward their targeted 2027 groundbreaking and 2029 opening.
